Week 5 - Course Reflections

When I learned the title of this course, Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link – I envisioned gaining valuable and practicable tools for finding creative ways to reach more students. I also assumed I would learn about the role and responsibilities of administrators both on a campus and district level dealing with the selection and implementation of technological advances. As a teacher, I would be more concerned with every day, actual uses of the technology to strengthen my instruction. But from an administrative point of view, there are more aspects to consider. A number of concerns arise such as finances, connective infrastructure, hardware and software needed and the training of everyone using these new technological advances.
I was able to learn about and examine some of the areas of concern that I mentioned above. There are different roles and responsibilities that must be executed in order to assure that the improvements and additions through technology will be efficient and effective. There should be a set of checks and balances in place in order to fulfill each of those roles. Some of the strategies mentioned in the course I had heard of before and even tried to use a couple in my class. There are some ideas that are new to me which seem very valuable to the learning experiences of students. Some of the articles made the integration of these strategies seem more possible.
I think many of the ideas that I gained from this course are very relevant still. However, as the point of the articles and lectures stated, one drawback to technology is that once we seemed to have master a particular aspect, new advances are made which require continual learning on our part. Hopefully, we stay excited because with each new advancement made we develop better ways to perform the same tasks.
I would have like there to be more actual examples of technology used throughout the course. However, one thing that has become very apparent through this course the amount of time and planning needed to incorporate a large unit or project using features of technology. The actual use of the technology is works with relative ease. The more curious a person is the more able they are typically to navigate through a website and its functions so that they can engage the technology and put it to use. While we didn’t get to use the entire bundle of new “toys and gadgets” we did learn of sites and ways to practice on our own. I had never pasted a power point presentation to a blog entry before and learned a way to do that. I would have liked more applications like that to have been included but as I stated, we were able to take some baby steps in discovering many of the benefits that are available through technological advancements.
By and large I was able to manage and complete our assignments for this course. There were a couple of assignments that required some good ole fashioned trial and error in order to come up with the most effective way of solving an issue. Through a process like trial and error you find out how committed you are to a task or situation. At times, technology is frustrating because it might not do what you are trying to do. Or often, you must use a different language from one computer or program to the next. But we must keep in mind that one we understand how to use the technology, previous tasks will be easier to complete and make the frustrations worth the time and effort.
Now that the course is just about over, I was able to understand how students are changing and what that will require of educators. What is difficult to see is how I have changed from being a teenager to now in my thirties. Some of the good ole day syndrome sets in as I move into the next generation. As new technology is introduced, we cheer at the aspects we can use and appreciate. At the same time, we scoff at those advances that we either don’t understand or don’t want to take the time to incorporate into our every day teaching and leading within a school. At different points in time we were or still are excited about learning. For some of our students, they may not reach that point without the use of technology. As a leader I need to understand that there will be negatives along with the benefits from technology. We must be the ones to continue pointing towards those positive and not dwell on any negative outcomes or attitudes resulting from the integration of technology. We may as well take something that many of our students already use and incorporate our curriculum into their interests.
A somewhat recent resource available to education is the effective use of blogs. Blogs can be used by anyone however in an educational setting, blogs can be highly effective as a means to allow a large group to follow, participate and create during the learning process. A blog allows 24/7 access to learn, share and innovate for multiple users virtually anywhere in the world with internet access. This can allow classrooms hundreds or thousands of miles away to share with and learn from each other. Theoretically, classrooms can have no boundaries with a little imagination and creativity. Blogs can also allow students with less confidence to participate without having to express their thoughts in a time-hurried manner and away from the spotlight of others in a classroom.
Blogs have many positives but do possess some negatives that must be accounted for by educators. Privacy must still be kept from those without intended access to the blog. Also, blog entries they must been censored and monitored to try and ensure safety and proper ethics when using the technology. One other concern I would have is that students might begin to take any information they picked up from a blog as the truth. Since just about anyone can access a blog there is an unlimited number of possibilities for whom and what might be contributed to a blog and its entries.
I believe a blog could be used both on the district website and on campus websites in order to communicate with the entire educational community. Just about anything could be discussed ranging from daily updates and upcoming events to long-term goals and plans for the district/campus. That particular type of blog wouldn’t’ necessarily be one where others could respond but it would allow an administrator to provide a large amount of information in whatever interval of time needed to each group of stakeholders in the educational community. Also, through blog updates, information can be accessed regardless of the day or time. Important reminders and notices could be provided (school closings, announcements, recommendations, etc) could be obtained by parents, students and community members no matter when or where the individual is at the time. So, even over a weekend or holiday break the school can still communicate with its “customers”.