At the start of this class I envisioned learning about some technology that I have not used and many technology TEKS, that I was not familiar with. However, reflecting back on this class I realize how much I enjoyed reading almost all of the journal articles. I felt each one affirmed a feeling I already had, or if it didn't affirm it open a new door that had previously been closed to technology. For instance, web blogs in the classroom was so motivating to me. The week after reading about web blogs in this class I went to a Gifted and Talented Convention here in Houston. While there I ventured into a workshop about blogs. The teacher giving the lesson explained how useful and exciting they were to use in her reading class. This motivated me to step out of my comfort zone and begin a push for blogging in my school. I know have several fellow teachers as well as the principal pushing for the Blogger site to be approved at our school.
The outcomes that I have achieved from this class are relevant and will continue to be relevant in my career as an administrator. I feel that technology is not turning back; therefore, we must get on board or we will fail as an educational system. Technology is developing faster than most people can learn it; that being said, the educational system and those that run it must pick up the pace. Our duty is educate children to become knowledgeable and productive adults, we are hindering their growth if we do not accept where our society is going and mold our system around that society. Change is inevitable and the longer we drag our feet, the further behind we will fall. There is already too much a gap between technology and education, we must begin to fill it. The knowledge that I have learned in this course will help me and those that I will affect begin to bridge this gap.
I feel like I could have learned more about ways that administrators could go about actually implementing and getting the funds for their district in order to carry out this wide amount of technology that we need. As a principal I feel it is imperative for my students to have access to blogging (within the class) and wikis and direct internet access. What I don't know is what tactics to use when people of authority (i.e.school board members) that do not feel the same way I do. Even community members who do not feel their child should be on the internet and do not understand the safeguards that would be put in place by my teachers and faculty. I feel there is much to be learned on how to handle "roadblocks" and I feel like that could have been integrated into this curriculum well.
The course assignments themselves were quite extensive, but I was able to carry them out. I was very discouraged by the discussion question directions and rules. They were changed in the first week, and the email sent out with the new instructions were quite wordy. I was given a 100 for the 2nd week (which I now know I did wrong). On the 3rd week I did the exact same thing as I did in the 2nd week (because I figured if I received a 100% I was doing it correctly). The 3rd week I received an 80% for discussions (which I did exactly the same way I did the 2nd and 3rd week). After emailing and asking what I did wrong so that I would not do it again, I was told there was a mistake made in grading and the grade was changed to a 100%. Assuming still that I have been doing the discussion questions correctly all along I received an 80% on the 4th week. This all is very aggravating as I emailed my coach on the 3rd week and asked what I was doing wrong and was not given an answer, my grade was simply changed. The inconsistency in grading of discussions was the only drawback to this course. I feel that assignments were useful and the readings were incredibly informative.
Through this course I was able to learn about new technology that I have never heard of, that I am actually interested and excited about bringing more technology in to my classrooms and school, and how to approach people of authority to get on board to push this technology. My attitude at the beginning was that I was fairly technology savvy and that I did not really need to implement 'more' technology into the class. I now feel completely different about that. I feel like I am in a position now to push in any way for more technology in the classrooms and into our curriculum. I have found a side of myself that before hand would have accepted the fact that wireless internet is not a possibility, but now I have decided instead of simply accepting it to find ways to help push for it!
As stated above, I feel that educational blogging is a must in the 21st century. There is no way around the fact that we are becoming more digitized daily. Unless we learn to embrace technology we will be doing a huge disservice for our students. This allows for immediate feedback, being able to communicate with different countries, and cross curricular activities like you wouldn't believe. I do understand the safety issues that cause people to be hesitant towards blogging, but after this course I feel that if we educate our children and teach them proper etiquette, like anything, poor behavior can be lessened.Blogging is to great of an opportunity to miss out on anymore. It is a great tool for education if used correctly.
The concerns of blogs are obvious. Parents fear predators and bullying will prey on unsuspecting children. This is a very real concern and a very scary topic. Every day we can turn on the television and watch as Dateline NBC goes in and busts sexual predators that have found children online and come to harm them. Every day we hear about students who are bullying others online. We hear of students killing themselves because of things that have been said on blogs, chat rooms, cell phones, and Facebook. The only way these problems can every be eliminated is to teach children safety procedures and guards against this. Just like we have the DARE program in schools teaching young children the dangers of drugs and alcohol we must teach them about the dangers of technology. We must have teachers showing examples of proper behavior in blogs, and parents looking over them as well.
Blogging can be used in so many different ways. One way is communicating with key stakeholders of a district. Discussions can be so much more interactive through blogging. Immediate feedback and posts are allowed, and are incredibly useful when trying to gather information. The most important, in my opinion, role that blogs can have for communication in schools is having more input and differing viewpoints. When a problem arises, the more input that is received and ideas placed on the table, the better the resolution can be.Also, the quicker ideas can be accumulated the sooner stakeholders are able to lay out options and make a final decision on a topic. Communication is vital in running a school, I feel that blogging (if used correctly) could be the most beneficial tool technology has offered us since email.
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