Readings+-+Standards+reflections

Standard Reflections

Standard 1 During my field based hours I worked with several leaders and teachers on the first Technology Facilitator Standard: Teachnology Operations and Concepts. The areas I have worked in the most are the facilitators under 1.A.1. These tasks focus on skills and understanding of concepts related to technology. I seems as though I am the go to person on my campus for converting files, burning files or finding misplaced email. I have been around computers most of my life so my comfort level is pretty high when it comes to trying new programs or equipment. I really thought everyone thought the same way I did about technology until I started working with teachers through this internship. Going thorugh this experience with the instuctional technologist I realize where my collegues stand and know where there skill and thoughts are. Williamson and Redish (2009) stated in 2005 ten percent of teachers considered themselves to be beginners in suing technology (20). Since I am a technology teacher and have been for nine years I would have never thought this information to be ture. Technology leadership is a strong need for these teachers to help them feel more comfortable with technology and integrating into their lessons. The school staff is a team that should be working together to prepare our students for all the technology in their future. My principal has done a great job emphasizing how important technology has on education, so I feel that we have a great plan in place to help teachers understand this importance and learn.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, p.20.

Standard 2 Technology Facilitator Standard II: Planning and Designing Learning Enviornments and Experiences is probably the one I found most fun to work in. Within a leadership position such as an Instructional Technologist this is where Iwould be of most help. Through my field based hours I mainly worked under II.A indicator. I teamed up with my department, CTE, to help them understand the use of flip cameras and how to incorporate them in their classrooms. It was amazing to me how unfamiliar with technology teachers are and how afarid they are to reach and try something new. I found this very interesting from Williamson and Redish (2009), in 2005 less than fifty percent of teachers used technology to support instruction, thirty-seven percent responded that they integrate technology daily (34). These numbers scare me in the realtion between technology and education. It is proven that our student is a 21st century learner and that means they need technology to help them learn. I need to make sure as a leader that teachers understand software and technology and how it works so they can be familiar enough to use it as support and integrate into student learning. Understanding the concept is the first step and then application. If teachers had a better understanding of how programs worked and why it is useful then they are going to remember what purpose it serves. Teachers don't understand the value and I think that value will come with the right planning and design for their classroom. An observation that I noticed in my project was that students pick up on computer programs quicker than the teacher does. I think this scares teachers, but with correct planning will help with that. There are not many areas where young children have such and advantage over adults.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, p.34.

Standard 3 Standard III:Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum, is the standard I am most unfamiliar with. I do feel that it is very important for a technology leader to work with students and teachers focusing on the student technology standards. During my internship hours I mainly hit on III.A and III.B. Through my experiences I realize that as a district we are not providing the types of environments that our digital learners need. "This disparity threatens to alienate youth further and encourage the already growing student perceptions that schools are outdated and irrelevant to their interests and goals" (57). Technology is such a big part of our students lives that there is such a disconnect between home and school. It was amazing to see how much these students thrived on technology. I also realized how hard it is to change the tway some teachers have been doing things. As a CTE teacher I have to integrate with core teachers every year and it is becoming so frustrating when teachers tell me no that they do not have time for that. I have to remind myself that technology is changing so fast all the time and it can be kind of scarey. The thing that really confuses me is that the state has technology TEKS that we must follow, but teachers tend to ingonre these. What would happen if we ignored the TEKS for our individual classes? I know there are lots of schools that are successful in transitioning teachers into integration. My district is one that is slowly moving towards that success. It would be interesting to compare.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, p.57.

Standard 4 Standard IV: Assessment and Evaluation is probably the weakest standard in my district. Through my internship hours I worked mostly with IV.A.1 and IV.A.2 indicators, where I had the opportunity to teach teachers how to use Aware and PDAS software. It is easy for me to evaluate and assess my students daily using technology. I know in my district we are so bombarded with data that it would be hard no to be using it to guide your teaching. Anytime you mwntion data to teachers they run away. They say the data does not pertain to their class because they know where their students are stuggling, but do they really? At the beginning of each new year would be a great time to use this data. you have to new set of students so you should probably know where their weaknesses are. Many teachers complained that they do not have time to loop up the data. It is really easy fro me to evaluate and know students technology when I teach technology everyday. When I pair with a team of teachers to integrate a project they should be knowledgable enough to know what kind of software their students can use. I am going to choose the software that is the easiest to understand but allows for them to express themselves creatively. Teachers are having a hard time determining this.This is where assessment and evaluation is valuable when planning integrated lessons. One question I have is how educators are evaluating students through technology. I am sure there are some great resources out there that I am not aware of. There needs to be a way for teachers to be held accountable for teaching the technology applications TEKS just like their class TEKS, because they are required by the state.

Standard 5: This standard is one I have experienced many times through my everyday tasks at school. The performance indicators I worked with are V.B, V.C, and V.D. I was a part of our campus technology academy this year, which is where we learn new technology tools and take them back to incorporate into our lessons for students. I also help other teachers and administrators use the technology tools that we have to enhance their lessons. Since I teach technology I am the go to person for burning DVDs and learning how to use a flip cam. I have learned so much after working with our districts instructional technologists. I had the opportunity to help teachers learn how to use their webpages and update them properly. Then I really got to see how teachers reacted towards things like blogs and podcasts. At first they were hesitant, but then after they were able to see students’ reactions and how it really helped them learn they became more eager to want to learn new technologies. I feel schools are lacking in appropriate professional development to prepare these teachers to have the confidence to use these technologies in their classroom. Teachers need a lot of guidance to try something new and change their way of thinking. I would like to see how other districts promote the use of technologies in their classrooms and how they get their teachers on board. There are many school leaders that are excellent at taking on these tasks and I would like to hear how they made it happen. I have no questions about this standard.

Standard 6: When I first read the title of this standard I thought it was going to be difficult, but what I realized is that I hit this indicator on a daily basis with everyday tasks at school. I have dealt with the legal and social issues of technology more than I thought. I have gained experience in indicators, VI.A, VI.B, and VI.E. I have learned there is a need to really make sure that the legal issues such as copyright laws are explained thoroughly to our staff and students. I found that some of the students at my campus use technology in amazing ways, but end up having copyright problems with their projects. I have several students that enter contests for things and have to understand the legalities involved. I had the opportunity to work with some high up individuals on making promotional videos. It amazed me at how much they just wanted to take things from the Internet instead of creating their own. Our students are growing up in a time where they think that everything from the Internet is free game and it is not.

As a district we do make sure our student sign an acceptable use policy but nowhere in this policy is there anything about legal issues. I am impressed however that our district is so careful about putting students’ names out on the webpage and their work, but yet we don’t understand the simple things of copyright. Students tend to think if it is done over the internet is it safe, they forget how much information they give out and how dangerous it can be. Before my graduate work I would not have seen the importance of this ethical step for the students. It was neat to see the standard in action with the students. There is nothing about this standard that I don’t understand.

Standard 7: This standard focuses on the planning and budgeting of technology for the district. Through my internship hours I gained experience in indicators VII.A and VII.B. I learned there is so much behind our technology department. I had the opportunity to serve on the district technology committee this year. Through this committee we looked at budgeting and allotment for the district. We also discuss and talk about technology being used towards curriculum. There is so much that goes into the infrastructure and planning for technology. After talking with the Technology Director, I learned there are several more factors involved. Teachers always complain that technology takes a long time to install or fix things but it is because there is so much more behind it then just a quick fix. This standard has helped me to understand how technology is implemented and where the funding comes from. I know I need more knowledge in the way our district runs maintenance of the infrastructure and evaluation. Being on the technology committee has helped to understand a little bit about how to fund this technology but I still have a lot of questions on how they decide who get what. The one issue that puzzles me about this standard is why my district does not allow for anyone but two technicians do things around the district. I am a technology teacher and could load some simple software in my lab but can’t get the permissions to do so. They won’t delicate very much stuff so it leaves teachers stranded at times. I guess knowing the process behind how they do things would alleviate some concern that many of us are having. Standard 8: This standard is about leadership and vision. I found it to be a bit more challenging to find activities to gain experience in this standard, but the indicators I worked with were VIII.C, and VIII.D I was able to be a part a round table that discussed integration of technology into curriculum. This round table consisted of campus principles and district level curriculum specialists. We discussed a strategic plan of integration between core and CTE classes. The main goal was to come up with one vision that the district can adopt. Williamson and Redish (2009) state in their book exactly how this round table went. “When technology facilitators and leaders attempt to construct a shared vision for technology use, they may face some unique types of challenges. For example, technologies having the greatest potential to enhance education today were not available when many educators, parents, and policy makers were elementary and secondary students themselves” (179). In our committee we had a good mix but we did meet these challenges because it is hard for some of the older educators to understand the importance of technology.

I do not have many questions about this standard and there is noting that puzzles me, but I did like this task and would love to be a part of other activities like this one. This really helped me get involved with my district on a leadership level with technology. Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, p.179