EDLD 5301 Week 2

I am beginning to see that action research can be used in any area of schools, including staff development, student learning, behavior issues, and everything in between.  The method and the degree of formality of action research will be different for different types of concerns.  With each course activity, I am seeing the differences between action research and traditional research.  Most professionals in education naturally engage in reflection and observation.  Performing action research allows this to be done systematically so concerns and problems can be addressed most successfully or even prevented.  I am excited to perform my action research on how SMART Boards can be used in the classroom to increase student motivation and maximize student learning.  In the video this week, Dr. Lewis emphasized the importance of action research being practical and important to the researcher.  Because this topic meets both of those criteria for me, I am even more certain that this is the topic I want to research.

Week 1: A Description of Action Research

                Action research is not what I expected it to be.  As a psychology major in college, the only research I learned about and participated in had experimental and control groups and involved complex statistics.  Action research, however, is based on inquiry and reflection.  Rather than an outsider attempting to perform experiments that apply to all school districts, action research is personal and applies to a specific situation.  It is a method of problem-solving and a form of professional development for educators and administrators.  It should be a continuous process for every educator and is necessary for growth and improvement.  To perform action research, one must pose questions or concerns about a particular aspect of their school, read the literature to see what is already known about this topic, formulate a strategy for improving or solving the problem, implement the strategies, and perform assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies.  Action research is beneficial because it allows educators to become proactive problem-solvers.

                After learning what action research actually is, I realize that I was already engaging in action research to some degree.  However, I feel that if I begin to intentionally and systematically perform action research in my classroom, I will greater experience its’ benefits.  I feel that I should be reflecting on and analyzing every lesson, assignment, and assessment in my classroom.  This will result in improvement of my future lessons, assignments, and assessments and will also give me feedback on how to approach the same material the next year.  As an educational technology student and a teacher that uses technology daily, I can also use action research to evaluate the use of technology in my classroom and to maximize my students’ learning through technology.

                Educational leaders can use blogs as a journal for reflections.  Reflective blogs can be incorporated into action research and used as a source of data collection.  Also, when one posts their reflections on a blog, their reflections can be shared with other educational leaders who can learn from those reflections.  Others can also comment on your reflections, allowing insights that the blogger might not have thought of before.

Course Reflections

For this course, I had envisioned gaining an overview of how to integrate technology into the classroom and an overview of the internship plan.  Through this course, I read advice and strategies on integrating technology written in journal articles and I reviewed the Texas STAR charts, the E-rate plan, and the technology TEKS for students in kindergarten through 8^th grade.  I used many web tools for the first time such as blogs, wikis, and wordle.  I believe the only way to learn how to use these tools is to start using them and learn as you go.  Also, once I used these tools, I began to see all the possibilities they create for education.  I created an internship plan that I am excited to begin working on.  I don’t believe I would have been able to create all of the activities for the plan if I had not received the basics of technology integration in the first four weeks of the course.

I already find the information and skills I received from this course relevant to my job and I’m sure I will find more and more uses for them in the upcoming year.  First, I can use much of what I learned in my own classroom.  I gained many ideas and strategies for integrating technology to teach my students 21^st century skills and also to maximize their learning of the subject area.  Also, I feel that I can use the information and skills I received from this course to help my fellow teachers.  I can inform them of information or ideas that I have seen or read about that I find will suit their teaching style and subject area.  Examples of areas I feel I can assist my fellow teachers are creating classroom blogs and wikis, finding online resources to enhance their lessons, and strategies on classroom management and safety when using technology.

I believe that I achieved all the outcomes I had envisioned for this course.  I did not expect to learn about topics in depth, I expected to learn a little about each topic and then cover these topics in depth in future courses.  I believe I was successful in carrying out the course assignments.  In the beginning, I had to relearn how to use APA style for referencing and learned the importance of including references in assignments.

From this course, I learned that I would like to work as a technology facilitator in a school.  I love to use technology in the classroom and see great benefits from it.  I believe this program will allow me to improve upon my own integration of technology and will allow me to share this information with other teachers.  While I do not like to be a leader in the sense that I am in charge of adults like a principal, I do believe that I possess the leadership skills to be responsible for technology integration in my school.  I also learned that while my attitudes about technology are much different than many of my colleagues, I agreed with a lot of the experts in the field from the articles we read.  Finally, I learned that I do not know near as much about technology as I thought I did.  When I started the program, I knew a lot about the technologies that we have access to in my school, but I know very little about technologies that we do not currently have access to.  If I want to be a technology leader, I must learn how to use these technologies and tools so that I can bring them into my district and show others how to use them.

Web Conference Reflection

     I attended the web conference Wednesday night, January 19.  It was very frustrating to me because the connection was bad and I did not hear most of what Ms. Borel was saying.  I feel like I missed important information.  If anything was discussed that has not been told to us elsewhere (discussion posts, announcements, etc.) could someone please let me know.  Overall, I feel that web conferences are a great way to communicate in an online class.  Hopefully once I learn how to use a web conference and the connection is better I will have a more successful experience.  From what I did understand, I was overwhelmed by the internship.  However, I have a feeling that once I begin it and take it one activity at a time, it will not seem so overwhelming.  I am excited for this experience; I feel that I will learn a lot from the hands-on internship.

Blog Posting #3-National Educational Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan was established to ensure that the public education system make a shift through the use of technology from traditional learning to a new model of learning that prepares students for a global, 21^st century society.  The learning goal of the plan is that students will have engaging and empowering learning experiences in and out of school that create this shift in education.  To do this a new form of learning must be created which is personalized, lifelong, and student-centered.  Education must provide 24/7 access enabling students to form online learning communities with their peers, teachers, experts, and mentors, extending learning outside the walls of the classroom.  21^st century competencies should be included in all content areas, giving students experience with real-world tools to solve real-world problems.  The assessment goal encourages technology-based assessments that not only provide summative data for grading purposes, but provide formative data that drives the direction of instruction.  This type of assessment will continually improve learning outcomes and productivity and will allow a system of interconnected feedback.  The teaching goal ensures that teachers will have full access to resources allowing them to become facilitators of students’ self-directed learning.  Professional development will be a blend of in-person workshops and convenient online environments that offer collaborative opportunities.  There is a gap in the understanding of technology between the technical ability of teachers and the technical ability required of professionals in other sectors.  This gap prevents education from taking full advantage of technology.  The infrastructure goal is that students and teachers will have complete access to technology when and where they need it, allowing integration of learning in and out of school and participation in online learning communities.  The productivity goal is that technology redesigns processes and structures to improve learning while at the same time making efficient use of time, money, and staff.

                I noticed that the national plan was very similar to the Texas Long-Range Technology Plan; two differences I noticed are the national plan places greater emphasis on technology-based assessment to create formative student data and greater emphasis on productivity.  One issue I saw is that creating a comprehensive infrastructure will require a significant amount of money and I did not see a budget for the plan.  Also, in the productivity section the plan advocated schools that organize around competence rather than seat time, flexible scheduling that fit students’ individual needs rather than traditional academic periods, and incorporating online learning.  This could become an issue as some parents and community stakeholders may have a hard time accepting and understanding this new model of learning.

Blog Post #2-District Technology Plan

My district technology plan has four goals that address the four categories of the STAR chart.  The first goal is to integrate technology throughout the curriculum so that all students will meet the expectations of the technology applications TEKS.  Strategies include teachers using their available technology daily in all subjects, teachers meeting annually for vertical alignment, continual training for teachers, and upgrading district software.  To meet this goal, students must be using technology for critical analysis and evaluation and using technology to communicate world-wide with students and experts.  The second goal is that through increased educator preparation and development, teachers will become technologically proficient so they can successfully integrate the technology applications TEKS.  Strategies include hiring a district technology facilitator and qualified technical support and offering incentives and ongoing training, including online methods.  The third goal is that the school district’s administration and support services will integrate technology usage throughout the school district.  Strategies include expanding the district website and expanding community access to district information.  The fourth goal is to provide sufficient budget and support to expand and update the hardware and infrastructure.  Strategies include updating and replacing existing hardware, continuing to provide high-speed internet access, and providing timely technical support.

Professional development opportunities will be available focusing on integrating technology into the curriculum through workshops provided by the education service center and online.  Our district pays for most workshops at the education service center and we are given three comp days during the year for workshops we attend during the summer.  There is a sufficient budget to support the plan; the budget includes staff development, telecommunications and internet access, materials and supplies, equipment, maintenance, and miscellaneous expenses.  The services, equipment, and the plan itself will be assessed and evaluated using the STAR chart four times annually.  Adjustments will be made after each assessment to ensure that the district is moving towards the target level.

Blog Post #1-Technology Assessments

Assessing the technology knowledge and skills of educators’ and students is valuable because it allows districts to create a plan for increasing the benefit of technology in its schools and allows districts to budget for and measure the results of the plan.  The STAR Chart created by the state of Texas is valuable because it provides a shared goal for all the schools in the state.  By working toward this shared goal, Texas is insuring that it will keep up with the rest of the world and prepare students for a global, high-tech society.  Some specific benefits of the STAR Chart are that it encourages schools to use their funds on technology that will be directly used by students.  It encourages a new way of teaching so that the teacher is a facilitator and the student directs his/her own learning.  To reach the target level, schools must have adequate resources, technical and instructional support, and must provide professional development so that its teachers meet the technology standards. 

A pro to assessment for both teachers and students is that it motivates both groups to make incremental steps and eventually reach the target level.  Assessment also shows teachers and students their strengths and weaknesses so that they have specific goals to achieve.  For example, a teacher who is currently using a teacher-directed technology approach such as showing a PowerPoint might move to a learning method like a web quest, allowing students to direct their own learning.  Assessment also makes teachers accountable for their own improvement of technical skills as well as accountable for the technical knowledge and skills of their students.  A con to assessment is that it sometimes evokes resentment in teachers, especially experienced teachers.  Some teachers feel that they have taught well for many years without technology and feel as if their way of teaching is being insulted and invalidated.