Course Reflection

What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

I did not expect to learn so much about technology applications in this course but I am happy I did. The reading assignments opened my eyes to how deeply technology is integrated into the lives of our students. Without employing it,we will lose our children to boredom. This course has further reinforced why it is essential to teach our students the way they learn; technologically. As a result of this course, I am familiar with the technology TEKS, the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, the NETS*A standards for technology applications in schools. I am also comfortable with disaggregation of data from the Texas STaR Chart and a variety of other data sources to make decisions regarding action plans for technology application. All of the knowledge I have gained form this course are relevant to my current position as a teacher, and as an aspiring school leader. It is important for a classroom teacher like myself to understand the impact of technology in the classroom to promote student achievement. As an aspiring administrator, I ought to be well versed on technology standards, initiatives and the emerging technologies that could benefit students, but more importantly, I want to be able to implement technology by promoting collaboration among teachers and technology staff members.

To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

Since the inception of this course, I have found numerous ways to integrate technology into my classroom. I have created a blog for my Advanced Placement Chemistry course, I have found numerous videos and gizmos to aid my students understanding in Biology. I am beginning to see growth and my students are becoming more interested in class. This is evident in increased participation and increased test scores. I always wondered why we had to take technology surveys, but no one ever shared that such data was used to rate technology applications at my campus. I also thought that I was savvy with technology and so did not need much help. After taking this course, I realize that there is a lot to learn and In plan on taking classes at a community college to hone my skills. I need a personal technology action plan to increase my skills so that I can help my career and my students. It is vital that we all get on the technology bandwagon because, that is the only way to the future. It is vital that all teachers and even teacher assistants receive technology training because we are all charged with educating students and no teachers or TAs should be left behind in the full integration of technology.

What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

A major thing I looked forward to doing was using the Google desktop organizer to save all of my work and teaching tools. This would have been a great resources to share with my colleagues, and use for myself. I planned on incorporating this tool into my work, but due to lack of time and opportunity, I was unable to. This is something I plan on exploring over the holiday, because one can never be too organized. I also plan on sharing it with my fellow Chemistry teachers to use for collaboration in our professional learning community. I believe it will increase our school efforts to go green and help customize lessons and projects for our individual students. I also intend to share this with other teachers at my school to utilize in their learning communities as well and to adopt as a school-wide initiative.

Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

At the inception of the course, I was not enthusiastic about what I was going to be doing. I was intimidated by the technology applications I was expected to use however, I was pleasantly surprised by all of the assistance I received. Now at the end of the course, I feel accomplished. I can teach someone else how to create a blog, look up the technology TEKS, disaggregate data, create an action plan, and organize staff development. I decided to accept the challenge, take one step at a time. I admit at times, I was frustrated when the technology did not work or how much time I had to devote to the course, but all in all, it was worth it. I would not mind taking another course such as this one. Usually, I am the first person to criticize my students on knowing only technology and nothing else. Upon completing this course, I realize that being technologically savvy requires a whole set of skills that I have grown to have an appreciation and respect for. I also understand why a lot of teacher shy away from using it.

What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

Going through the requirements of this course made me realize that I am not that in tune with technology as much as I like to think I am. I understand that I have to stay abreast of new technology by researching and constantly using it. I have decided to enroll in a community college technology course to brush up my skill and increase my technological knowledge. The course assignments taught me how to create an action plan using data-based decision making. Interviewing my students was insightful into their worlds, what they use technology for but more relevant, how they feel about technology use in school versus at home. It is important to me that I listen to my students and find out their interests. Also, I think that their opinions should be sought in making changes to acceptable use polices, technology initiatives and investment.

What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?

This course inspired me to create a blog for one of my courses and I think it is best thing I have ever done. My students are able to communicate outside of class, socialize intelligence among each other by posting helpful information on assignments and classroom projects. They are able to get information all the time without always calling or e-mailing me. I can also access their work and correct any of their misconceptions without having to wait till Monday. Blogging has added tremendous value to my students' learning and I plan on creating a blog for all my preparations next year. They are wonderful tool, for students to learn and share ideas with one another. If it can be this beneficial to a course like Advanced Placement Chemistry, it will work wonders for literature, sociology and all other social science courses.

What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?
Most educators think that blogs and education do not go together. Most educator believe that blogs are for social networking and have no place in enhancing education. Blogs have a reputation for being personal online journals, but they are an incredible tool to talk with students, get them socializing what they have learned, giving them an opportunity to use technology to discuss and share what they have learned.

How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

My school district has a blog and it serves as a forum for discussing district initiatives among stakeholders. The district utilizes this blog to disseminate information to parents, students, teachers, and the community. This can save paper and it is also a valuable way to gather public opinion on district initiatives and policies. Parents and students feel comfortable accessing the blogs on their time rather than attending meetings. They can also maintain their anonymity while they make comments on the blog.

Texas STaR Chart Presentation

This is my STaR Chart presentation

Texas S Ta R Chart

View more presentations from Shakirat Onike.

My opinion piece on the Texas STaR Chart

Educator preparation and development is without doubt a very important part of the Texas Long-Range Plan (TLRP) in which my campus and district are lacking. This components refers to ongoing professional development to keep educators abreast of the latest technology implementation and how to apply them to their content areas. It is essential for all teachers engage in continuous professional learning in order to transform learning from teacher-centered to student-centered. The TLRP demands that teachers must "develop a new learning environment that utilize technology as a flexible tool where learning is collaborative, interactive, and customized for the individual learner." For this to occur, teachers must be well trained and demonstrate effective use of technology. The data from the Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary, further reinforces my point why this is an area of need. In the past three years, my school has received a classification 2 (developing tech). A lot of the teachers at my school need retraining. All professional development offered at my district should point toward this and each campus should have a set technology instruction leader who is there solely for that purpose and not just a teacher tech. There should be set nonnegotiable technology requirements that teachers must have, include in their lesson plans and demonstrate.

Pre-K TEKS Summary

The Prekindergarten TEKS lay the groundwork on which subsequent performance standards for students in future grades are coined. The Pre-K TEKS address many domains such as social and emotional development, language and communication, emergent literacy(reading), emergent literacy(writing), mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, physical development, and technology applications. These TEKS dictate what student should learn in prekindergarten education programs in order to get them fully prepared for entry into school.

The TEKS for kindergartners specifies "End of Prekindergarten Year Outcomes", that is what children should be capable of doing upon successfully mastering a skill. These outcomes gauge how well has child has adapted to a certain domain. The TEKS in prekindergarten and the subsequent grades are scaffolding . They build up from the ground up with one setting the stage for the next. Paragraph X.A.4 of the pre-k TEKS states "Child uses software applications to create and express ideas." By the time a child reaches high school, paragraph 126.22(1a) states that "The student is expected to demonstrate knowledge and appropriate use of operating system, software applications, and communication and network components." These two examples indicate that student expectations in technological knowledge has a spiraling effect. The basics are learned in lower grades to set up for increasing skills in higher grades.

Although there are growing criticisms of using technology in classrooms, it is vital that we teach our students the importance of using it, embracing it and truly appreciating the benefits it can bring. Many critics pose that using technology might cause children to lose their ability to relate to others, inability to find appropriate information but I say that empowering our students with information will cause high order thinking skills, as long it is used in properly guided and interactive ways that would stimulate learning.

The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology is admirable. It has a well-defined vision that states the need for creating such a "long-range" road map for the information-age student. It is well researched, gives professional development tools, while clearly stating instructional support and infrastructure needed to produce technologically savvy students who can compete on the world stage. However, it is just that, a plan. In many aspects, it is lacking because it does not take into consideration the socioeconomic status of students, their families or the funding available to schools. Technology is very expensive, in addition, the budget crises many schools and school districts face make it considerably difficult to meet the infrastructural demands of this "plan". The plan also stresses the values of "distributed learning environments" that is, other avenues outside of school that can enhance students technological knowledge, in other words, their homes. With 54.60% of Texas students categorized as economically disadvantaged, it is almost impossible for the so-called distributed learning environments to be truly effective. The plan is not all bad, it provides step by step strategies that will over time bridge Texas students over to where they need to be. Our state is at the front of many others when it comes to this sort of planning and there have been indications of progress which I believe stems from aligning the plan to the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills).

Technology Assessments

After reviewing the SEDTA (State Educational Directors Technology Association) teacher survey and the technology Inventory, it is glaring how little technology is employed in communication, problem solving and information acquisition at my school. The SEDTA teacher survey indicated that although as a teacher I am capable of effectively using today's technology, no real efforts are made to measure student skills in ways that truly count. There are no measures to gauge information literacy, global awareness or self direction in students. Judging from the Technology Applications Inventory, I scored low in the problem solving domain. This survey surfaced an aspect of my knowledge I was not not aware in which I was lacking. I therefore have a fiduciary responsibility to hone my skills by enrolling in continuing education classes and further my professional development in order to better help my students in the classroom. Much must be done by me, as a classroom teacher and by my school and school district to provide adequate and up-to-date computer hardware, software and professional development to assist school technology application efforts.