Reflections Standard VIII

Standard VIII states “Educational technology facilitators will contribute to the shared vision of campus integration of technology and foster an environment and culture conducive to the realization of the vision” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, pg. 190). To meet this standard, I researched one to one laptop initiatives for my campus,  lead teams in planning appropriate technology implementation after collaborating on the results of the 2009-2010 STaR Chart Results, and actively engage in meetings with district Campus Instructional Technologists and district administration.

Under Technology Facilitation Standard TF VIII.A “ Identify and apply educational and technology related research, the psychology of learning, and instructional design principles in guiding the use of computers and technology in education” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, pg. 190). My school had a desire to begin a one laptop for each student otherwise known as a one to one environment.  I decided for this initiative ot be successful, I needed to research one-to-one initiatives that worked.  I created a One to One Ning for my teachers and principal. I utilized this online are to help post the research I was able to find that benefited our goals as we went to a one to one laptop environment in our third and fourth grade classrooms. The link is http://hpisd21.ning.com/group/powerupvision2015 but is closed to people outside of our district and is invitation only. We utilized sites such as Educational Origami http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/, NETS*S and NETS*T http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students.aspx,  Blooms Taxonomy http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy, 50+ Toosl for Web Based Collaboration http://www.popwuping.com/culture/software/50-tools-for-web-based-collaboration.php, and many other beneficial sites. I also created a Diigo list so teachers could easily find the websites that were informative (http://www.diigo.com/list/leanneknight/one-to-one).  I started a book study with the teachers that had research to help us delve into one to one and create a positive culture at our school during this new endeavor. The book we chose was:  1-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work by Pamela Livingston.

Another aspect of Technology Facilitation Standard VII is “Lead in the development and evaluation of district technology planning and implementation” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, pg. 190). I worked with teams on planning appropriate technology implementation after collaborating on the results of the 2009-2010 STaR Chart Results. Once a year campuses are required to conduct the Texas Campus STaR Chart.  Previous ot the campus conducting their evaluation, I met with each team to discuss how the evaluation helps us in planning and the importance of taking the evaluation truthfully. At the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, I met with teams to discuss areas that the STaR Chart has shown as areas of weakness.  This year I brought the 2009-2010 STaR Chart results to organize our discussion with teams.  One area we found that needed ot be addressed was un Key Area II: Educator Preparation and Development under number 6: Professional Development for Online Learning. As a campus we discussed ways to help our school become higher than the score of 2 (Developing Tech). We decided that we would utilize our district Ning and Moodle for Professional Development.

 At our campus anything below a 3 would be an area of great concern. Our campus completed their chart on May 10, 2011. The results for our campus were rather positive. In  Key area 1: Teaching and instruction and Key area II: Educator Preparation and Development my campus classified as Advanced Tech. In Key area III: Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support and Key area IV: Infrastructure for Technology we ranked the classification of Target Tech.  Our teachers need to feel reasonably secure in the infrastructure otherwise it will not be utilized. “It is essential for leaders in education and government to agree that statewide educational networks are a vital part of the state’s future” (Mathews, 2004, pg. 7). Without a strong infrastructure, our teachers will not use the technology which engages our students.  Our leaders need to also take into consideration the areas they are spending their funding. “Too often school districts invest in technologies because of their high-tech, 21at century appeal without fully considering their impact on student learning and long-term total cost of ownership” (Moore, 2006). We need to find a viable solution to funding and proper disbursement of funding.

Also, under Technology Facilitation VIII, it states “Engage in supervised field-based experiences with accomplished technology facilitators and/or directors” (Williamson & Redish, 2009, pg. 191). I dynamically engaged in meetings with district CITs (campus instructional technologists), Robert Harris (District Administrator of Instructional Technology), and Ron Smith (District Administrator of Technical Services).  On September 9, 2011, our group of CIT’s met at the Highland Park High School library conference room. Our first order of business was to discuss the new district Responsible Use Agreement that was to replace the Acceptable Use form. As the new Responsible Agreement form gets issued to campuses, teachers must sign the agreement and turn in to their respective CITs on their campus. All forms are due by the end of September to the Technology administration offices. We discussed how our district Webmaster and administrator of Skyward was changing jobs and leaving our district. We will have a new person taking over Web-mastering and another person taking over Skyward, online registration, etc. We began discussing the ramifications of the school boards reluctance to allow children under fifth grade to be without a district email address. We discussed how so many innovative web tools require an email address to create an account. One way to work through the problem is for the teacher to create a Google account then use the “google+1” email address as a “ghost” account.  The elementary CIT’s edited the district protocols for elementary teachers to reflect the board decision on students not having district email addresses.

References

Mathews, J.B. (2004, April). Why  statewide educational networks are important to state and educational leaders. Southern Regional Educational Board. Retrieved on April 18, 2011,

Moore, R. J., (2006, August). The five best accelerators in school. School Administrator, 63.7, p.8. from http://www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/pubs/PDF/04T02-Statewide_Ed_Tech_Net_Important.pdf

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.