Sunday, January 29, 2012

Web Conference for EDLD 5253

I have attended web conferences before.  This one was alittle on the frustrating side.  The professor was unable to see the dialogue box.  And because of that, several students wrote the same thing- asking about the wiki.  It was finally determined that EDLD 5253 doesn't have a wiki.

Then a student was talking about receiving conflicting information on the overview and the professor argued with her.  It was finally discovered by the other professor that the student was right.  The professor did apologize to her. 

Also the professor forgot to record the web conference.  The web conference was not a full hour long (only 50 minutes).

I didn't feel that it was a productive web conference. 

EDLD 5352 -2nd Week Assignment- STaR Chart Presentation

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EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership- Blog Posting #1

Texas Long Range Plan for Technology,  2006-2020-

Of the four areas listed under this plan, the area of concern that I would like to address is Educator Preparation and Development relating to schools in general.  The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Title II, Part D) states that all teachers should be technology literate and integrate technology across the curriculum.  The legislation also requires that all students should be technology literate by the time they leave the eighth grade (Givens, 2006, p. 1).  Texas teachers are assessed by completing the STaR Chart for their campus each year.  Teachers know that they are required to incorporate technology and in many cases are even given the technology to fulfill that requirement.  The concern lies within the knowledge of the technology and the insecurities of the teachers.  Are teachers given adequate training and follow through?  Are teachers letting the 'fear of the unknown' or their fears of not-knowing-it-all bind them?  According to Mary Burns (2002), "the distance between teachers and students- academic, emotional, and physical- had diminished as teachers became co-learners with students" (p. 296).  Teachers know what is required, they even know some of the benefits, and they are given the technology, but it can't be assumed that they know how to use it and that they will be given support when using the technology.  More professional experiences need to be available, teachers need to be exposed to the technology being used in the 'everyday classroom', and teachers need to have time to work with the new knowledge that they acquired during training.


References:
Burns, M. (2002). From compliance to commitment: Technology as a catalyst for communities of learning. Phi Delta Kappan, (84)4, 295-303.


Givens, A. (2006). Texas star chart instructional materials and educational technology division. Texas Educational Agency, 1. Retrieved from http://starchart.esc12.net

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Last Week for this Course (EDLD 5388)

For the first three weeks of this course, I had to select a group to work with.  The group had to take survey relating to our campus, then we discussed results from the survey.  I picked two teachers, a counselor, and a diagnostician to work with me.  The hardest part was getting together to work on the weekly assignments.  We had to correspond mainly through email.  It is hard to rely on others, but overall the experience was eye opening.  It is amazing how different staff members evaluate the same group of students and the same school.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

EDLD 5388- Schools as Learning Communities

I'm in my 2nd week of this class.  It is quite interesting to discover what learning communities are which includes being part of a team (not just being in a group).  Being part of team is sharing a goal, having accountability, coaches and leaders, cohesion, high level of commitment, and more conflict (more invested) (taken directly from video 2 in week 2). 

I have discovered that I am not part of a team at my school (anyways).  Change needs to be made, but it is hard just for one to two people to make that change.