What do I know about instructional technology?

Not enough. During the first week of this graduate course, we were assigned two assessments.

The Technology Applications Inventory sorts technology knowledge and skills into four categories: foundations, information acquisition, solving problems, and communication.

Foundations skills include basic knowledge related to operating systems, hardware, software, and files. Of the 18 foundation skills assessed, I was able to dust off enough cobwebs and reach back about ten years to find a connection to all but one. I can’t say that I use all of the vocabulary presented on a daily basis and probably can’t give you a perfect definition of each, but I can give you an example of how I currently use the concept at home or at school. I don’t have any experience using cross platform files.

For the information acquisition category, I scored knowledgably on seven out of ten skills. I am a research fanatic and completely obsessed with data. However, I’ve never heard of Boolean search strategies, vector or bitmapped graphic files, and I’m just not sure if I’ve ever used a variety of text files. Maybe I’ll find out that I have and I just don’t know it!

Most of the skills involved in the category of solving problems with technology tools are related to software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases, multi-media projects, and telecommunications. Scoring 12 of 18, I feel my knowledge is comparable to my teenagers. Have I ever used interactive virtual environments? Not sure. The other items I checked as unknown were related to integrating core subjects with technology. Because I teach only reading, my technology use is limited to one subject.

The last category, communication, refers to projects used in group presentations, newsletters, and management tools. Scoring ten of twelve, I feel competent in most of these skills. I’ve created newsletters, brochures, charts, graphs, and multimedia presentations. I’ve never used a database manager or project manager tools.

The State Educational Technology Directors Association Teacher Survey, at 26 pages, was unreasonably long and mostly irrelevant to my position. I’m not going to add up how many times I checked don’t know or not applicable. Maybe by the end of this graduate course I’ll understand their questions.