Reflection+TF+-+5+Productivity+and+Professional+Practice

Reflection on TF Standard V: Productivity and Professional Practice
 * [|Standard 5 Tech. Reflection wk 3.doc]**
 * Self – Assessment**

Standard V focuses on using technology for teachers to be able to increase productivity and professional practice. “As illustrated in TF/TL Standard V, technology facilitators and leaders collaborate with other educators in their system to facilitate these positive aspects of professional culture and practice” (Williamson, & Redish, 2009, p. 103).This standard is the standard I personally use the most. I had been using various forms of technology long before most of the hardware and software was mainstreamed in education. I remember earlier in my career having to plead with my principal to let me have a classroom computer so that I could display and present my class lectures using power points. As a teacher and coach, I am continually searching for ways to increase my own productivity. “ In other words, students also benefit indirectly when educators use technology to enhance their own productivity and professional practices” (Williamson, & Redish, 2009, p 110). Technology facilitators have the job of increasing awareness of available productivity tools and modeling their uses for colleagues. A large majority of the course work I experienced in my master’s degree program has had at least one component that revolved around this standard. In the course EDLD 5365 Teaching with Technology, we utilized Skype to video-conference on our group project. I found this to be a fairly effective means by which to communicate with colleagues who are located all across the country. I was able to gain new insight and understanding on the topics we discussed. In short, it allowed me to not only complete a project, but to develop new ideas that I may not have come up with if we were unable to collaborate so easily. I would like to see my school utilize this tool more to allow teachers the opportunity to hear from a wider variety of teachers to help gain new ideas and insights into teaching materials and subject matter. We are such a small, closed school system, fresh ideas could prove very enlightening to our teachers and thereby very beneficial to our students. In Teaching with Technology, we also used Google sites and Google Docs to collaborate on the same project, making it less cumbersome on any one individual. EDLD 5366 Digital Graphics used Microsoft Publisher to design newsletters, while EDLD 5363 Video Technology and Multimedia used Google Docs to create a PSA video. My exposure to a variety of technology tools has allowed me the opportunity to see first hand how teachers and administrators can use these tools every day in the classroom and in the school to increase our own productivity and efficiency. Newsletters to parents, for example, can help the parents feel more connected to the teacher or school with minimal time investment while at the same time providing the teacher more time to focus on the students and their needs. In every course we have used the discussion board as a means to communicate and respond about various educational topics. I think this could easily translate to a school as a means for the staff to communicate on given topics or ideas without the need to clog up an already overused e-mail system. Clearly, this standard has been the backbone of Educational Technology Leadership course work. What I have learned about myself is that I can quickly learn and acquire the basic knowledge to utilize new technology tools for productivity, as well as technology applications. I am fearless when faced with a new tool; it excites me to see what the technology has to offer. I am always thinking of new ways to use my newly found knowledge to enhance my teaching and coaching. While it is hard for me to imagine how some teachers feel who are not technology savvy, I try to keep in mind my own discomfort in other areas when offering to help teachers or students learn a new program or application. For the most part, I try to practice patience with my students when they are learning how to use a new piece of technology and always try to relate past technology applications they might have already used to their new learning. As for true “Digital Immigrants” who have a fear of technology and only possess the most basic knowledge of that technology, or for those who do not have an inherent interest in the new digital world, I find I must slow down my instruction and really practice patience, patience, and more patience when I teach them. My mother-in-law has taught me that repetition is vital to learning a new application; I am always re-teaching her how to send a text message on her phone. Sadly, I was too successful in teaching her how to e-mail; I now get multiple e-mails a day on the “ ‘this is so cute’ circuit”. Our campus currently has an instructional technologist who works primarily as a technical trainer and “technology gunslinger,” the person who solves the everyday quick “how do I connect, attach, or log into” type problems. I would like to see additional professionals that could work full time with teachers to help provide in class training to help design lessons that correctly integrates current technology into the lesson plan design. I also think it would be great to separate professional development courses into learning groups that have like minded skill levels. Too often I find myself, and other cohorts, losing interest in the training because it is just too slow; it is not the fault of the trainer, it is typically the fault of combining different professionals with varying skill levels into one training. I know that most of my current skill level using blackboard was gained by either working on my own or with another professionals who were committed to getting the most our of the software program. Currently, I am conducting action research on a new technology that involves heart rate telemetry which wirelessly links up to a coach’s laptop to a swimmer so that as a swimmer swims his workout, the coach can see real time information about his heart rate to insure the swimmer is training at the correct conditioning zone for optimal improvement. Harris, Edmonson, and Combs state that “one aspect of analyzing data is to select important and meaningful data to analyze” (Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010, p. 18). This type of software, if accurate, could significantly change how I do my job and increase my productivity as a professional coach. As educators, we expect our students to not just remember information, but be able to generalize and use higher order thinking skills. As technology facilitators and technology leaders, we need to have the same expectation from ourselves and the teachers we serve. School districts need to provide continued, ongoing support on the various technology tools in which they have invested. Teachers need to continue to collaborate to build on previously learned skills and apply those skills to new technology tools to help foster innovative teaching strategies and lessons. Principals need to celebrate professionals that effectively integrate technology tools into their classroom instruction. Currently, I have been participating in various professional learning communities to enhance my use and understanding of Web 2.0 tools. “Recent theories of learning have gradually moved from the individual as learner to learning as a participant in the social world” (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 104). I feel more engaged when I work with others to either assist in solving their problem or when I need help solving my own technical problem. The energy and enthusiasm from various members helps me to continue my own technology exploration, thereby helping me to further my expertise as a professional and my responsibility as a technology leader.
 * Learn as a Learner**
 * Life-long Learner**

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J., (2010). //Examining what we do to improve our schools//: //8 steps from analysis to action//.Larchmont,NY: Eye on Education. Redish, T., & Williamson, J. (2009). Chapter Five. //ISTE’s Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do// (p. 101-115).Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools.Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
 * Reference**