Unit 12 - Course Eval.

 I enjoyed the blended/flipped learning environment that this class used. Listening to and collaborating with colleagues dealing with similar challenges was very helpful. This course also exposed many of us to online resources that we were not aware of.  I shared many of these with my staff and I use them for professional development ideas for our staff.  We dealt with many of the current educational technology issues that schools are dealing with and provided us with a better framework for understanding and making decisions for our schools.


I liked the way the course was designed and the variety of topics discussed, so it is difficult to provide suggestions for improvement.  I thought the number of class meetings was appropriate. The online portion of the class, the quizzes, and the project were well designed.

Inevitable

The role of the superintendent in making the vision of Inevitable come to life is multifaceted.  The superintendent needs to educate themselves about the technology needed in order to implement vision, the infrastructure needed within the school, and the costs associated with implementation.  The superintendent also needs to communicate that vision to the school board, teachers and other administrators.  Hiring practices need to be modified in order to ensure that new employees are aware of able to implement the vision.  Appropriate training must be planned for staff and students.  This plan must also be rolled out for the community to understand and be a part of.

Making such a dramatic change cannot happen overnight.  It must be rolled out in stages.  There are many options but my long-term implementation plan would look something like the following:

1.  Pilot the learning experience the students and teachers will be a part of in one class. 1 semester
2.  Extend the pilot program to teachers that volunteer to be a part of it. 1 semester
3.  Implement the plan for one entire grade level (freshman) 1 year
4.  Extend the plan to upcoming grades each year - full implementation by year 4

Throughout and leading up to these steps, staff will will be involved in education/training and site visits to schools.  Staff and Administration will need to be in a constant state of reflection/review, improving the reality of the vision as needed.

Technology and the Superintendent

The Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE) is an organization focused solely on the needs of technology leaders. Their School Tech Leadership website (http://www.aasa.org/AASATechResources.aspx) has a wide variety of resources for administrators ranging from one-to-one initiatives, Education law, online schools, use of gaming as an educational tool, school finance and other selected educational blogs.

 The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) website (http://schooltechleadership.org/) has a variety of resources for all areas of administration, including technology. This is a more comprehensive site for all the needs of an administrator.  The technology resources section has wide ranging information from cyberbullying, social media, national contact information,

One of the duties of a Superintendent is to stay informed on the wide variety of educational issues. Limited time is a major factor that District officials must contend with on a daily basis.  When they need answers to questions or information regarding trends in education and technology, they will want a reliable information source.  These websites will serve as good resource for administrators. 

WikiSpaces

Here is the link to my Wiki page:   http://marionbears.wikispaces.com/
I created this page to keep my staff up to date on our Tech Tuesday schedule.  In the future I hope to make it more interactive and include all of our professional development activities.

I like the Wiki pages for its simplicity, however, I am used to working on our school's webpage and prefer the control that html allows.  This is a very easy way for teachers to create and manage a webpage for their class.  The option to use it as a collaborative tool opens up many opportunities to engage their students.

Cyberbullying

After having looked over these cyberbullying sites, go to your blog and respond to the following questions:
• What online resources and information did you find most useful?
• How can these resources be used in your school to address cyberbullying?
• How do you teach students and staff about cyberbullying?

     I found the "Enough is Enough" website to be an excellent source of general knowledge for educators, parents, and students.  I like how it stressed the importance of the action or inaction of bystanders.  We need to do a better job of educating our students about how bystanders can be a key component of bully prevention.  This site, as well as StopBullying.gov, did a nice job of detailing the steps that students and parents should take when they find themselves the victim of bulling.

Ask the bully to stop and tell someone else that the bullying is taking place
Copy/Print the evidence,
Block the bully,
Report the bully to the website,
Report to school officials
Get the authorities involved.

     For students, I found the FBI site to excellent.  The FBI site for safe online surfing offered an education program for students in grades 3-8.  This should/could be used as a component of our technology curriculum.  Education at an early age is key to future prevention. Integration of the FBI site into our computer classes is already a discussion item between my computer and technology staff and I.
     The NASSP and NSBA sites were full of resources for administration and School Board Members.  Sample school policies were available as well as examples of school climate surveys that can be used to gauge your schools bully prevention program.  We will be using aspects of the school climate survey to analyze the District.  To me, it seems as though there has been improvement in our number of bullying cases.  A school climate survey will hopefully confirm my assumption.
     Our current methods of educating our staff and students about cyberbullying are unorganized and inadequate.  We have had yearly programs where we bring in a guest speaker to address our students. Our beginning of the school year assembly reviewed the school bullying policies with students and staff.  We also stress to staff that they need to be visible to students and actively listening in the halls and wherever students are present.  We are a small school and sometime allow ourselves to be complacent on things of this nature.  This information should help revitalize the bully prevention education in our school.

Research on the Effectiveness of Educational Technology

Assignment 1: After having looked over these educational technology research sites, go to your blog and respond to the following questions:
• Give a brief review of the research you found on these sites.
• What are your reactions to this research?
Is this information helpful in justifying the use and expense of technology in our schools?

The use of online learning in schools continues to increase.  The primary objective is to ensure the availability of high quality education to all students.  Schools need to determine the best format for the online environment in their schools.  Proper use of technology in a one to one environment can lead to improvements in student motivation, engagement, achievement, 21st century skills, and self directed learning.  The instructional practices of teachers will be positively impacted by technology use if there is proper training and infrastructure available.

I agree with these assumptions about the potential impact that technology, one-to-one learning environments, and online learning can have on our education system.  I have witnessed these things in my school with our students that have had the opportunity to take advantage of it.  At this time many of these resources are only available for remedial and advanced studies but we will soon begin to make this available on a larger scale and I am excited to see the results.  For the past 5-10 years, many schools have had the equipment to offer these types of educational opportunities but have allowed it to reach its full potential.    The schools that have piloted these programs are now the examples that we should try to emulate or modify to fit with the needs of our district.

The expense of technology resources cannot be ignored.  It is one of the major aspects that has held schools back from using technology to its full potential.  Many of the resources we have used thus far have been teacher-based, such as smart boards and projectors, online grade books, etc.  It is now time to put the tools available into our students hands with online classes, online textbooks, blended classes, etc.   The investments in technology that schools have already made will be wasted if we do not continue to move forward.  School technology budgets are going to continue to increase.  We need to make informed decisions about our purchases and provide the time and training to implement.

One-to-One Intiative

What are some potential barriers to implementing a one-to-one initiative?

There are number issues to consider as one enters a one-to-one learning environment.  There are 3 big barriers that school boards and other school leaders need to consider before implementation: The stability of the network, the total cost, and staff training and reluctance.  If the network is not stable or dependable the technology will not be used.  Start-up costs are typically easier to figure out than the maintenance and upkeep costs so budgets must be planned carefully.  This is a long-term commitment your school is making so Boards need to consider future sources of funding.  If your school is going to spend the money on this technology then your staff needs to be on board and given training and time to come up with a vision for how their classes will be enhanced with this initiative.  They also need to be involved in the decision making process

What are the benefits to implementing a one-to-one initiative? and…How does the teaching and learning process change when every student has a laptop computer, or mobile device?

The benefits of the one-to-one initiative are numerous.  They include increased access to information, extending instructional opportunities, improving student motivation, using 21^st Century skills, etc.  For some, they can be used to allow students to do remedial work in an online classroom.  They can be used to take AP other classes that are not offered in your district.  The learnining environment becomes limitless.  There will be more opportunities for personalized content for students and online professional development for staff.  Teachers will have to plan differently for their classes if they are going to use this technology to its fullest potential.  Here is where the necessity of training is essential or we risk technology being used as a baby sitter or pacifier.

At this point in time, how would you respond if a school board member asked if your school should implement a one-to-one initiative?

If a school board member asked me if we should implement a one-to-one initiative I would say it should have been done 10 years ago.  After that I would ask them questions to determine what their current knowledge of the initiative is and what their expectations are.  It is important to dispel any misconceptions Board members may have about how the initiative will work, what kind of results they should expect, and the ongoing costs.  For our students to excel in the 21^st Century we will have to put 21^st century tools in our students hands.  Educators will have to give them 21^st century tasks to do with those tools and expect results that meet or exceed our 21^st Century standards.  The one-to-one initiative is a must have for school districts.  It should be very high on the list of priorities for a school board to continue or begin supporting.