Week 2 Assessments, Blog Post #3- National Educational Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan 2010 named five essential components of learning powered by technology. The First component is Learning: Engaging and Empowering. This means those in charge of education should create relevant, engaging, personal experiences for our students, that mimic their daily lives and allows for them to realize their futures. The second component is Assessment: Measure what Matters. Summed up, this means technology assessments can and should be used to help diagnose and accommodate students while also helping educators for grading and accountability. The third component is Teaching: Preparing and Connecting. This component means that educators connecting with other educators from around our nation and world, allows each to learn and teach more efficiently for all students thus allowing for more optimal student growth. The fourth component is Infrastructure: Access and Enable. Infrastructure integrates digital tools while connecting educators to resources they need at school to allow for student technological success. The fifth component is Productivity: Redesign and Transform. Data must be created and relevant for educators and leaders. These educators need the proper support, tools, and training and must be able to manage, process, and analyze data, and implement action accordingly.

I believe all of this is an acceptable goal that should be met, but as with anything, funding is an issue. It seems our schools are getting some funding, but it is not enough to allow for the proper professional, continued development that is needed for all educators. Government programs seem to spend more funding on collecting data than spending it on what they know needs the funding. If they know educators need professional development, they shouldn’t waste funding on surveys, etc., that are unnecessary.

National Education Technical Working Group. (2010, November). Transforming american education, learning: Powered by technology." Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010.

Week 2 Assignments, Blog Post #2- District Technology Plan

My district’s technology plan was developed in 2010 and allows for all goals to be met by 2013.  Four goals were applied to the plan. These goals consisted of incorporating technology as a part of administrative services, enhancing academic achievement of students through the use of current technology in the teaching process, providing staff with useful professional development, and allowing them the opportunity to apply the technology in a student-centered learning environment, and maintaining and upgrading technological capabilities in the district. Our district Technology Director along with our Curriculum Director are in charge of staff professional development opportunities.

Only 2% of our budget is allotted for professional/staff development. More than half of our budget is for new technology equipment. 5% of our budget allows for maintenance of existing technology. Our budget also allows 21% of funds for telecommunications and internet services.

Our district allows for a replacement cycle of 100 computers per year which replaces campus computer labs on a 3-year cycle, and teacher computers on a 5-year cycle.  We have 131 classrooms and 100% have computers in them. Our district computer/student ratio is 3:1 with every teacher in the district having a computer.

Every classroom at our elementary campus has an interactive white board with a mounted overhead projector. Also, every classroom has 2 student computers with internet access for Reading/Math programs, research, etc.

Our district is working diligently to keep up with our technological world.

(2010). Orangefield isd technology plan: 2010-2013. Retrieved from https://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/eplan.cgi?I=reportoption_c.

Week 2 Web Conference 8/30/11 8:00PM

In the web conference I attended on Wednesday, August 30, 2011, we went over the admission requirements for the University. We also discussed requirements for Internship which included information about our Site-Mentor and our Internship Application. Course dates were overviewed by Ms. Borel. There was still much technical difficulties, but we were able to get through it with the live chat. We discussed the TK20 account which is in place for our professional portfolio. Ms. Borel discussed the web conferences and also mentioned that the discussion boards need to be finalized and the assignments need to be posted by Sunday at 11:00 PM because so many people are trying to turn in their assignments at that time. It was mentioned that we would need 150 Internship hours that would be embedded throughout our courses. It was mentioned that we contact technical support for help with the internet or submitting assignments, and that we contact our associate instructor as our first base of contact for information regarding assignments.

Week 2 Assignments, Part 3, Blog Post #1- Technology Assessments

The assessment of technology used by educators and technology knowledge of educators is now required. For educators to stay on top or ahead of the new technology generation, we must be ready and willing to change to conform to their needs. It is so important for a school district to determine what type of technology knowledge their teachers have, and it is the districts responsibility, along with the teachers, to make sure current updates, professional development, and continuing education is available. Districts will present new information to their teachers in a 6 hour workshop and never allow them any other time during the year to implement what they’ve learned, and apply those new skills in the classroom.  The STaR Chart is a good starting point for districts to get some idea of what is the greatest need for student technology success, but they can’t stop there. Technology is ever-changing and ongoing and so must training for educators be as well. If educators are only filling out surveys and spending a lot of time doing so, and they are not getting training or updates every few months, technology surveys are really not needed. Assessing what our students know and teaching them to become computer literate, is a goal that all districts should have so that today’s generation is ready for an ever-changing technological world. Allowing students to learn using technology they already are familiar with and training educators to help them with that process, is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

(2008-2010). Texas campus star chart. Retrieved from http://starchart.esc12.net/orangefieldisd.

Webcast Week 1

August 24, 2011 8:00PM

This is the first webcast I’ve attended. I was a little nervous and somewhat overwhelmed. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and putting faces to names. Ms. Borel was very helpful and understanding. I’m so excited about this degree and look forward to a wonderful 18 months. I know it will be a challenge, but I’m always up for a challenge.