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.