Reflections from ELDL 5306 Web Conference, January 19, 2011

I have participated in many web conferences, but this one caused me to have an anxiety attack. I missed the first web conference because of my confusion and being overwhelmed with the assignments. This is my first online course. I tested my headphones\ microphone with the Skype audio tester.  Everything passed. When I signed in to the conference, my web camera worked, I could hear, but microphone never worked. I was able to use the text editor to communicate.

The conference was very informative. During the session, the facilitator, Dr. Borel talked about the internship and gave an overview of the course and pointed out the useful resources.  The conference did make me feel like I was a part of a class.  I look forward to the next web conference without anxiety.  I am enjoying the class and I feel more comfortable using the Lamar sites.

KISD E-Rate Overview

Created and designed for EDLD 5306

KISD E-Rate Overview

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Summary of the National Educational Technology Plan

The purpose of the National Educational Technology Plan calls for all students to use their own motivation to go beyond the classroom, to use technology to access global resources, to connect to people, to create, to experiment and to learn. According to the plan, technology is available; however, school infrastructures and the ability to properly deploy that technology has not been established.  The details of the plan are organized based on five goals: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The NETP provides recommendations for fulfilling those goals to states, districts, the federal government, and other stakeholders.  I agree education is the key to America’s economic growth and prosperity. A good education will also sustain our ability to compete in the global economy. Based on the goals and recommendation of the NETP two priorities emerged:
*Raising the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands (around 41 percent) so that 60 percent of our population holds a two-year or four-year degree by 2020.
*Closing the achievement gap so that all students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.
Our district is participating in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) College Readiness Program. The program prepares students for entrance into a four year college.  Students are learning the AVID basic skills of WICR (writing, inquiry, collaboration and reading) while using appropriate technology. 

National Education Technology Plan 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2011, from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010

Reflections of Kaufman ISD's Technology Plan

Kaufman ISD’s Technology Plan follows the format outlined by the Commissioner of Education for the State of Texas in the Instructions for Technology Plan Approved Process for Universal Service Fund E-Rate. It is the mission of the Kaufman ISD Technology Department to provide students and educators with leadership, infrastructure, technical support and staff development to gain the knowledge and attitudes necessary to function successfully in our changing society. The Technology Plan E-Rate funding covers the years 2010 through 2013.

We have three technology development goals.

1.  Instructional Systems: Technology will be implemented to increase and enhance student learning, instructional management and community usage.

2.  Support Systems: Kaufman ISD will continue to provide skilled personnel, training, and resources required to support ever-changing technologies.

3.  Infrastructure Systems: Kaufman ISD will continue to replace old servers and desktops.

The campus principals and director of technology are responsible for professional development opportunities. The assistant superintend and campus principals are given budgeted funds to satisfy the districts goal, objectives and strategies.

Instructional systems technology will be implemented to increase and enhance student learning, instructional management and community usage with a budget of $81,000. The instructional staff will have access to staff development and to a variety of resources to address the individual needs of students with a budget of $67,000. Kaufman ISD support systems will continue to provide skilled personnel, training, and resources required to support ever changing technologies with a budget of $372,000. Kaufman ISD will provide and maintain an infrastructure for communication with parents and community members. This infrastructure will include a fiber backbone for our district network/phone/voice mail system with a budget of $335,000.

Our technology plan is a living and working document.

Kaufman ISD Technology Plan. (2010). Retrieved January 22, 2011.

Assessing Technology Knowledge and Skills

The purpose of assessing educators’ technology leadership knowledge and skill is to determine what we do with technology, instruction, and learning environments.  Assessments also determine if we are meeting standards set by the National Technology Educational Standards (NTES) and International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  Last week, I completed the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) Teacher Survey as a partial required assignment for EDLD 5306.  The purpose of the survey was to determine how I used technology, the availability of technology at my school, and showcase school/district policies or resources related to technology. The findings of my survey pointed our teachers do assign projects that incorporate technology while adhering to the core curriculum goals.  They make an effort to ensure that learning styles and needs of all students are well served by the use technology appropriately and creatively.  The assessment further determined technology is being used in an ethical manner, and projects reflect student understanding of technology.  Data gathered from the assessment showed I am proficient in use of technology products (word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentation software) but need to improve my use of web based tools (blogs, chats and wikis).  A disadvantage of using technology assessments is it is often equated with evaluations. As I stated earlier, assessment data was used to determine the use and availability of technology. Evaluations utilize the assessment data to determine if we have deficiencies or we exceed our expectations of utilizing technology standards. Educational technology standards are appropriate guidelines to teaching effectively and growing professionally in an increasingly technology-dependent society.

Standards.  (2010). Retrieved January 22, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx