This was the final web conference for the EDLD 5306 course. It is hard to believe that it is over already. Time goes by fast when you keep really, really busy.
The conference was very helpful for me. I had several questions regarding the Internship plan and the Principals Competencies and Skills Chart. Dr. Borel was able to answer them and clear up other concerns I had as well. She provided examples of activities for the Internship plan and explained that we should use as many activities as possible that fall within our regular job duties. This information was very helpful and enabled me to complete my plan after the conference.
The documents that needed to be uploaded to TK20 were clarified and Dr. Borel explained the new summary report we will have to complete during the internship time. She was also able to explain the course embedded hours reflection we are required to complete for each course with embedded hours.
This has been a wonderful experience and I was able to learn a lot about educational leadership and technology. I am looking forward to the rest of the courses in this program.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
EDLD 5306 Concepts of Technology - End of Course Reflection
The outcomes I envisioned for the course were to learn more about the Educational Technology Leadership program, become familiar and more comfortable with the online aspect of the course, to learn more about integrating the Web 2.0 tools into my classroom, and to learn more about the leadership component of education. I believe that I accomplished these outcomes. I am now familiar and comfortable with the online course format. I enjoy the web conferences as well as all of the discussion posts. The few frustrations I encountered with the technology involved were more than worth it, when I consider all that I have been able to learn. I understand the requirements of the program and I have learned more about wikis and blogs and would feel comfortable integrating them into my classroom. I have also begun to learn more about all the leadership aspects involved in having an administrative position. I think that the actual outcomes of this course not only aligned with what I had originally envisioned but also added much more.
The outcomes from this course are very relevant to the work I do at my school. I have always been the tech person to go to if you need something fixed or need to learn how to use something. I can figure out how to use just about anything and teach someone else to use it. I however, do not have a lot of experience in actually integrating technology into the curriculum. I have always taught how to use technology not how to use technology to learn something else. This course has given me a lot of great information and ideas on how to begin integrating technology into the various courses taught at my school. I am already planning a collaborative lesson using a web conference with an AP Geography teacher and an English teacher. This course has gotten me more interested in the integration side of technology and not just how it works.
I feel that the only thing I did not achieve that I had really wanted to, was completing all of the readings. I read the required articles but I really tried to read all of the posted articles. Some weeks it was easy and I was finished before I realized it. Other weeks it was difficult to find the time to read them in between all of my other responsibilities. I found that if I downloaded the articles and saved them in my dropbox, I was able to read them on my iPad while I was waiting at various places; which helped with the time management. Once I got started most of the articles were very interesting and I was eager to read more. There were only a few that I did not find interesting and had a hard time finishing.
I think I was successful in completing the course assignments. I was really worried about the APA format and spent a lot of time researching and even purchased a couple of guidebooks in addition to the required text for the class. Some of the assignments were very lengthy; which caused me to impose some very strict time management rules. The first couple of weeks were overwhelming with the items we had to track down for the assignments. We were halfway through the first week before I accepted the fact that I was not going to be able to obtain a copy of my states technology plan and decided to use the Texas plan. This caused a lot of stress because of the amount of work I had to do with the plan in a very short amount of time. I decided after that to use the Texas information for everything and not waste the valuable time trying to locate information that may not exist.
There were so many things I learned during this course. During the first week we completed numerous self-assessments. The results of the learning styles and technology assessments did not surprise me. The leadership assessments opened my eyes to all I have to learn about school leadership and my aversion to conflict. The second week gave me an opportunity to become familiar with my districts new technology plan and where we stand on the implementation of the plan. I also enjoyed reading and learning about the national plan and the major school reform it would require. After that I got to experience using blogs and wikis. I enjoyed using these Web 2.0 tools and being able to collaborate with my classmates. During this final week I have learned a lot about the internship requirements and the amount of time and work that it is going to involve. These requirements worry me but I am looking forward to the challenge. I think that the most valuable thing I have learned during this course is that I am able to be successful in a master degree program.
The outcomes from this course are very relevant to the work I do at my school. I have always been the tech person to go to if you need something fixed or need to learn how to use something. I can figure out how to use just about anything and teach someone else to use it. I however, do not have a lot of experience in actually integrating technology into the curriculum. I have always taught how to use technology not how to use technology to learn something else. This course has given me a lot of great information and ideas on how to begin integrating technology into the various courses taught at my school. I am already planning a collaborative lesson using a web conference with an AP Geography teacher and an English teacher. This course has gotten me more interested in the integration side of technology and not just how it works.
I feel that the only thing I did not achieve that I had really wanted to, was completing all of the readings. I read the required articles but I really tried to read all of the posted articles. Some weeks it was easy and I was finished before I realized it. Other weeks it was difficult to find the time to read them in between all of my other responsibilities. I found that if I downloaded the articles and saved them in my dropbox, I was able to read them on my iPad while I was waiting at various places; which helped with the time management. Once I got started most of the articles were very interesting and I was eager to read more. There were only a few that I did not find interesting and had a hard time finishing.
I think I was successful in completing the course assignments. I was really worried about the APA format and spent a lot of time researching and even purchased a couple of guidebooks in addition to the required text for the class. Some of the assignments were very lengthy; which caused me to impose some very strict time management rules. The first couple of weeks were overwhelming with the items we had to track down for the assignments. We were halfway through the first week before I accepted the fact that I was not going to be able to obtain a copy of my states technology plan and decided to use the Texas plan. This caused a lot of stress because of the amount of work I had to do with the plan in a very short amount of time. I decided after that to use the Texas information for everything and not waste the valuable time trying to locate information that may not exist.
There were so many things I learned during this course. During the first week we completed numerous self-assessments. The results of the learning styles and technology assessments did not surprise me. The leadership assessments opened my eyes to all I have to learn about school leadership and my aversion to conflict. The second week gave me an opportunity to become familiar with my districts new technology plan and where we stand on the implementation of the plan. I also enjoyed reading and learning about the national plan and the major school reform it would require. After that I got to experience using blogs and wikis. I enjoyed using these Web 2.0 tools and being able to collaborate with my classmates. During this final week I have learned a lot about the internship requirements and the amount of time and work that it is going to involve. These requirements worry me but I am looking forward to the challenge. I think that the most valuable thing I have learned during this course is that I am able to be successful in a master degree program.
Friday, December 9, 2011
EDLD 5306 Web Conference Week 4 - December 8, 2011
This weeks web conference provided a lot of valuable information. Dr. Borel discussed the changes to week fives assignments and we went over the Internship Plan and Principals Competency and Skills Chart. I feel much more comfortable about completing those two items now that Dr. Borel has explained the process and the selection of activities. She also discussed what we are required to submit to TK20 and the deadline for submitting all course work.
We were also able to ask questions about this weeks assignments, including the Professional Curriculum Vita we are to complete. After listening to the questions and answers I was able to edit my vita to be more suitable for its purposes.
I enjoy attending the web conferences because I think that it helps me feel more connected to the other people in the cohort. It helps to see that other people have the same questions and concerns that I do and it is helpful to put faces with the names we always see on the Blogs and Wikis.
We were also able to ask questions about this weeks assignments, including the Professional Curriculum Vita we are to complete. After listening to the questions and answers I was able to edit my vita to be more suitable for its purposes.
I enjoy attending the web conferences because I think that it helps me feel more connected to the other people in the cohort. It helps to see that other people have the same questions and concerns that I do and it is helpful to put faces with the names we always see on the Blogs and Wikis.
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