Final Step

Bringing About Change

Positives and Negatives                     

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Planning the process of developing Professional Development to train teachers on technology has been enjoyable. I know what it is like as a teacher to be frustrated in not knowing how to use technology provided by the school or frustrated in not having the time to learn it to use it. My empathy has given me a new perspective as a Technology Specialist to be able to provide what will benefit teachers the most. It has been challenging scheduling the PD days just for technology training while administration has their own agenda. It takes a lot of communication and planning to make it work.

What's Next...   

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I am very excited about technology training and believe in its potential to make teachers better educators and performers of technology. I am so passionate about it knowing that a majority of my peers want this as well.

My next step in this process is to complete one more technology course to earn my Masters in Education. Though there are more courses to take to earn my technology specialist certificate, that may be something I will pursue in the future. I want to focus on doing what I am doing now, very well. I have just a couple of teaching years under my belt and want to become more experienced and skilled before mastering another area of expertise.

Technology Leader: Bringing About Change

Technology Leader: Bringing About Change

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What's It All About?                            

      Being a technology specialist involves a lot more than I expected. Technology specialists are responsible for so many things to keep the digital world going within a school. From the teacher standpoint, I only see the technology specialist providing us with equipment for our classrooms, fixing the equipment, and otherwise staying in his office. As I’ve learned over the last few weeks, there is so much more entailed in the job.

      Change agents must be leaders that are willing to stand up and create the change and guide others along the way. According to the KQED News article, “Coaching Teachers To Become Powerful Users of Classroom Tech,” there are many apps and opportunities for technology use in the classrooms, but teachers just don’t know how to use them effectively. Workshops don’t seem to be cutting it when it comes to teaching educators how to use the purchased technology (Schwartz, 2019). Something must change, and that is when the change agents come in.

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      Not just anyone can be a change agent. It takes a specific person internally or externally of the place of employment who can consult, train, and research the employees. According to Fred C. Lunenburg, Sam Houston State University, there are 10 characteristics of an effective agent for change. They are homophily, empathy, linkage, proximity, structuring, capacity, openness, reward, energy, and synergy (Lunenburg, 2010). Though most explain themselves, they are each a pertinent component to make the changes needed in the area of technology among peers.

      

Challenges

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      The most challenging component of being a change agent is satisfying the needs of the staff with only 4 training sessions (PD) in the first year. Additionally, it will require some serious organization to schedule and meet with each individual and review their goals and effectiveness in using the technology. If these individual meetings don’t happen, I feel that many teachers won’t ask the questions they need answers to, nor continue to use the technology they have been provided.

      Planning and implementing the steps in my proposal have been very challenging. It is very time consuming and requires cooperation with administration to fit my plan of meetings and training into the ones they already have for other purposes. Open communication seems to help keep everyone in the loop and make adjustments as we go along, instead of after the fact.

                                                                 

References

Lunenburg, F. (2010). Managing Change: The Role of the Change Agent. [Abstract].

           International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration, Vol.13(1), 2-5.

Schwartz, K. (2019). Coaching Teachers To Become Powerful Users of Classroom

           Tech. KQED News: Mindshift. Retrieved from

           https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52648/coaching-teachers-to-become-powerful-

           users-of-classroom-tech.

Reflection

Learning Specialist/Instructional Designer Proposal Reflection

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As I near the end of this course, I'm reflecting on this process of developing and presenting a proposal. It is a lot of work, but really isn't that difficult in putting together. The brainstorming, need assessment and research is the easy part. Meeting with administration and coworkers to discuss the need and the found research can be challenging with the busy schedules. The administration was willing to listen, but their hands are mostly tied in providing technology outside of the budget. Basically, it comes down to the staff funding their own way when the needs are not met. If the technology is purchased, then it is a waiting process of the technology staff to have time to install and program the Chromebooks and SMART Boards, while training staff how to effectively use the equipment. I enjoyed piloting and hosting a peer review. I was able to 
perceive the proposal from different viewpoints and recognize the pros and cons to the plan. I love working with others who have the same desires to do what it takes to obtain the technology resources needed for their students. Unfortunately, not all educators want to learn and use technology and I believe it hinders the students throughout the whole school year. 

Technology Proposal

Reflecting on My Technology Proposal

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Taking a look, again, at my proposal of SMART Boards in every classroom and a  

 Chromebook cart for each classroom, I think there is a 50/50 chance it will be accepted by administration. The process of identifying the needs and why, while talking to admin has been fairly easy. Yes, it can be challenging setting up a time to meet with admin, but it was doable within a week’s time. The other challenge is the school budget. It is evaluated yearly, but adding more funds or allocating them differently isn’t always possible. There is a budget for technology, but it is limited to providing only a certain amount of additional technology each year. Something not pursued often is opportunities like GoFundMe and Donors Choose. A few other colleagues have had success in doing this, so I’m going to pursue it as well, at least for my classroom.

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I have been a bit discouraged in the process, just because not everyone is as passionate about the high need of technology for student use, like I am. This being said, I feel a bit alone in making it happen. What I am learning to do effectively is making a proposal and the steps to put it all together and present it. Also, I am learning to look at other ways to obtain the resources needed for our students without relying on the current school budget.

The Technology Specialist role of Learning Specialist is very similar to that of a classroom teacher. Teachers must learn the different learning theories in order to best serve their students each year. The theories do play a factor in how the teacher presents each lesson and creates an assessment for the students. The Instructional Designer role makes learning more fun. This role sets up ways for students to use technology and be creative in their product after the lesson. There are so many ways for teachers to use technology resources to enhance learning for students. Also, using different ways for students to show what they learned meets the needs of all of the diverse learners in the classroom.

Tips for Teachers on Social Media

6 Tips for Teachers on Social Media

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1. Be Brave - It takes courage and vulnerability to step out and use social media. Many people post things about themselves, what they like/dislike, and what they are experiencing on any given day. That is bravery and vulnerability. 

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2. Be Smart and Cautious - Yes, many may be frightened by the stories we all hear from time to time about people getting fired or discriminated by what they post. Even I, at one point, was getting a little nervous about that. We must continue to move forward with courage and just be cautious about what we post. We must be consciously thinking about if we would mind having our posts brought before a crowd or have someone we look up to read it. Would you be embarrassed?? Ashamed??

3. Two Accounts or One? - There is a debate about whether or not educators should have one personal social media account or two: personal and professional. I personally like to keep my personal life separate from my professional. Therefore, it might be wise for me to create a separate one just for teaching. The thing is, there are many tools available to use without having to set up a separate social media account that still allows parents, students, and staff to see what is happening in your classroom. For example, ClassDojo has a news feed just for posting reminders and pictures of student work, and classroom activities.  I like the idea of using Facebook or Twitter professionally, but on personal time. What I mean is to use these social media sights to connect with other educators across the word who have blogs, websites, Teachers Pay Teachers accounts, etc. to build up my idea/resource collection for my classroom. I wouldn't connect with colleagues through these sources, but mainly those I don't personally know, but can learn from.  For some, they may want to use a separate professional Facebook or Twitter account that connects their professional resources, both at school and worldwide, in the same place. That works too!!

4. Stay Focused on Your Specialties - Speak to those things that you know best: your grade level students, your school, your educational degree, your specialized programs, etc. Connect with others who you have these things in common with. Broaden your networks of collaboration to enhance your teaching skills and classroom learning. 

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5. Know Your Boundaries - As with any relationship, you MUST have a predetermined mindset of where your boundaries are and have a plan to enforce it. How far will you let things go with a student or parent? How close will you let your colleagues get to you personally?  Setting up boundaries, so you stay protected as a professional is vital to your success. 

6. Build Your Professional Learning Network (PLN) - A great way to quickly grow your PLN is through social media. Connecting with other educators online or through other local networks available at school allows teachers to develop a broader spectrum of ideas, resources, and encouragement through those new or more seasoned in the profession. We all have fresh ideas to share, so why not get out there and get connected with others who may benefit. 

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My Thoughts!

This article opened my eyes to a couple of new things. First, staying focused on my areas of specialty is so important and the most valuable for me. I love teaching all elementary grade levels, so I like to learn about things beyond my grade level. Yes, this may have its benefits, but may also be a time-waster, if I really need to seek out what is best for my students and classroom. There is the option to modify things learned from other educators, but I do think it is important to connect more so with those of my grade level. It is quite a bit easier just to take their ideas and use them immediately than to think about modification and create new resources to assess the objective.  Secondly, I love the idea of using social media to build my PLN. Whether it is through a separate social media account or adding it to my personal one (to an extent), this is a great way to connect with other educators who can spark some new ideas and resources to improve my current wave of success in the classroom. 

Find the complete article here: 

6 Tips for Teachers on Social Media https://talktechwithme.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/6-tips-for-teachers-on-social-media-in-a-connected-world/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Final Thoughts on Technology in Education

My Final Thoughts on Technology in Education

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Looking back...                 

As I reflect on this course of using Technology in Education, I can walk away with so many more skills and valuable tools to be successful and more well rounded in my profession and life. My favorite activities in this course were blogging, digital space mapping, and active learning.

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Blogging:  I've developed a new passion for writing through blogging. I've greatly enjoyed writing my blog every week and reading the comments that others leave. This skill is also something I can use personally in other areas of my life and possibly earn money by doing so, as well. 

Digital Space Mapping: This activity was so eye-opening for evaluating the time and ways I use technology. I am most often a personal visitor to many of the digital tools I use. There are just a few tools that I use daily as a personal resident, like Facebook, Gmail, Instagram, and Pinterest. My main reason for such high use of these things is to communicate with family and friends. 

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Active Learning: Active learning is so vital to student success and achievement. I loved learning about all of the different ways educators can incorporate active learning into their daily lessons. It is all about the students and them using tools to investigate and learn on their own to gain knowledge and skills. 

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Looking Ahead...

I'm excited about getting back into the classroom and using some of the things I learned through this course. First of all, I want to get my files organized with Livebinder. I've always been an organized personal and thrive on knowing where everything is and having order. Next, I want to begin using some of the tools introduced weekly in the "Decide" section of our portal. I really like the Remind site where I can communicate with parents about assignments and students progress/concerns. I won't have to give out my personal cell phone number, but can reach out using this private tool. Another tool I want to try is Nearpod. This interactive lesson planner allows teachers to create presentations that are more interesting and engaging for students. It offers quizzes and activities for students as well. Though there are many more I will eventually try and incorporate into my classroom, these tools listed here is where I plan to begin.