What it Means to Me

Throughout this course, we have had exposure to multiple scenarios, topics to research, and thought provoking questions to answer.  I believe that I have taken a  reflective mindset to this class, especially since I am fortunate enough to work in a technologically advanced school.  Throughout this class, the question I have constantly reflected on is what does this mean to me?

One, there is more technology out there than I ever could have imagined.  More so than the amount of technology is the rationale to use different forms of technology.  Recently, I engaged in a debate on one-to-one technology (chrome-book versus the iPad), and it led me to a new thinking process in some ways.  I know technology is a great tool and one-to-one technology will inevitably be a significant part of classrooms very quickly.  Many schools districts are already in the process of incorporating one-to-one technology. Integrating technology is not a concept of the future, but integrating technology must be a part of education today.  It is my belief that a school has the responsibility to determine resources that will enhance all students' educational experience and the advancement of prepared, twenty-first century learners.

Next, even though I did not specifically complete this module, as a teacher and aspiring administrator, I have the responsibility to promote the ethical use of technology.  Used correctly, social networking, social media, and widely used technology in general can enhance education much beyond when I was a student.  However, technology is much like a car for a in an inexperienced driver.  Give the keys to a car to the wrong person, who is untrained and inexperienced, a disastrous event may occur.  We must teach students how to network properly, increase their educational knowledge, and be responsible with technology in order to become a generation of prepared learners.


Lastly, we must be risk takes as teachers and future leaders (Sheninger, 2014, p.43). It is very easy to use the technology that we have as simply a note-taking device, a presentation tool, or fall back for a lesson. However, students will likely find this to be unengaging and ineffective use of technology. Many teachers, myself included earlier in the semester, find parts of technology to be scary, specifically regarding social media. A simple question that I have, when was the last time a student read something, discussed it, smiled about it, and passionately shared it multiple times in a class period during your class? This happens frequently when students use social medial, and students are actively connected to social media. It may be a scary part of technology, but it does allow students to make an immediate connection with content and increases engagement.


Just for Fun Thoughts: Personal Growth
I had a couple of technology hurdles that I had to cross this year. One of the areas of technology that I was unaware to be a beneficial educational tool was Twitter. I have used it as a head coach for wrestling and other athletic events, but I was unaware of the tremendous benefit it would have on my personal growth. Secondly, I do not find myself to be a great writer, and I am very well aware that it is a weakness of mine. Writing a weekly blog post was something that concerned me greatly. I thought that it was something that would be an overwhelming task to write on a website that was visible by the public. I was then hit with a massive reality check on weekly postings. I am at 178 page views on my blog. It is still counting, but I am sure the vast majority of the viewers are fellow classmates. It proves two things to me. One, the internet is much bigger than what I would imagine. Lastly, I can write in a manner that expresses my thoughts, provide a reflective outlet as a teacher and aspiring leader.

Selecting the Future

Resource selection is a critical part of an educational leader's role in education today, at least in my opinion. Many school districts and states are pushing to actively increase the amount of technology integration, especially in one-to-one technology, to meet the need of students to be exposed to technology in order to promote learning. Many schools are implementing one-to-one initiatives or have initiated one-to-one technology in order to meet the goals of 21^st century learning. For instance, the Nebraska Department of Education mentions on its website school districts to use for reference and resources to make the one-to-one transition more effective. http://www.education.ne.gov/neat/laptopinitiatives.html.

With this trend increasing rapidly, how do schools truly make the decision on what is the best type of resources to be selected for use in schools?


There were two articles that I found to be highly effective in describing the processes in selecting resources and ascertaining the funds to increase the amount of resources in a school: “Leveraging Title I & Title IID: Maximizing the Impact of Technology in Education” and “Choosing the Perfect Tools for One-to-One.” Through the process of reviewing these two articles, I determined a couple of critical aspects that I believe I focused on two key questions for my own personal.


First, what does our school need to make our students the most successful twenty-first century learners possible? Change in education is almost as frequent as a changing weather pattern. There will be a dominant trend that will maintain a long pattern, but it will ultimately give way to a new dominant trend. However, I believe technology is not a trend, but a definite mainstay in education for the foreseeable future. I find the most perplexing concept for an educational leadership team to do their due diligence to ensure the resources are selected in a manner that promotes the learning, advancement, and support for years to come.


Secondly, I think educational leaders must question what is realistic for our school. Do we have the resources to support the continued development of the current technology? Are the technological resources we are choosing going to be sustainable? I found our school to be on the unfortunate negative side of this with our one-to-one technology initiative, and we are currently in the process of playing a bit of catchup. An example of this is a sixteen gigabyte iPad. Whereas that might seem like a significant amount of memory, trust the opinion of someone who is not a selfie-maniac, sixteen gigabytes fills up quickly. Many staff members and students have quickly maxed out memory on their iPads, and what is next? Buy a new iPad after a year? In some instances, this has happened. I do not question the given advice for recommended iPad capacity, however, it is still a problem that had to be addressed quickly, and it is being addressed quickly.


Desirable resources will inevitably change as twenty-first century goals change and technology continues to evolve. A new group of students with much different needs will enter in the school with a much different set of needs than recent graduates. Maybe this will be a cyclical pattern as well. One trend I see happening in the future that inevitable, students in a decade will be much more technologically savvy than current students. I believe my twenty month old son that is able navigate an iPad is a prime example of how advanced future generations of students will be from a technology standpoint. Preparation, planning, and research will help me to feel comfortable when making decisions on resource selection. I do believe I will have a slice of humble pie and a good bit of reflection in the future on decisions of resource selection.

Lights, Camera, Action

Branding provided a unique insight into educational technology and caused me to reflect deeply educational technology and how to comprehend it better. I feel that I have developed a greater awareness of steps that need to be taken to incorporate technology, challenge the status quo, and create a successful brand. The process has left a bumps on the road and maybe on my head has well from the ever infamous palm to the forehead moments.

Lights:
This is extremely metaphorical, but I feel my journey through educational technology thus far is synonymous with the phrase from Hollywood, “Lights, Camera, Action.” In all aspects of educational technology, thus far, I feel as though I see many lights simultaneously shinning light in a direction. There has been been a solution, a set of solutions, or answer to the problems I have encountered or the questions that have developed. From technology integration to branding, I have found a light that has led me to the end destination in which I am seeking, and unfortunately, led to me destinations that bring more questions. Sometimes I have to try again, go a different route, or look for a different angle, but there has always been an end product that has led to me a greater base of knowledge. For example, with the branding module, I saw the opportunity to create a real life brand for the special service department I run. However, through communication, it will change and see many changes before it is complete. I guess I know how a set of editors feel in Hollywood.


Camera:
Maybe it is my experience as a college athlete, but I embrace the opportunity to see my product on film or the finished creation. It then gives me the opportunity to correct it, change it, and do it better the next time. When recording a product, there is always the chance the end result will be less than desirable to see. It is a bit of a humbling experience to look at your product and realize that it needs to be fixed. Although the error may be a small technical flaw, it still needs to be corrected. In the branding module, I had this magnificent idea that I could work with a few fellow schools to develop a brand for special services quickly. I thought it would be a seamless creation that would work perfectly because it has not been done before by Catholic schools in our area. I neglected to remember a quote in which I used for my research paper. Taken from an article in Change, Moore (2004) cautions, “Brands do not develop value or authenticity by themselves. It can take time and a great deal of work.(p. 58)” I developed a false notion that I could do this quickly and have a great resource. However, it will take time, dedication, and persistence by all stakeholders to develop a brand that last for special services in our area Catholic schools.


Action:
Here is the part that I find the most interesting and simultaneously confusing. In order to develop a brand and successfully incorporate technology in education, it requires action. It takes a leader, co-workers, staff, and surrounding community. All stakeholders must actively work to build success. I do not believe Henry Ford developed a lasting slogan in the words of “Built Ford Tough” by words alone. It takes action, persistence, and true dedication by an entire company. This is similar to what a school has to do in order to develop a lasting, successful brand. It will not happen by one leader or one teacher alone, but it will take the entire school community to take action and commit to the success of the school. Whether that is following the school's mission and vision, adhering to the brand, or simply individual teachers maintaining high standards, it will take action from all involved parties. However, if the brand is developed too quickly, it may fall apart. One thing is a guarantee from my end, I will be ready to sit back and watch this movie when it is completed.