Technology Integration 101 Reflection

Over the last 18 weeks the Technology Integration 101 course has been a great source of some great information learned. It has introduced me to new concepts as well as revisit some. We have revisited my Philosophy of Educational Technology and just a year after writing it I know there are some things I would change especially after implementing a 1:1 of iPads. Its crazy how much a year immersed in iPads can change that Philosophy! Class Management is a concept that I have had spent a lot of time in how to get our teachers to understand how to use our MDM and how important it is. Another concept we revisited was 21st Century Skills. I would love to try and help a few of our teachers Flip their classroom. But this whole course is practical and I can find things from each module to use on the daily! 

Student Centered Learning

Transitioning to a 1:1 environment can be tricky! I know many students and staff are struggling with it still. How do I use it? How can this help me? Why do we have to use these things? I don't see the point of using the iPad. These are some of the questions I have heard or have been told that students/teachers have said. When they should be saying "Have you seen (fill in the blank) app I can do (fill in the blank)with it! You should try it." I think it takes time in transiting but we have to get the students/teachers comfortable use these different tools. 

I think a lot of it has to do with teachers they need to be showing and explaining to the students how to use these different tools. Step by step guides are great! I think starting small and then working your way up to letting your student have a choice in what app or tool they are using will give the student and teacher enough confidence to know which app/tool would work best for them. Your Technology Integration Specialist should be your best friend, so they can help you with this transition and can be apart of your class to HELP you in any way they can!

Classroom Management Challenges

At our JH and HS we see the most problems especially with gaming issues. We have had lots of students doing things they weren’t suppose to be doing. We do have a MDM but it sometime doesn’t do what its suppose to. At the beginning of the year sometime it wouldn’t release students after the set time. So some students would be locked into something but needed something else for class. We have issues where students have found ways around the locking into of a specific app so they can play their games instead of what the teacher wants them to do. The JH teachers created a whole process of students getting written up, and it seems to be working out better. I think if a teacher is constantly walking around their classroom it will prevent students from trying to get out of the lock or play games because they know the teacher will be around and they might get in trouble. 

At the Elementary schools we are having issues with students downloading hundreds of games. We have told them during orientation this is a school device and it is meant for educational purposes, and this has even been reinforced by the principals. But many parents are allowing them to download them at home and they then come to school and have over 100 Mermaid games on it and then they don’t know what happened to the apps their teacher have pushed out to them. We have been trying to prevent this but when it does their iPad has been wiped clean of all games!

Stakeholders

Introducing the concept of technology integration to Stakeholders you have to think about how its going to improve education and the district. How much its going to cost the school and the stakeholders. Whats the plan or process that is going to happen next. 

We held a community night and discussed these things.  We created a presentation on how its improved other school corporation and we even included a video to show them how its changed. We also talked about how much everything was going to cost and compared it to other districts to show them how reasonable it is. We also showed a break down of what it was doing to the book fees as well. We then discussed the next steps about the roll out how it was going to happen and when. The community members were extremely happy with this process and most of them fully understood everything. 

Technology Life

Technology plays a large portion of not only my personal but professional life as well. Technology has changed the way I do most things including communicating with family and friends who live all over the world. My niece thinks I live in the computer/phone because the majority of the time I see her it is through Skype or FaceTime. I am so thankful for this technology especially living far from the majority of my family members. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are all other great ways I communicate with family and friends. Online shopping is also a key part of the way I shop. I am always ordering something online whether it is clothes, shoes, jewelry, groceries, and you can now even order food from restaurants. Its crazy to think how easy it is to shop online and how much damage I can do! =) 

In my professional life I use so many technologies each day! Keeping up to date on technology is the key part of my job and to inform teachers on any new and exciting ideas! 

I would like to make the adjustment of not using technology as much in my personal life. I know my friends and I have made some adjustments like we have some times when we say this is a no phone zone/time. 

Philosophy of Educational Technology

            Luckily last year I rewrote my Philosophy of Education to an Educational Technology Philosophy in on of my Master's classes I updated a few things from my experiences these last few months.

I believe that technology and teaching is a two-way street. In all aspects there are well planned activities while there will be unpredictable moments. Teachers and students need to be flexible and collaborate in traditional and non-traditional learning environments to achieve knowledge. Technology is a wonderful way to inspire and empower children to become greater than what they can imagine. Technology can open their minds and allow them to be immersed in their learning. As a technology leader, it is my goal to improve teacher technology usage as well as the students’ knowledge and skills.

As a passionate technology leader and lifelong learner, I always want to reflect upon my teaching experience and push myself to pursue more of an understanding of educational technology. I believe that that I can provide a well-designed framework, guiding teachers to meaningful tasks, and thinking about differentiated learning styles, as well as key technology skills to guide them to being a lifelong learner.

I think as a technology leader it is important to say that technology shouldn’t take over all teacher instruction; it’s beneficial for student learning to use a mixture of both. As a teacher you need to make sure the use of technology relates to the curriculum that is being taught for it to be valuable. The use of technology in a classroom can be beneficial for all students and even the teacher. Technology can liven up the classroom to a more interactive; student involved style, rather than the old school lecture base classroom. Learning is most likely to take place when students become engaged with material.

Understanding the variety of learning styles and student experiences is important because every learner is unique and special and deserves attention and respect. As a technology leader I have duty to the school and to the learner to provide an environment that encourages learning and self-confidence in that learning to all students/teachers. I have to remember Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence and how it is going to play a role with each students learning style. Not every student will be the same and that you need to mix up lessons in order to involve all students different learning styles. Also we could think about ways in which students can learn from each other and by watching others, or they can use Bruner concept of discovery learning. This implies that student can construct his or her own knowledge through experience and searching for new information.

Technology should be used in the classroom and can be very valuable if it is used wisely and safely. The Internet is being used almost daily for many students whether it be at school or at home the students need to know how to protect themselves especially when parents or teachers aren’t there to help them. Ever since internet and technology has been at school this is one of the most important tools you can inform students about because of all the scary things that are out there.

I believe that it is important to provide everyone in the school with a clear framework for learning different technologies, clear goals, resources, and evaluations. I want to provide clear goals of workshops and trainings so the teachers/students can get a understanding of the different technologies. I also want to be able to provide them with different resources for the trainings so they can gain the knowledge and skills to succeed without me eventually. I also would like to have evaluations/feedback filled out in order for me to grow as a technology leader in the schools.

My goal as a technology leader is to help teachers, staff, and students to think critically, learn lifelong skills to aid in learning, and to develop strategies to problem solve. It is my main objective to make sure everyone involved loves learning by showing them the desire and motivation that I have to learn and how it can help them in the future with anything anybody wants to do in life. As a technology leader I have to be a role model for students and teachers, I need to share with them when I learn something new in order to continue learning. We have to prepare students not just for the next step in school but for life.

Last, and most important, I am passionate about what I do. I truly love doing anything with educational technology. Conveying this passion I believe it makes students want to learn more and become excited about learning. Technology continues to grow at such a rapid pace and its involvement in our world today. Even the growth from when I was a kid, to what it is today, you have to question what the future holds for technology.