Reflective Blog Entry 3 EDUC 638

Reflective Blog Entry 3

In the reading of The Technology Director’s Guide to leadership the power of great questions chapters 5 through 8 by Don. Hall. Integrating technology into district leadership, management and operations will empower people to do their jobs more efficient and effectively. Information, content and resource management systems can help leadership team and school. To be an effective technology leader, you must model innovative uses of technology and empower educators, parents, students and the community with technology solutions. Embracing technology can and will illustrate commitment to changing the culture of education in any school district. And a chief technology officer or chief information officer who reports to the superintendent can help districts keep technology front and center and manage the critical components of the district’s technology strategy.

In reading Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology by Anthony Picciano chapters 7 through 13. Picciano talks about the impact on professional development and how important it is to have programs in place for teacher to get technology training and to have members of staff well aware of the districts polices. Being very new to the school system I can agree that professional developments has and will continue to com e in handy for me and others I work with. Another key point that Picciano talks about is hardware.  Hardware has become a big part of the school system. Repairs, maintenance and upgrades are very vital to any ITRT and IT Directors.  What I have seen working in a new school is some of the same issues that older school may have which are repairs and maintenances.  What must be seen is that regardless of how the district and or school plan for replacement of devices, the effective manager should look towards the replacement of technology devices before it is a necessity. (Picciano, 2011, p 240.) What has also been talked about by Picciano is how financial planning is important. Financial planning effects the how technology programs are expanded though out school districts. Picciano states that financial planning should not be the only thing that drives the IT department but it should be something that is consider.  In many school systems I have hear that they may not have updated technology due to the lack of funds where they live. What I have seen that a school system where I live had brought all new computers to distribute to the school in their area but they never  give any of the computer out to the school that they were supposes to.  A school spokes persons later said that they never knew that the computer where sitting in the warehouse. So for over a year the IT department had to keep they older computer working even though the equipment they had was very old and out of date. Here is a link to that story City school computers remained unused in warehouse http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/article_c8d79ae7-af5d-5a5f-9dab-18c621b1944e.html?mode=image&photo=0

References 

Hall, D. (2008). The technology director’s guide to leadership, the power of great questions. ISTE. Washington, D.C.

Picciano, A. (2011). Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

Reflective Blog for EDUC 638

Reflective Blog Entry 2

In the reading of The Technology Director’s Guide to leadership the power of great questions chapters 3 and 4 by Don. Hall.  The mission of the technology department is to provide leadership, guidance, assistance, support, through the coordination of information management, computing, media, and telephone services enabling students, faculty, and staff to address the diverse educational needs of the school to meets of the school system as a whole. According to Hall a key responsibility of any leader is the development and management of an organization’s or team’s vision. The presence of a powerful vision is what allows an organization to reach its goals.(Hall, 2008). Hall states that it is important to provide clear leadership when developing a technology vision for your organization. (Hall, 2008) There are three components that technology leaders must have when designing a vision for the district or department: feedback and ownership, publicity and ongoing communication and monitoring and evaluation. The vision for my school system’s IT department is to use technology effectively in the classroom which means transforming the classroom, teaching, and learning. Productive use of technology does not mean using it solely to help slow students catch up, to occupy quick achievers, to reward good behavior, or to baby-sit. Where technology is yielding results, the classrooms are student-centered, with teachers as coaches and guides. Outside resources come to class and students go outside the classroom. Technology allows engagement, review, and especially assessment in broader, deeper ways.

In reading Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology by Anthony Picciano chapters 4 through 6. Picciano talks about the three major software components that are utilized in most business and school IT environments; the database, the electronic spreadsheet, and office automated software. (Picciano, 2011) According to Picciano data collecting and data searching skills are being taught by having students use the World Wide Web to access databases maintained by government agencies, universities, and research institutions. It is very important for students to be able to use databases when working on research projects, this allows the  students to build their own databases with information that they have collected on from the World Wide Web on animals, weather, states, famous people, minerals, places, and ect.  With the uses of spreadsheet programs being used in mathematics, the sciences, and business education classes. Spreadsheet can be particularly effective in instructional applications where data collection using a database is combined with data analysis. Word processing software makes revisions easy and avoids the chore of handwriting or retyping extensive amounts of text. Many students at various grade levels commonly use Microsoft word processing to do writing assignments. One of the most important lines out of chapter six for me is “Integrating technology into the curriculum is therefore closely tied to professional development, which is therefore one of the critical components of any technology-based plan, along with hardware, software, facilities, and finances.” (Picciano, 2011). In order for the student to be educated in technology the teacher must first get the education.

The person that I have chosen to interview this week is Ms. Tracy Lancaster, ITRT of Henrico High School in Henrico County Virginia. During my interview I asked ten question regarding the advantages and disadvantages for educational technology for teaching and learning.  What I have found out about the technology program surprised me.  The mission of Henrico County Public Schools is to "inspire, empower and educate every student to be prepared for success in the 21st century." This is accomplished by creating 21st century learning environments in which the instructor is a content expert, provides engaging, student-centered 21st century instruction, and where 21st century technology tools are available for instruction. Henrico County Public Schools was one of the first school districts in the United States to distribute laptop computers to students, during the 2001 school year.  The Department of Instructional Technology works with teachers, principals, and content specialists to identify and implement digital resources and supporting technologies that will ensure a solid 21st century learning experience for Henrico students. ITRTs provide training and resources for teachers for their own edification and to use with the students. Teacher can subscribe to resources through iTunes U if desired but also have an online course to use with their students. Training is also provided at faculty meetings and by using quick tips and email to bring attention to Internet safety throughout the year. I have learned so much more now than before about the 21st century learning initiative. I feel that it is very important to have technology in the classroom as well as for the students to have access to it on a daily biases. However when was never mentioned to me is the cost of all of the smart boards and the laps that are being used at the three newest school in the county. When the school I worked for did not even have enough money to buy books.  Genesis 11:6 “And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

References:

Hall, D. (2008). The technology director’s guide to leadership, the power of great questions. ISTE. Washington, D.C.

Picciano, A. (2011). Educational Leadership and planning for technology 5th edition. Pearson Publishing. Boston, MA.