Week+1

Educational Technology in the 21st Century 1

Educational Technology in the 21st Century

Donald Murchison

Lamar University


 * Week 1 Assignment, Part 1.2 **** : **** Begin Comprehensive Examination--Title Page and Introduction with Career and Leadership Goals **

Educational Technology in the 21st Century 2

I am currently working at Cypress Fairbanks ISD, in a technology liaison role at my campus, The Adaptive Behavior Center (ABC), where I also teach High School Science and Language Arts. I plan to pursue a district level technology position, integrating curriculum and technology to make lessons that teachers can use to engage students in the world they live in. One position I plan to strive towards is the Iexplore director, which is a program that Cypress Fairbanks uses to share great ideas about learning, as well as the use of technology. I enjoy the use of technology in the classroom and in doing so; many other teachers see the level of student engagement that comes with the understanding of student needs in technology. I already provide one on one or group support to staff at the AB Center, to help them provide their students with technology driven instruction.

The educational needs that I must address, to achieve the district position I desire, is a Masters Degree in Educational Technology. This degree will supply me with the skills required to be well rounded in a wide variety of technology tools, to better serve the students. My accomplishments thus far have aided me in sharing information about the educational process and using technology to deliver relevant, engaging lessons. Students of today will be the workers of tomorrow and knowing this, drives me to continually expand my knowledge about the educational process. There will always be times that paper and pencil are important but our students of today do not live in a paper and pencil world, which is why we need to take our turn of the century thinking into the 21st century.


 * Week 1 Assignment, Part 1.3: **** Reflections on assignments in EDLD 5306 Concepts of Educational Technology as shown in the Course-Embedded Assignment area of the Internship Handbook. **

Educational Technology in the 21st Century 3

Like anything in education, learning and planning is the key to success. In the class, Concepts of Educational Technology, the instruction centered on the ideas of addressing the shortcomings of both the instructor and the learner in Texas. I realized one of the things I struggle the most with, in education, is the amount of change that takes place from year to year, mostly because technology is always reinventing itself. I began to understand that I needed to be a little more flexible so that I can grow in my understanding of ever changing technological advances. I have to admit, this was my most difficult class and in saying this, I needed to feel more comfortable with the new information I learned as a result of Concepts of Educational Technology and I must “unlearn”, if you will, some of the old practices.

I work in a very diverse school district, with many cultures represented. In addition to serving various cultures, I work at a special assignment campus that deals with only emotionally disturbed students, who require a lot of real world experience and hands-on activities to keep them involved. One of the things I gained in this course is the understanding that not everyone learns in the same way and therefore, I needed to understand the learning styles of the students in my classroom. I often felt “if I teach the way that makes me more comfortable, I will be successful” but I changed my thinking into “if I teach to the students learning style we would have more success” and therefore, we did. Using the wiki’s, blogs, and other tools helped me understand the variety of instruments I could use, to teach more to the students learning styles and less to mine.

I enjoy learning and therefore, I could very easily call myself a lifelong learner but I think it is more than that; it is about learning relevant things that, as an educator, I can bestow on others. Another important aspect is to present that information in a way that a learner can truly grasp the ideas and concepts. Once a student gains a deeper understanding of a topic, then they can become the teacher. I plan to continue my education and self-reflection to gain a deeper understanding of education and best practices. I hope to continue to compare notes with other educators because not everyone has the same opinion but through meaningful discussion and collaboration, a greater understanding can be achieved.

Educational Technology in the 21st Century 4 Leadership for accountability was a comprehensive look at an extensive amount of data and how to make data driven decisions work in an efficient way. This course was great, as it provided expectations on how to identify data, discuss data, and finally use data to develop a plan of action. I enjoyed Leadership for Accountability because I am a very result drive person and love to look at data to determine an outcome.
 * Week 1 Assignment, Part 1.4: **** Reflections on assignments in EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability as shown in the Course-Embedded Assignment document in the Resource section of the course **

I gained a great deal of information from the assignments and blogs about the different ways people look at data and develop plans for their classrooms. The action plan that we created was a good overlook of how it is done but I am afraid, with the budget cuts that we are facing, that we are going to have to get more creative with the ideas. The blogging is an essential part of the learning experience in this class because I was able to see how others may set up action plans differently or had great ideas of plans to implement that may support several different activities.

I have always felt that some form of continuing education for adults is essential to the improvement of education. We need to “update” our thinking when it comes to teaching subjects that may require restructured strategies for teaching, as students’ learning styles change with the times. Even as an adult, I still learn better with activities that are hands-on.

During the completion of this activity, I suggested that our future staff development instructor should not only talk about hands-on practical activities but model this way of teaching by incorporating these strategies into the staff development agenda. I was asked shortly thereafter if I would do a small-differentiated instruction presentation, so I designed a very hands-on activity where teachers not only took notes about what I was saying but also became part of the presentation with the activities.


 * Assignment 1.5 **** : Reflections on Technology Facilitator Standard I: Technology Operations and Concepts in your textbook **

Educational Technology in the 21st Century 5

Standard one in Technology Operations and Concepts is the basic to understanding technology and should be the first standard of all, when dealing with technology. The concept is that a technology user should have the basic understanding of computer hardware, software, and basic organization of computer files. This standard is essential for everyone using technology because one cannot manipulate any part of the computer without it. I learned a great deal about how there are some new users that are quite uncomfortable maneuvering in software and it is my job to help them gain a sense of comfort when using computers and the software. I really have not gained any new information about how to use or help others use technology and its components, other than ways in which to introduce new concepts to new computer users.

When learning new technology, I learn by maneuvering within the software. This has always proven to be the best for me because I then learn how to fix problems for others when they arise. One of my philosophies about teaching is that we must teach students how to find information on their own, not give them the details and having them write the information down. My logic behind this idea is that there may not always be someone there that has the information but the means to find it is at student’s fingertips, either in print or on the World Wide Web. The second thing I like to stress with my students is that not all the information in print or on the internet is accurate and therefore they would need to check for the authenticity of any information they discover.


 * Assignment 1.6: **** Reflections on Technology Facilitator Standard II: Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences. **

Educational Technology in the 21st Century 6

Now that we know how to use technology, including the software and hardware, we can now focus on planning and designing learning environments and experiences. This standard is equally important because this is where the educator puts the curriculum into a format that the students will be the most successful. Planning how to best teach the lesson with the use of technology is the most important focus, when designing the learning environment. There are many aspects an educator needs to identify with this standard including how much time does the student need with technology, in order to carry out the desired assignment and how much training do the students and teachers need to be successful. I can very easily see this as the most important of the standards. because this is where teachers sometimes lose focus on curriculum because they want to use technology in their classrooms. I gained a great deal of incite with reading about this standard because it revealed, for the first time in my reading, exactly how teachers should focus on technology and students. I plan to use the ideas stated in this standard with the way I educate the teachers about technology when applied to the curriculum. One aspect I am very aware of is that I have a wide range of technology abilities in our school and understanding how to cater to each is essential to the success of all educators. I plan to continue to read about the standards in detail, to learn more about outlining the steps in applying technology to curriculum.