Reflection EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership

This course has over exceeded my expectations. My understanding of the importance of technology was very limited. Prior to taking this course I saw technology as a means to enhance an already sound curriculum. I expected this course to contribute to that philosophy. However, the course has allowed me to understand that there is a necessary shift that needs to be taken in the state of Texas towards a more efficient use of technology. It is my duty as a technology facilitator to be a catalyst for this change. The course has helped me by providing me with the necessary tools through guide me through this process. I now see that as educators we need to modify our methods to meet the technology driven lives that our students lives. This course has taught me that we have not caught up with the lives that our students lead outside of the classroom.
These outcomes are extremely relevant to my work as a technology facilitator. I have seen that there is a lot that needs to be done with our students prior to sending them into the workforce or secondary education. For one, our students need to learn to be responsible users of technology and the sources of information that come along with it. By giving our students training on ethical use of the Internet we can better prepare them to be better workers and students. This can prevent students from breaking copyright laws in the future. This can also help our students in their daily lives. Many of our students find it easy to infringe on many of the copy right laws, partake in unsafe use of social websites, and participate in cyber bullying. It should be our responsibility to train our student on how not to use these tools. We cannot leave this to our parents due to the fact that many of them are unaware on how to use the Internet themselves.
I gathered many interesting ideas from this course; however, I did not get a full understanding of how to put these ideas into practice. I feel that the reason that this was not accomplished was due to the lack of time to implement our new learning into practice. For example, I know I recognize that there is a need to train our students on the responsible use of the Internet; however, I am not sure as to how this can be achieved. I also gathered from this course that staff needs further training on the meaningful use of technology in the classroom. From the interviews I learned that offering these trainings in the summer is not making enough of an impact in my district. I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to conjure solutions to the problems that were highlighted by my new learning. This would have made my ability to implement these new ideas far easier.
I was successful in carrying out the course requirements. I feel that these requirements did consume time; however, this time was well spent in meaningful activities. The class discussion and replies allowed me to gain an understanding of other educators. This was useful as I was forming my own ideas. The blogs allowed me to reflect and demonstrate my understanding of the course. I believe that looking at the Texas long range plan was the most useful. Because of this assignment I was able to see the point in which my district is and needs to be under this plan. I now understand that we need to format both our campus improvement plans and district improvement plans to meet the needs of the Texas long range plan. The readings that were assigned also gave me great insight into the discussions that are going on about technology in the education field.
I have learned that my understanding of technology prior to taking this course were limited and archaic. I now see a need to revamp our curriculum to meet the technology Texas essential knowledge and skills. The use of technology that we have now in our classrooms no longer suffices. I feel that this new knowledge has served as vantage point for me. It has allowed me to shift my attitude. I once saw a need to resist technology in education. I felt that it was important to retain the education values that have been instilled in the American public school for many years. I now understand that this reasoning has no sense to it. Our world is in a constant shift our global markets no longer values the skills one taught to our students. Our students need proper training in technology in order to be able to compete with other nations. They are our nation’s future. We need to prepare them.
The value of blogs to the 21st century learner is immeasurable. This has become a very popular form of communication amongst our students. Many of them use this communication on social websites. Our students use these tools in negative contexts. It is time that we use our school resources to teach our students to use blogging as a means to communicate in an educational or professional setting. Many teachers already have set up classroom websites. They could easily include a blog to communicate with their students. As school leaders we can lead by example by using a blog on our district website to communicate with staff and the community. This will demonstrate an initiative to use technology. This will further the campus vision and provide an example to the rest of the district community. This communication can include, but not be limited to campus vision, mission, parental involvement, meeting agendas, and other necessary information that is open to the public.