When I began the Instructional Leadership course, I wanted to gain a better understanding of the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology and social, legal, and ethical issues that are related to technology and teaching and learning. I also wanted to understand how to use data to assess the current technology status of my campus. I feel like I achieved those outcomes and so much more. I thought I had a fairly extensive knowledge of many of these issues since I am a Career & Technology teacher, but I learned that there was a lot I didn’t know.

By working to achieve the outcomes I initially set for myself, I believe I have a better understanding of how technology should be functioning within a school and/or district, and I feel confident that I can apply what I have learned not only as a teacher but also as I move into an administrative role. One of the key items of which I initially had little concern was the Star Chart. On my campus, everyone completes the STaR Chart, but we never receive the results; thus, we have no idea how the information is used or how our campus compares to others within the district, city, or state. I believe this information is very relative to my position as a teacher and as an administrative intern. As I’ve stated previously, many of our current administrators are older and have little knowledge of technology. The understanding I have gained regarding the STaR Chart, as well as a variety of other technology issues, will allow me to educate teachers and administrators on the effective uses of technology in teaching and learning.

I feel like I achieved the outcomes I set for myself, although I would have liked to have explored some of the concepts more in-depth. Unfortunately, the number of weekly hours required to complete the coursework for this class kept me from achieving that goal. I was successful in carrying out my course assignments, but there are a couple of issues of which I had great concern. Often, the course rubics differed from the overviews and assignment instructions. I also felt that many of the assignment instructions were quite vague and was concerned that I was not completing the assignments correctly. I am fortunate to have other Lamar students on my campus, and through collaboration, we were usually able to figure out what was being asked of us, or we would email the academic coach for further clarification. With that being said, I think it would be in the best interest of future students if all of the materials were in-sync and the instructions were more explicit.

I learned that I did not know as much as I thought I knew about technology issues, especially those related to copyright. I also learned that my campus has significant deficits in terms of technology integration and infrastructure. I feel that I have strong leadership skills, and the new knowledge I gained through this course will allow me to further develop those skills because so many of our teachers and administrators have a lack of understanding regarding technology and its benefit to our students. I believe my attitude about my school actually worsened, in that I realize how far we are behind other comparable schools in the city, state, and nation.

I believe that blogs can be very beneficial in education, and if used correctly, can benefit all stakeholders. Our 21st century learners use technology everyday. It comes naturally because they have been raised with it. By allowing students to blog for educational purposes, we promote writing and instant communication. Because blogging provides online, real-time access to ideas, students have the opportunity to communicate with people throughout the school, district, city, state, nation, and even the world. It’s hard enough to get our students to write on a regular basis; however, by allowing them to blog, they are essentially journaling, but have the ability to share ideas with others and receive feedback instantly.

The main concerns I have regarding blogs in education are safety and security. If we are to use blogging effectively, we have to publish guidelines and require blogging for specific activities, rather than letting the kids have a free-for-all. As educators, we also have to teach our students about technology ethics and how to apply those ethics when blogging, in addition to limiting the amount of personal information students make available within their blogs. Within our district, we also have some technology limitations that could prevent blogging from being useful or even timely. Our biggest obstacle to blogging, perhaps, is the mentality of many school and district administrators. Often, blogging is seen as social network; therefore, we have to prove to these people that blogging can be an effective tool for students, as well as teachers, administrators, parens, and community members.

It’s important for those that make the decisions to understand how blogging can benefit all school stakeholders. Many school and district administrators use blogs as a way to communicate important information about current happenings and upcoming events at school and district facilities. By providing a link from district or school websites to pertinent blogs, we will allow our technology savvy students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members to have better access to school information. By providing all stakeholders with a view into campus life, schools and districts will promote relationships and develop a stronger sense of community.

Week 4 Assignment, Part 2: Professional Development Planning

Week 3 Analysis
From my Week 3 analysis, I have determined that Judson High School’s major obstacles to integrating technology with instructional and organizational leadership include out-dated infrastructure, teacher resistance, and inadequate professional development opportunities. Unfortunately, the district is unwilling to correct the issue regarding our out-dated infrastructure due to the school’s impending move to a new facility during the 2010-2011 school year; however, it has the ability to provide innovative professional development, so that teachers know how to and are comfortable integrating technology into their lessons. If teachers are made to feel comfortable with the technology available to them and have the appropriate resources to implement that technology, the problem of teacher resistance should diminish as well.


District and Campus Improvement Plans
District Goal #4: To ensure that all students meet or exceed evolving accountability standards by providing educational opportunities aligned to the 21st Century workforce that are supported by effective and efficient operations through the implementation of a comprehensive, master planning process which is based on data and research, reviewed consistently, and articulated using a variety of media and methods.
• Strategy: Provide teachers with training on how to integrate technology into curricula and instruction to
improve teaching, learning, and technology literacy and integrate into classroom instruction.
• Indicators for Measurement: Comprehensive student data will be collected to measure the goals from
academic data to attendance data etc. Data identified through Master Planning by each department will be
collected annually to evaluate for progress, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Campus Goal #3: Teachers will use research based best practices and assessment data to drive instruction, curriculum, decision-making, and professional development.
• Strategy: Teachers will integrate technology into the curriculum and use technology in the classroom, and
all teachers will be competent in the use of and employment of best instructional practices.
• Indicators for Measurement: Comprehensive student data will be collected from Eduphoria and other
sources to determine whether students have mastered the TEKS through their performance on TAKS,
benchmarkes, and other assessments.


District Technology Plan
• Assess employee proficiency of various technology resources in order to develop a comprehensive
professional development program.
• Use technology to collect and analyze data in order to design and implement effective instructional
practices.
• Provide campus-based, quality professional development opportunities focused on producing technology
integrated projects for students.


My Recommendations
The first step to creating appropriate professional development will be to assess teachers and administrators to determine their levels of proficiency in various programs. Although the STaR Chart provides data on teachers abilities, it does not list specific software/technology in which they are proficient. In order to collect this data, a survey must be completed by each teacher and administrator to determine who will require training and who can serve as “helpers” on the campus once training has occurred. A free online survey can easily be generated using websites such as www.surveymonkey.com and emailed to all staff members. Once data from the survey is reviewed, a professional development schedule can be developed to provide training on specific software or technologies to teachers before or after school, during conference periods, or on in-service days. Additionally, self-paced tutorials for programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can be developed to allow teachers to complete their training 24/7 from any location.

Teachers and administrators will also be provided with in-depth training on Eduphoria through departmental professional development sessions after school or during in-service days, so that they can better understand the capabilities the program has in gathering and evaluating data on student achievement. By training teachers within their departments, the trainer will be able to determine which data is most important based on subject area and tailor that training to allow teachers within each department to receive the most benefit from the information. Eduphoria “cheat sheets” will be prepared for all teachers and administrators to use as a quick reference for producing reports and assessing data, and online tutorials will be available 24/7 for all users to increase their skill level within Eduphoria. Eduphoria has the ability to allow teachers and administrators to determine which areas students are struggling in, and it allows teachers and administrators to review that information disaggregated by sub-populations to determine if the problems are increased in any specific groups. If teachers and administrators are able to use this information resource as it was designed, I believe changes can be made to lessons to incorporate technology, thus, improving understanding and increasing academic achievement.

After teachers and administrators have been trained on the use of Eduphoria and other technology applications, it is important to provide professional development opportunities that focus on producing technology-integrated projects for students. The district will provide a half-day professional development session for all secondary teachers that explains the process of developing technology-integrated projects. Then teachers within the same teaching discipline across the district will meet to create their own lessons using technology-integrated projects with their curriculum specialists. The collaborative effort of teachers and their specialists will produce quality projects that can be used district-wide to ensure that all students are receiving appropriate instruction in all classes.


Week 4 Assignment, Part 3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan

As stated previously, the focus of the aforementioned professional development will be the attainment of District Improvement Plan Goal #4 and Campus Improvement Plan Goal #3. Teachers will be provided with training on how to integrate technology into their instruction to improve teaching, learning, and technology literacy and integrate what they have learned into their classroom using research-based, best-teaching practices. In order to determine the effectiveness of this training, comprehensive student data will be collected using Eduphoria, PEIMS, and other relevant programs. Additional data will also be identified and collected through departmental master planning to evaluate teacher and student progress, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the technology implementation.


Steps to Evaluate Effectiveness of Technology Training and Integration
1. Create and distribute email survey to all teachers and administrators to determine their proficiency with
various software and technology applications. (Require completion within one week of distribution.)
2. Evaluate information received from email survey to determine training needs of staff.
3. Schedule professional development sessions before or after school, during conference periods, and in-
service days to train teachers on the use of Eduphoria and other software and technology applications.
4. Schedule district-wide secondary professional develop session to explain how to integrate technology into
lessons.
5. Allow teachers in the same discipline from both high schools to collaborate with their curriculum
specialists to develop technology-integrated projects for students to improve academic achievement.
6. Use Eduphoria, PEIMS, and other data-collection tools, as well as departmental master planning sessions,
to determine the effectiveness of professional development at the end of each semester.
7. Evaluate effectiveness of previous professional development and make changes as necessary to improve
academic instruction for subsequent semesters/years.

Understanding the Texas STaR Chart

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Texas STaR Chart Teaching and Learning

The Texas Campus STaR Chart "Teaching and Learning" component refers to how classroom instruction is delivered using technology. The goal is for all schools to function at the Target Tech level, wherein the teacher serves as a facilitator, mentor, and co-learner, and students have on-demand access to technology that will assist them in completing educational activities. Additionally, all students have met the Technology Applications TEKS through grade 8, and high school campuses offer and teach at least four Technology Applications courses.

Only about 1% of Texas schools are classifed as Target Tech at this time; 4% as Early Tech; 70% as Developing Tech; and 25% as Advanced Tech. Within my district, school levels vary widely between Developing Tech and Target Tech. As a whole, the district averages as Developing Tech in the areas of "Teaching and Learning" and "Educator Preparation and Develoment" and as Advanced Tech in the areas of "Leadership, Adminstration, and Instructional Support" and "Infrastructure for Technology." Texas still has a long way to go in order to compete with other states in technology integration, but the state has made great strides over the last several years. In order to continue this trend, the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 establishes goals to allow Texas to be competitive in educating its students for the 21st century.

To improve in the area of "Teaching and Learning," my primary recommendation would be to get more computers into Texas schools. Other states have been able to accomplish this by providing students with laptops, and many schools in Texas have begun to adopt this concept. If students had on-demand access to technology in all classes, teachers could stop spending so much time directing students on the use of technology and spend more time mentoring students as they become independent learners, who employ technology to solve problems and develop critical thinking skills.

Technology Applications TEKS Summary

The Pre-K Technology Applications TEKS are very basic; however, they develop a foundation of skills that will allow children to become confident and independent users of age-appropriate technologies, which is critical to the development of 21st century skills. By the end of the prekindergarten years, children should know how to open and navigate through age-appropriate software programs and be able to use those programs to create and express their own ideas. Pre-K students should also be able to identify a variety of computer input devices, including the keyboard, mouse, touch screen, sound recorder, and CD-ROM and have the ability to operate voice/sound recorders and touch screens. Ultimately, the goal of the Technology Application TEKS for Pre-K students is to allow them to recognize that information is accessible through the use of technology and develop the basis for their technological advancement in order acquire the skills they need to learn and grow throughout their lives.

By instilling technology skills in students during the prekindergarten years, Texas will ensure that its students have the ability to advance those skills as they move through their schooling and become competitive in the global marketplace when they enter the workforce. This scaffolding approach to teaching technology skills allows educators to systematically sequence content, materials, tasks, and support, so that children can accomplish tasks and develop new skills. Students are provided with support as long as necessary for them to be able to complete tasks independently and become proficient in the use of new technologies.

This scaffolding technique is visible in all of the Technology Applications TEKS. For example, in the Technology Applications TEKS for grades 3-5, students first develop the foundations, which allows them to understand the components of technology, such as the hardware and software, and then utilize those components to perform basic tasks, such as creating and saving a file. As part of the foundations, the students also learn how to use a variety of devicies, including keyboards, scanners, mouse, etc., and are educated about the acceptable use of technology and laws that pertain to copyrighted information. After students develop the foundation skills, they move on to developing information acquisition skills, where they learn how to use a variety of strategies to locate information using electronic resources and are able to understand the many formats in which the information is presented. At this point students also learn to evaluate the information for usefulness. Students are then taught to select and use appropriate computer-based productivity tools, such as word processing or presentation software, to express their ideas and solve problems. They must also use their acquired research skills to create new knowledge and evaluate their and their peers' work. Finally, students must communicate their information effectively and deliver their products through a variety of formats, including printed and digital displays, and assess their work to determine its relevance to the assigned task.

Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020

The vision of the Texas Long Range Technology Plan, 2006-2020, which was developed by the Educational Technology Advisory Committee, includes provisions not only for students but also for parents, educators, and community and school board members in order to ensure that all stakeholders receive a 21st century education. In order to define the need for change and ensure that our students are prepared for the demands of the 21st century, one must understand how technology has transformed every aspect of business, government, society, and life. In an effort to ensure that Texas students can be competitive in this new environment, the educational focus has to shift so that students are empowered to continuously live and learn in order to effectively interact in the global marketplace. The 21st century learner is technology-savvy and views technology as an essential component of every aspect of his/her life. Accordingly, most teachers view technology positively, and 99% of teachers report using technology weekly for work and incorporate it into their lessons in order to improve student achievement. With that being said, teaching and learning is enhanced through the integration of technologies in classrooms, which allows for "greater levels of interest, inquiry, analysis, collaboration, creativity, and content production (p. 18)" among students. With 21st century learning, teachers must become facilitators, mentors, and co-learners, rather than the source of knowledge, and students must become active participants in the learning process. Additionally, educator preparation programs for new teachers and professional development programs for current teachers must ensure that all professional educators have the skills needed to change instruction to meet the needs of this and future generations of Texas students. It is critical that these programs model the appropriate use of technology and that all educators master the SBEC Technology Applications Standards. It is also imperative that school leadership understand and support technology innovation in our Texas schools. Administrators must model their use of technology as well as ensure that others utilize technology to enhance student performance. In order to provide equitable access to all learners, Texas must develop an infrastructure that will offer high-speed connectivity and be equipped with ample digital tools and resources. Among the elements of this plan, the most important is the "cohesive partnership between the state and local educational agencies, regional Education Service Centers, and higher education to provide the administrative and instructional support, infrastructure, professional development, certifications, and progress measures required to equip teachers and students with 21st century skills (p. 42)."

After reviewing the Texas Long-Range Technology Plan, 2006-2020, I believe this new learning will assist me in planning professional development and technology integration across the curriculum as I move into the role of an instructional leader. Now that I understand the Plan's vision and the need for change in our schools, I believe I can effectively convey that information to my colleagues. I believe it is important to understand how technology will impact not only students but also teachers, administrators, parents, and community members, and as we transition our students into the real world, we must prepare them for the global marketplace, as many of the jobs they will hold have not yet been invented. The knowledge I gained by reviewing the Long-Range Technology Plan, 2006-2020, will allow me to effectively model technology for my teachers and assist them with implementing technology into their lessons to positively impact student achievement.

Technology Assessment and SETDA Reflection

I found the Technology Applications Inventory very helpful in assessing my own technology strengths and weaknesses; however, the SETDA Teacher Survey was somewhat difficult to complete because some of the information requested is not shared with teachers on a regular basis at my school. As teachers, our exposure to technology and knowledge about its use in the school is based on what we do with our own students or observe others doing with their students.

Due to my prior experience as a Systems Analyst, one of my strengths is my proficiency with computer hardware and software. I am also a Microsoft Certified Application Specialist in all Office applications, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Outlook. Therefore, I have the ability to utilize these applications to increase my own efficiency and effectiveness as well as incorporate them into my lessons to enhance student achievement.

Some areas of weakness that the surveys identified were my lack of knowledge regarding audio/video files and virtual reality applications, as well as my nonuse of telecommunications and project management tools. Due to our ever-changing technological environment, I believe it is extremely important for me to become well-versed in the use of audio/video files and virtual reality. This is especially true in my teaching field of marketing because audio/video and virtual reality uses are endless in the realm of marketing and could be easily incorporated into my lessons. Unfortunately, because I do not directly teach classes that revolve around these applications, my district will not support my attendance at workshops that address these areas. Additionally, although I have a large knowledge base regarding telecommunications and project managment tools as a result of my previous work experience, I do not readily incoporate these tools into my classroom or professional life. My school does not offer opportunities for students or teachers for engage in telecommunications activities, such as video conferencing or distance learning, and although I know the benefit of telecommunications activities, I have not pressed our district leadership to implement these types of programs. With the recent implementation of applications, such as Microsoft Outlook, teachers are beginning to use project management tools, but most people still believe it's easier to use a manual calendar or timeline, rather than incorporating an online, realtime version of the same information. Thus, when I attempt to use project management applications, there are not enough people, who understand how to use them, which creates additional work and/or misunderstandings; thus, I have returned to the paper and pen method of recording information.