When my wife and I decided to enroll on a distance-learning program we researched on the best alternatives that offered more professionalism, better opportunities, and a reliable name in education. Living in Lake Charles, Louisiana our closest choice was the program offered by McNeese State University, where my wife and I obtained our bachelor’s degrees.
At the beginning we thought that the program was going to require some sacrifices, some extra time off of work, and some energy to complete projects and assignments, and we weren’t mistaken. This online program requires time, effort, and knowledge every week to finish all the assignment required to complete the class after the five weeks.
It is interesting to see how by completing every part of the assignments every week, we increase the knowledge on every topic we work on. Watching the videos online, reading the articles, and collaborating with other students via e-mails and the class wiki is a great way to stay ahead of the assignments every week.
After doing some parts of the weekly assignments, we try to envision the ideas working to our own environments. I bring some of the ideas to school for administrators and teachers to use. I even share some of the reading with the faculty for them to know about some of the techniques that are being use for teachers to accomplish goals within the classes.
Some things we can’t accomplish or implement right away, but we can definitely get ideas, start planning, and move in the direction of getting them implemented for the students to start using them and gaining knowledge for goal accomplishments.
Then, there was the satisfaction of scoring high at the end of each week’s assignments, makes you feel like you are getting the information, and you are understanding the concepts that are being taught.
Overall, we thought it was a great educational experience, full of input for us to start using or to start planning about implementing in our schools in short time period.
This was also a great way to gain personal knowledge about technology and to learn about leadership within technology at school and leadership in general in education.
We are very pleased with the results of this first course, and we can’t wait to see what the next level is going to bring to the plate.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Our First Web Conference
I attended the web conference on Tuesday, August 30th at 8:00pm. The conference was a good experience for me because it let me have a better understanding of the dynamics of this first class. At the beginning I was somehow nervous because I didn’t know if I have to know some information in advance or if I was going to be asked questions. After the other members started asking for clarification, I felt much more comfortable with the session. Dr. Abernathy was very patient and tried to answer all questions for all participants at the end of the conference. Some information that was relevant to me was the TK20 system we will be using, the explanation of the classes, and the timing that the program is going to take us from beginning to end. I think students need to be more prepared now than before, and for future conferences they should read the entire syllabus before participating. That way we don’t ask redundant questions and are able to maximize the time of the conference. Overall, I think the experience was good for a first time conference and the only thing I thought needed to improve was the audio/sound when students participate.
National Educational Technology Plan
The national plan is based on a group of key principles: learning, assessing, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. Learning is engaging and empowering technology techniques based on standard-based concepts for students to use technology. Both students and teachers should have options for engaging in learning. Assessing is measuring what really matters on scenarios where students improve technological use to achieve goals, using data-driven assessments to achieve continuous improvements with technology. Teaching is preparing and connecting all the members of a particular campus with technology. Twenty-first century resources allow professional educators to be able to get access to the technology that enables connected teaching. Infrastructure provides access and enables always-on learning which is available for educators, students, and administrators regardless of their location or time of the day. To be able to change the productivity of education, there has to be a redesign and a transformation in the methods of education. Being able to rethink the basic assumptions, like the misconception of time-based or “seat-time” as a way to measure educational reach is a total misassumption for our technological era. How can the nation get started on all this basic key principals to get a better result of the usage of technology in education? First, districts need to identify what the initial placement is at the different campuses using data-driven assessment that can provide a better, more detailed set of results that can be used as a guide for a starting point. After this data is collected, administrators need to work on what is available for teachers and guides to obtain professional development according to the needs of the particular school, setting goals for teachers and students to reach in a certain amount of time. Finally, get help from other institutions to be able to acquire technology equipment to use within the schools to promote the program and to engage students to use it to achieve success.
CPSB Technology Plan for Application to E-Rate
This answer is based on the Calcasieu Parish School Board Technology Plan from Louisiana. The technology plan states that the goals for the parish are based on four concrete steps: strengthen leadership, improved teaching training, support e-leaning and virtual schools, and provide improved access and technology usage. The evaluation to improve the technology within the parish recommends that several actions take place in order to accomplish positive results by the year 2014. On strengthen leadership, the data suggests that all educators must complete required professional development time in order to get credit for their contracts. Teachers will be frequently evaluated by LDE, CPSS, and Region V to record data for a better understanding of the plan. On improving teaching training, the data suggests that the parish needs to look for the resources to offer quality professional development to all teachers and to find timing to do so without interfering with the normal school curriculum. On supporting virtual learning and e-schools, the plan suggests that the parish provides schools with the necessary funds to support e-learning and that some e-learning courses are implemented during summer sessions. The plan also suggests that the schools promote the e-learning courses and encourage teachers to use them regularly for a better use of regular class hours. Finally, it talks about providing improved access and technology usage and suggests that parishes should take the time to look for bundled software packages with the vendors that maximizes the budget for technology within campuses. At the same time, individual schools must participate in “E-Rate” programs, and seek for federal help to improve the technological experience across the schools.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Technology Teams: Implementing and Leading Technology
It is important for teachers and students to be literate in technology tools for educational achievements. Data driven assessment must take place within the technological team of the school to be able to perform an initial placement as to the kind of technology the campuses need. The initial placement should be based on facts like how students learn, what skills they posses and which ones they need, and their understanding of technology to predict if new technology will actually improve their way of learning.
Teachers on the other hand need to be assessed on facts like their skills on research tools and the internet, safe environment, their technological knowledge at initial point, what software/hardware they are familiar with, budgeting technology needs for the campus, and professional development.
By assessing this key data on both teachers and students, a great value of understanding initial placement is accomplished. There are variation factors that also play key roles in the implementation of new technology, and they also need to be considered when putting together a technology plan for a particular campus or district. If the initial placement determines a low technological environment as the result of all these assessments, the implementation of new technology needs to be carefully approached. Students can be at a disadvantage from technology as much as they can benefit from it. If correctly approached, technology can be a life changing experience for both students and leaders. It all depends on the results of the data to create a plan that fits the particular needs of particular campuses.
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So, if you haven't found out, I (Jessica Rivero) teach Math and I LOVE IT!! My goal is to get as many students as possible as interested in math as I am! Here I will post tips and tricks that I find work in my classroom and you can try it in yours! I hope you enjoy!!
Welcome to Lamar University Technology Leadership Program
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