From the web conference I received a lot of good information regarding graduation requirements. This was great timing to receive this kind of information since I am about to complete my 9th course. I learned that the ILD course is not required for graduation; however, it is required for principal certification purposes. I was quite shocked to learn that this course costs $600 if taken online and $400 if taken in person through the local ESC. I also received good information about the TExES Principal test. I found out from Dr. Abernathy that Dr. Jenkins has a series of videos available online to help students prepare for the Lamar Competency Exam and the TExES Principal test.
On a different note, I found out that in August Epic would no longer be in the content management system. My impression is that Lamar would be transitioning to TK20 completely at this time. Hopefully this will not affect me, as I am scheduled to complete my coursework in June and graduate in August.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Action Plan
As I learned in my Week 3 report, when the site-based decision making committee disaggregated the results of my campus’ STaR Chart results for the 2011-2012 year it realized professional development was needed for online learning, as well as leadership and support for online learning. Due to this, the campus improvement plan includes provisions for providing additional professional development and support for staff in the area of online learning.
Online learning is something that is relatively new, so for this to be an area needing further professional development and support is not surprising. This area of need will be addressed through mini-professional development sessions, as well as full trainings on the integration of technology. Mini-professional development sessions will occur at the beginning of or during faculty meetings. Administration can demonstrate different tools used to enrich the curriculum at the beginning of staff meetings (such as www.polleverywhere.com). Full professional development sessions will be conducted as well. These sessions will include instruction on the use of the district’s new teacher web site technology, as well as training on how to use Moodle to move learning to an online setting as much as possible. I believe the most effective way to evaluate how useful these professional development sessions have been is through observing teachers in action. A more efficient way of evaluating how useful the professional development has been is through a survey 2-3 weeks after the training. Even though this method is more efficient I do not believe you get as accurate results as actual observations.
A tool that has already been implemented and staff still need additional training on is the use of the AWARE module in Eduphoria. This module is used in analyzing student results on state achievement tests, district benchmarks, and classroom assessments. Not only does it allow a teacher to analyze a student’s overall results on these assessments, but it allows teachers to analyze how students perform on specific objectives, as well as specific student expectations for any assessment that has been input into AWARE. In order to help teachers maximize the capabilities of AWARE, it is clear that staff need further training in using this tool. I have had several teachers ask me how to access specific data, such as an entire class’ benchmark data disaggregated by objective performance. Questions like these tell me that teachers have not received enough training in using this tool. I believe a professional development session labeled as, “An AWARE Refresher,” would be an appropriate way to review all the capabilities of AWARE without offending staff. Each department would have an “expert” who would help conduct this training. By requiring each department to have an “expert” on using AWARE, teachers would have yet another resource to contact if they have any further questions on utilizing the capabilities of aware. An online survey or questionnaire is the only method I can think of to evaluate how much teachers are using AWARE and what functions they are finding most useful. I suppose you could track how often each user logs into the Eduphoria suite and use that as a way to estimate how much a given teacher is using AWARE (it would only be an estimate since there are other modules within the Eduphoria suite).
Online learning is something that is relatively new, so for this to be an area needing further professional development and support is not surprising. This area of need will be addressed through mini-professional development sessions, as well as full trainings on the integration of technology. Mini-professional development sessions will occur at the beginning of or during faculty meetings. Administration can demonstrate different tools used to enrich the curriculum at the beginning of staff meetings (such as www.polleverywhere.com). Full professional development sessions will be conducted as well. These sessions will include instruction on the use of the district’s new teacher web site technology, as well as training on how to use Moodle to move learning to an online setting as much as possible. I believe the most effective way to evaluate how useful these professional development sessions have been is through observing teachers in action. A more efficient way of evaluating how useful the professional development has been is through a survey 2-3 weeks after the training. Even though this method is more efficient I do not believe you get as accurate results as actual observations.
A tool that has already been implemented and staff still need additional training on is the use of the AWARE module in Eduphoria. This module is used in analyzing student results on state achievement tests, district benchmarks, and classroom assessments. Not only does it allow a teacher to analyze a student’s overall results on these assessments, but it allows teachers to analyze how students perform on specific objectives, as well as specific student expectations for any assessment that has been input into AWARE. In order to help teachers maximize the capabilities of AWARE, it is clear that staff need further training in using this tool. I have had several teachers ask me how to access specific data, such as an entire class’ benchmark data disaggregated by objective performance. Questions like these tell me that teachers have not received enough training in using this tool. I believe a professional development session labeled as, “An AWARE Refresher,” would be an appropriate way to review all the capabilities of AWARE without offending staff. Each department would have an “expert” who would help conduct this training. By requiring each department to have an “expert” on using AWARE, teachers would have yet another resource to contact if they have any further questions on utilizing the capabilities of aware. An online survey or questionnaire is the only method I can think of to evaluate how much teachers are using AWARE and what functions they are finding most useful. I suppose you could track how often each user logs into the Eduphoria suite and use that as a way to estimate how much a given teacher is using AWARE (it would only be an estimate since there are other modules within the Eduphoria suite).
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Blog Posting #1: Opinion Piece
As much as Infrastructure is the key piece in affording a teacher the opportunity to integrate technology into their classroom; I believe Educator Preparation and Education is the most important piece of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology.
A teacher can have every single technological tool known to man, but if they do not know how to integrate it into the curriculum those technologies will go unused. Educators must be trained on how to integrate available technological resources into their curriculum. Every single district has different capabilities when it comes to available technologies. Due to this factor, I believe that it is the duty of the teacher's employer to properly train all staff on the effective integration of technology into the curriculum. I know that both districts that I have been employed by have had a technology facilitator for each individual campus. These technology facilitators should not only know the district's technologies inside and out, but they should have a very good understanding of the curriculum for the school they serve, particularly the curriculum for the core subjects.
Am I saying that the district should do all the work of integrating technology into each class’ curriculum? No. My point is that each district should initiate the process of helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. Once you get a teacher rolling with some ideas, I believe the teacher will then start to generate their own ideas of how to integrate technology into the curriculum. The problem that must be addressed, from my experience, is not only in teaching teachers how to integrate the technology, but in giving them the tools to do it themselves.
A teacher can have every single technological tool known to man, but if they do not know how to integrate it into the curriculum those technologies will go unused. Educators must be trained on how to integrate available technological resources into their curriculum. Every single district has different capabilities when it comes to available technologies. Due to this factor, I believe that it is the duty of the teacher's employer to properly train all staff on the effective integration of technology into the curriculum. I know that both districts that I have been employed by have had a technology facilitator for each individual campus. These technology facilitators should not only know the district's technologies inside and out, but they should have a very good understanding of the curriculum for the school they serve, particularly the curriculum for the core subjects.
Am I saying that the district should do all the work of integrating technology into each class’ curriculum? No. My point is that each district should initiate the process of helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. Once you get a teacher rolling with some ideas, I believe the teacher will then start to generate their own ideas of how to integrate technology into the curriculum. The problem that must be addressed, from my experience, is not only in teaching teachers how to integrate the technology, but in giving them the tools to do it themselves.
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