Field+based+Report+VIII

Leadership and Vision
 * Field based Summary Report Standard VIII**
 * [|Field based Summary Report Standard VIII.doc]**

Through various activities documented in prior reflections, I feel confident I have had multiple opportunities to practice my leadership skills in the area of Technology Integration. However, I did get to chance to attend an Alan November seminar in which he discussed in detail his vision of technology and what it will look like in the future. This was probably one of the most beneficial activities I experienced during the course of my master’s work. November clearly defined to me what you need in order to shape a vision. “The profound impact is that information communication technology is completely reorganizing who, where, when, with who, and even why people work (November, 2009, pp 1). His seminar really forced me reflect about what jobs my students will have, and what skills they will need in order to be successful in our ever changing world. Constructing a shared vision for technology is difficult, because we really don’t have an idea of the exact skills our students will need. “The foundation for successful technology implementation requires educators and policy makers to possess a viable vision for technology use (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 179). That paradox, needing to possess a viable vision and yet lacking the information of necessary future skills, is the big question I now reflect on as I finish my master’s course work. Further into the seminar with November, he discussed how the technical skills needed to use the Internet are easy to teach a student, but that most did not have the ability or the validation skills necessary to understand the structure of the information found on the Internet. That statement really stuck with me. I applied that theory to a quick lesson in my health class, asking my students to find a diet to lose weight on the Internet. I gave them no additional information or parameters. I wanted to see what information they were able to find on their own and, more importantly, what they were able to learn from it or do with it. What we discovered was that most of the diets ended up selling you a product, versus providing information on the components needed for a healthy diet. In our class discussions, we then talked about not just taking something as true simply because it was found on the Internet. I also had a chance to attend a workshop discussing global collaboration using Skype and Moodle. I have had a great deal of personal success using Skype. I’ve used Skype as a communication tool with people all over the world as part of an online game I periodically play called Travian. Travian is a game where collaboration is key if you want to survive and have any success at all in playing the game for any substantial length of time. During the workshop, I was able to relate my experience with this online game, and it was interesting to see other participants then make the connection that true learning can take place via Skype or some other online communication tool. “I have a different vision of leadership. A leader is someone who brings people together” (Bush n.d.). I guess through all of this course work, group collaboration and personal reflections, it is still comes down to getting people together so that each individual can benefit from the learning experience of the group.

References

George W. Bush. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved July 30, 2011, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: []

November, A., Beyond Technology: The End of the Job and the Beginning of Digital Work. //November Learning//, Retrieved from: [|http://novemberlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/beyond-technology.pdf] [|July 30], 2011.

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE’s technology facilitation and leadership standards:// //What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.