Instructional Leadership Technology: A Personal Reflection of a Challenging Graduate Course

     When I began this course, I envisioned learning new technology applications to help manage daily school business and data. My view of these applications was very limited and now I understand that choices vary by district and one graduate class cannot teach you how to use a few specific programs. There are many choices and technology, especially software, changes quickly. Instead, I learned about popular trends in technology in the real world and ways to apply these trends to our daily school activities. For example, Richardson (2006) offered great ideas for using podcasts in the classroom. Warlick (2007) shared ways to use Wikis “for community collaboration” and “to democratize Web participation” (p. 36). Warlick also noted that Wikis offer easy access for group members to continually update documents (p. 38). Another powerful tool presented by Richardson (2004) is the Weblog and RSS. We learned that syndicated blogs could be used “to communicate with students, parents, newspapers, etc.” (p. 12). Richardson also had simple suggestions for using blogs with students in the classroom. He encouraged us to jump in and try it, which is good advice for any new technology that comes along.


     While the outcomes of this course did not match my expectations, I’d say that what I learned is even more relevant than what I’d envisioned. The professors took real-world technology trends and helped us envision these trends in the classroom. From the article Turning on the Lights (Prensky, 2008), I gained a new perspective by looking at a student’s point of view. Students are surrounded by computers, cell phones, and video games at home but when they come to school, these are prohibited. Prensky recommended talking with students and ask for their input regarding technology use in schools. Students’ ideas can help us create assignments that integrate technology, provide more active participation, and include core curriculum content.

     Through this course, my comfort level regarding technology integration has increased tremendously. One area that is still abstract for me is converting various files. In the process of posting the Power Point presentation to my blog, I experienced some frustration trying to upload and convert the document. Even with step-by-step instructions within the assignment, there was some sort of glitch with authorSTREAM that would not allow me to successfully upload the document. After some time, I switched to slideshare and had no problem. During week four, I tried to repeat the process with my action plan. I was not able to upload and convert the Word document that contained SmartArt, so I copied and pasted it in parts to create a Power Point presentation. Then I was able to successfully upload and convert the Power Point document and post to my blog. This was time-consuming, frustrating, and a direct result of my inexperience with the process.

     Other than the conversion process noted above, I feel that I was able to successfully complete all assignments. The most discouraging part of this course was the inconsistency in directions. The rubrics were not always clear and did not necessarily align with the directions given on the syllabus, courseware, or emails from our coach. The discussion board caused frustration having to weed through hundreds of quotes and comments in order to find those from my group. At times I felt that I was searching for a needle in a haystack and I wasted a lot of time. The wasted time could have been prevented by having a separate discussion board for each group.

     I learned from this course that having perseverance, focusing on a goal, and constantly monitoring and adjusting my attitude will help me learn new things and overcome obstacles. Technology is not a separate skill to learn but a choice that I can make to increase my effectiveness. As a teacher and a leader, I can model the use of technology in the classroom and within our learning community. Burns (2002) wrote, “the use of technology was the prime catalyst for teachers’ reimagining themselves as co-learners with colleagues and students” (p. 302). Technology helps teachers make the changes necessary to create a learner-centered classroom. The article that best helped me revise preconceived notions of technology use in the classroom was Using Flexible Technology to Meet the Needs of Diverse Learners. (Duffield & Wahl, 2005) suggested using simple tools such as “talking text, Web resources, graphic organizers, and features of the word processor” (p. 3). All of these tools are simple to use and most teachers are already comfortable using them. Duffield & Wahl also showed how to integrate technology with research-based strategies such as identifying similarities and differences, summarizing and notetaking, cooperative learning, and nonlinguistic presentations.

     Our 21st century learners are already comfortable with blogs and online discussion groups. Blogs bring substantial value to education. Richardson (2006) pointed out that blogs provide an opportunity for students to “create meaningful content for audiences wider than just a teacher and a small group of peers. In the process, they learn to negotiate meaning and knowledge in real and relevant ways, preparing them for the connected world they will find once they graduate” (p. 48). This quote alone was enough to convince me to jump in and create a blog on my teacher website. It’s been slow to begin, but I’m hopeful that students and parents will embrace it and the blog will become a prominent part of my reading classes.

     One reason my blog has been slow to catch on is parent concern. Parents are cautious for good reasons and are hesitant to allow their children to participate in online activities. It’s up to teachers and administrators to communicate to parents the benefits of technology use and outline the safety precautions that the district provides. It’s also important to direct attention to the National Technology Standards. Parents, teachers, and administrators need to know the standards and help students become proficient in each and every one. Joseph (2007) directed our attention to Standard 2 of the National Technology Standards. Standard 2 relates to Social, Ethical, and Human Issues. Using technology requires more than knowledge and skills. Students also need to “learn about conducting themselves responsibly while online” (Adelman, 2004, p. 20). I like Adelman’s word “netiquette” for network etiquette. Just as they are taught to treat classmates with respect in the classroom, they need to respect themselves and others online. As Richardson (2005) pointed out, “we can keep our students protected with thoughtful teaching and clear policy” (p. 48).

     Blogs can be used to communicate with school stakeholders. Positive and frequent communication helps build trust and a strong sense of community. Blogs can be used to invite stakeholders’ input. Blogs can be used to publish accomplishments and photos. The best thing about blogs is that they provide the most up-to-date information. Richardson (2004) noted, “parents could ‘subscribe’ to different feeds that are relevant to their children” (p. 12). He also mentioned that school committees could keep notes and links on a blog so an administrator could easily keep up with each group. The only thing that limits our use of blogs for communication is our choice not to use them at all. In education, we need to press the fast-forward button and catch up to our students and the real world.

References

Burns, M. (2002). From compliance to commitment: Technology as a catalyst for communities of learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(4), 295-303.

Duffield, J., & Wahl, L., (2005). Using flexible technology to meet the needs of diverse learners: What teachers can do. http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/763.

Richardson, W. (2005). Blog revolution: Expanding classroom horizons with web logs Technology & Learning, 26(3).

Richardson, W. (2006). Making waves: With podcasting, anyone (yes, anyone) can create their own radio show. School Library Journal, 52(10), 54-56.

Warlick, D. (2007). The executive wiki. Technology & Learning, 27(11), 36-38.

Richardson, W. (2004). Blogging and RSS – The what’s it? And how to of powerful new web tools for educators. MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools, 11(1), 10-13.

Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.

Joseph, L. C. (2007). Keeping safe in cyberspace. Multimedia & Internet@ Schools, 14(1), 17-20.

Adelman, H. (2004). Teaching online safety. Voices From the Middle, 11(3), 17-22.