Week2 S Ta R Chart

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Week2 S Ta R Chart

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Week 2 Part 2 TX Long Range Plan Area

I have chosen to blog about Area 4, infrastructure for technology. This area is basically the foundation for using technology on campus. With out this area, the rest of the areas may not be able to be reached. This area includes, internet connection and access, network access, number of students per computer, other classroom technology such as smart boards, projectors, and document cameras. This area also covers technical support on your campus as well as the distance learning capacity.

As far as technology progress on our campus, I know that there will be in the near future. Right now our primary campus is in its first year and I know that we will soon be caught up to everyone else once we start off next year. We do have one computer per teacher and are working to get a couple of computers in the classrooms as well as a lab. At our campus we have full online access with lan/wan connection to allow us to print, email, and share documents.

Looking at the statewide data, I see that most are at an advanced stage, 57%, with infrastructure. This means that there are four or less students per computer, there is direct connectivity, and there is a shared use of other resources. This is awesome progress from where most schools used be at about ten years ago.

About 35% of schools feel that are at a developing level as far as infrastructure. I believe this completely because of the way technology is changing and how costs are dropping, which makes it easier for educators to buy more for their campuses. Being at a developing level means that 5 to 9 students per computer, there is direct internet service in 50% of classrooms, there is one educator per computer and there is shared use of other resources. This area I am sure will become a smaller percentage as more and more districts buy into more technology and soon they will become part of the advanced technology area.

The last two areas are early technology and target technology. About 1% is still in early technology, where I believe my primary campus would fall under. There are 10 or more students per computer and there is no web based learning. Although, we do have direct connection to the internet and not dial up, I still feel that we belong at the early stages of technology. About 7 % of campuses are at the target level, which I think everyone will aim to be in the near future. To be at a target level, there should be an on demand access for every student, with all the connections, and rooms are fully equipped with appropriate technology.

I believe that in order for my campus to improve in this area, there must be budget and support. I feel that my administration is fully aware of where we are and where we want to be. They are doing their best to get us there as quickly as possible. I hope that any school at the early technology stages have the support that my administrators give to my campus. It is very hard to move past this stage though, when there is lack of budget. I know though, that there are ways to overcome budget constraints. Computers are running so inexpensive these days, that if districts tried their very best, all campuses would be free of this early technology stage. From the looks of it, not very many fall under this category, maybe only first year campuses may be undergoing the same challenges we are facing right now. As far as the state growing, I think it will be sooner than later, that our advanced levels and target levels become ideal for all campuses.

Pre-K Technology TEKS

The technology TEKS for Pre-K lay the foundation for students because they learn how important and beneficial it is to have technology in our lives. Students at this age are exposed to the wonderful world of technology and begin to explore the many things that are possible with technology. They learn the basics of technology while being engaged in different programs that are age appropriate. This is a very hard age to teach because there are students with many different learning styles and learning rates. I have taught this grade level and have used technology with my students. I saw them really enjoy learning through technology and actually gaining knowledge from it. Many programs are audio, with following directions, one to one correspondence, and vocabulary building. These are just some TEKS that technology focuses on with these young learners. Students become familiar with technology while learning their alphabet, learning numbers, and other grade level skills. What better way of reaching our students that need different ways of learning. I have also noticed that technology makes it fun for students to learn. I think that is the most important thing of all. To have fun while learning. If students start to love learning at this age, they will always have a love for learning.

A spiraling or scaffolding curriculum is one that uses prior knowledge to learn new skills. Spiraling comes back around to a skill that has been learned and builds off of that skill. The skills continuously come around to build off of. Scaffolding is learning a skill and building off of that. So the two go hand in hand. In the technology TEKs for Pre-K and Kindergarten for example, I have noticed scaffolding TEKs as well as spiraling. For example students at each grade level are always expected to use correct terminology for technology. This grows as a child a learns. Also, using a variety of input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, cd-rom, camera, and audio recorder. These eventually build as students move up in grade levels. They become familiar with one, master it and then move on to use these devices in different ways for different outcomes. The last TEK that I see that scaffolds is acquiring information. Students will learn to acquire information in different ways as they grow and learn. It starts off slow for Pre- K students, then builds as they grow older. I believe that using technology is just like learning to read. You must know your basics such as your letters and sounds in order to start to link pieces together to learn that letters make words and those letters make sounds together to make words. Technology is a process that must be used everyday in order to be mastered just like anything else in education.

Long-Range Plan

I have never heard of the Long-Range Plan prior to taking this course. Reviewing it in its entirety was very eye opening for me. I wasn't aware that there was a guide for us to use when it comes to technology, how we use it, and when we use it. I am glad I have looked over this, because as of right now, my primary campus is not implementing a lot of what the plan calls for. As far as teachers using technology to help plan, we are using it to our fullest. We also use it for communication and personal use. This plan will now help guide me to start integrating more technology into our campus. I know that there has been some technology purchased for us to start doing this. As an instructional leader, I hope to help get the ball rolling faster when it comes to technology on my campus.

I believe that my school has already set the plan into place in the secondary building. There is infrastructure that supports teaching and learning, educator preparation and development, leadership, administration and instructional support. I think that the secondary principal has done a fabulous job of making sure that technology is fully incorporated into classrooms by installing smart boards and mounted projectors. Our secondary technology room is outstanding filled with all Apple computers. Students have technology as a class period in their schedule everyday. Also, I know that there have been staff developments for how to use this technology and how to incorporate it into everyday lessons.

After reflecting on what our secondary campus has, I am now more aware of where our primary campus needs improvement and where I can step in to help. This is something I am looking forward to discussing more with my principal in order to bring our campus up to par with the Long-Range Plan. Although this is our first year as a primary campus, I believe that my principal is doing all that she can to make primary like our secondary campus. I hope to be able to help her as a leader in the near future.

Educational Technology Leadership

For someone that has grown up in the technology age, I believe that I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to technology. I have grown up using a computer, but at the rate that technology grows everyday I feel that I still have a lot to learn. Taking the assessments only affirmed my belief.

The first assessment that I took showed me that I was a little above average as far as foundations of technology. I know how to use a computer and its basic fundamentals. I did however realize that I am just about average when it comes to information acquisition, problem solving, and communication. I can navigate through my computer without problems, but when it comes to new innovative ways to do different things with my computer I tend to get a little lost. I am very proficient when it comes to the basics of computer programs, but I think I have the most difficulty when it comes to problems solving. I have learned a lot throughout the year from watching our campus technologist. He is ver patient and walks us through things so that way we are able to learn ourselves.

Although I love taking the first assessment, the second assessment was a little harder for me to complete. I had difficulty due to the fact that we are in our first year as a primary campus. We were able to share a computer lab with our secondary campus last year, but as both campuses grow, we had to separate. Now, we are left without any technology in the classroom or in a lab. We rarely get to use the technology lab because it is always being used by our secondary campus. The only computers we have for a classrooms are our school laptops. We have however, addressed this with our principal and she is the works of getting classroom computers for us to start with. She is in the process right now of ordering projectors for every classroom as well as document cameras. So as of right now, I have learned that we are not incorporating very much technology into our daily lessons for any subject areas. I do use various sites to show educational videos to my students, but hopefully we will be able to incorporate technology within the next year.

As far as technology for the teachers, it is readily available. We are constantly on our computers, using it for communication, data reports, and planning. From taking the second assessment I also feel that when we do have technology in place, we could use staff developments on helping us implement the technology in the classrooms. I feel that with the various learning styles we have, this will greatly benefit us as a whole. That being said, I have not seen any standards our district has set up for us as far as using technology in the classrooms. This is something I will be researching on as we study this course. I am very glad we took these assessments, otherwise I would have not been able to clearly see where our strengths and weaknesses are as a campus.

If you have any helpful information on how my campus can get a grant or any other funding to help us with our lack of technology, I would greatly appreciate it.