5352 Course Reflections

• What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?


As a campus administrator I had envisioned using the information from this course to gain a deeper understanding about my responsibilities implementing new and continued technology uses on my campus. I hoped to continue to learn and understand the role the campus administrator plays in integrating those technologies into the classroom and the role the campus administrator plays in obtaining more technology for use on my campus. I did gain the understanding that I was expecting leading into this course and I also developed a deeper understanding about the responsibilities of the administrator. What I did encounter is some information that I would like to further debate. This course seems to place a large amount of responsibility on the campus administrator for researching, understanding, purchasing, and implementing technology at the campus level. I believe that is why technology departments were created. So that those people who are educated on that end of the spectrum can help find the information and present it so that the administrators can determine which technology to use and how to implement it.



• To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

I do think that the outcomes of this course are very relevant to what we want to accomplish in my school. With that said, I believe that the outcomes of this course should be presented as a collaboration between many of those employed by the school district and not placed solely on the shoulders of the administrators. There are many parts to a successful campus and while I understand those who presented this course probably understand that better than I the material was presented to me in a way that made me see it as a complete responsibility of the administrator. I can say that I did gain some much needed insight into the complete responsibility of a campus family to implement new technologies and the responsibilities that accompany that. This I believe will prepare me for the task I have to help my campus set new goals and find new avenues for implementing new technology and finding creative ways to use current technology to teach our students.



• What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

As an administrator I often enjoy setting goals and discussing the way we would all like our school to look like but I also need to face reality and look at what we have. I did not feel like this course spent enough time discussing how I can use the technology available on my campus to increase learning. The facts are that my campus may never receive enough funding to implement the goals that this course has laid out for technology. There was also some talk in the interviews about using things like cell phones etc. that don’t seem totally realistic to me. While I would love to implement some of these things I can also see just as many problems as I do benefits. That, I suspect, is part of the reason why they have not been used in schools already. I think the lack of face to face that this course presents is restricting when it comes to situations such as this. But, this course is what it is so to speak. I knew that going in.



• Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I feel like I was successful in carrying out the course assignments. Some were more challenging then others as to be expected. One discouragement I had was with the blogging. I made one little mistake with my e-mail address while setting up my blog account and this caused multiple accounts to get set up so when I went to view my blogs they were not showing up. After much trial and error I was able to correct the problem on my own. One thing these online courses are teaching me is to have patience and solve the problem myself instead of always e-mailing someone when something goes wrong. The readings and all of the posting (21 in some weeks) was a little excessive I felt. From the outside, the quantity of quotes to read and respond to doesn’t seem like that much but when you add up all of the time it takes to read, interpret meaning, read other post, and respond the process seemed quite laborious to me. If I was sitting at a round table discussion with seven other people those comments would not have taken any time at all but the reality is I wasn’t. I think the discussion groups sometimes try to create that round table discussion environment and the reality is that it’s different.



• What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?



I learned from this course that technology gets me excited about school. I feel like if we can find ways to bring technology into the classroom that schools as we know them will change dramatically for the good. I see myself as an administrator that wants to change the way we do things. I look at my school and see the same class systems that my parents were in. And I don’t believe that works anymore. If we are going to bring kids back to the classroom to learn then technology is the way to do it. This course was just the tip of the iceberg for me. I learned many new tools that I believe will be both interesting for the kids and more logical for teachers and administrators to use. I envision my school as a leader in technology helping to make the most efficient use of my teacher’s time and finding ways to help the students to be more creating and deeper thinkers.



• What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?



The most important value of blogging to the 21st century learner is that discussions and therefore learning do not have to occur face to face. Information from many “experts” across many spectrums can be obtained via blogging on the computer. Even if you want to look at blogging on a smaller scale there are many benefits that include having a place to compile information from a group of learners, having a group discussion without everyone having to be in the same place at the same time, and allowing learners to not feel intimidated like might be the case in a face to face group setting. From an administrative standpoint blogs are also valuable tools to help monitor the progress of group work and facilitate in a way that is conducive to the knowledge of the participants so that information is not redundant or remedial. This is also another tool that can help involve students in work that they might otherwise find a way to “fly under the radar” so to speak in an open classroom discussion.

• What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?



One of the main concerns that arise with any technology and certainly with blogging is the concern that students will choose to use the proper etiquette. It becomes easier for an individual to hide behind a user name and post inappropriate comments of misinformation when there is no face to face accountability. This becomes a major concern when dealing with a younger and less mature audience. There is also a concern that students will not complete the work on their own as required therefore decreasing the learning opportunity and increasing the chance that work will simply be finished and posted instead of learned. Another minor concern that I would have is that as we depend more and more on technology, which I believe is a good thing, I would worry that some students may find that they have trouble with the technology and can not get the assignment completed. For instance, if the blog address is written wrong, copied wrong, typed wrong etc. then the student will not be able to find the blog to participate. There may be a time when blogging is to be completed outside of class and not all students have the opportunity to do that. These are all concerns that I as an administrator will have to find solutions for and depend on the teachers to teach the students how to work through in order for us to be successful.





• How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Blogging I believe can be an invaluable tool in the education system for all stakeholders. I believe it can be used as one of the main means of communication to replace the traditional face to face faculty meetings and exchange information that typically takes place at these. Administrators will be able to post their “minutes” to the meeting to convey any information and the staff will be able to post any comments or questions they feel necessary therefore saving the time it takes for everyone to meet in one centralized location. After that if the administrator needs to follow up on any questions that are posted that will be possible. Community members could also be more involved in the decisions and on-goings of the campus via blogging. Members could log-in, read any posted information, and post any concerns or comments. Through this the community will be able to follow their kids more closely and feel informed about the campus life which in-turn will help to create greater sense of responsibility for all.