Leadership in Educational Technology
Summary
I want to be a leader in Educational Technology. One of the most noble things you can do in education is share. The teacher who holes up in their room doing great things, but doesn't share is doing a disservice to the profession. Our overall goal as educators is student learning. So if a teacher is doing something effective, whether it's a learning strategy, assessment strategy, or classroom management strategy, it should be shared with colleagues so all can benefit. I think sharing and leading go hand in hand. In the past, I was hesitant about sharing with colleagues because I had the mind set of "well, if they wanted to know what I did, they would just ask." I have found that mindset to be wrong. For many, especially in the realm of technology, they don't know what to ask. They don't know what's out there. A leader in educational technology needs to be patient and understanding. Even though I pick up on something quickly, doesn't mean the next person does. This leader needs to be totally aware and go about things openly and smoothly, not from above the teachers with a "do this" type attitude. I have held many breakout sessions on various technology strategies to increase student learning. I have worked with and helped many teachers individually grow in technology. I enjoy doing this a great deal and feel that I have been effective in doing so. With my MSET, I have even more confidence in developing technology sessions that allows me to share with colleagues. I am currently serving as a technology coach for my district and the work I've done through the MSET program has helped me in that capacity.
I believe a leader in educational technology is someone who is willing to be out in front, on the edge, blazing a path for all to follow. A path that leads to self-confidence in themselves and the increase of student learning. I want to pick up the sword and lead (or, I guess the mouse in this situation).
I believe a leader in educational technology is someone who is willing to be out in front, on the edge, blazing a path for all to follow. A path that leads to self-confidence in themselves and the increase of student learning. I want to pick up the sword and lead (or, I guess the mouse in this situation).
CET 765 - Leadership in Technological Change
I believe that being a leader in technological change means getting educators/stakeholders to see the benefit of using technology to create more effective/quality learning environments. There is technology all around us, all the time and to lead people in discovering ways to use that technology for the good of education is something I am passionate about. In CET 765, I focused my leadership area on mentoring a colleague. This particular colleague had very minimal technology skill, so it was imperative I demonstrate patience and understanding. We focused on improving her instruction and her efficiency as a teacher with the use of Google Drive. Through Google Drive's cloud-based concept and creation tools, we worked together to discover how this powerful tool could improve student learning. Moving forward, it is mentor/mentee relationships like this that I will be doing more of. This was a good experience and at the end, my mentee was using more advanced features of Google Drive.
Mentor Project Diary - Google Drive
LT 716 - Systematic Design of Instruction
Solely knowing a lot about a particular technology is not good enough in being a leader and helping others. Being able to design a plan of how you will instruct/lead is very important. In this class, I focused on Google Drive, as this is one of my passions and a huge point of emphasis in my current school district. This project helped me see and learn the process of designing an instructional method for teaching technology. Being able to design instruction like this will help me a great deal as technology coach and technology leader at my school. This product isn't simply an assignment, rather a plan that could be executed for real if given the chance. It is also a document in which I can be flexible if given certain constraints by time, place, etc. I designed this project with a very real objective of helping teachers become more confident and knowledgable with Google Drive. It is an educational powerhouse. This project was developed in 2014 and since then, after another full school year of hosting Google Drive sessions, I realize that people are all over the board with how quickly or slowly they pick up on this. A true challenge, but one I relish.
Google Drive
CET 751 - Computer hardware and networking essentials
This was my lone on campus course and it gave me the opportunity to work face to face with Tom Farrell, aka "Tommy Tablet." While most of the course focused on hardware and networking, it was my project that allowed me to demonstrate leadership abilities in educational technology. For the class project, I chose to focus on the best device for middle school students (specifically, 6th grade as that is what I teach). With so many devices out there, it is important for a technology leader to be able to look at all types and styles, analyze them through the educational lens, and make a decision, or, at least provide a good informational document to the people who do make the decisions. My paper/presentation outlined the specifications and abilities of Chromebooks, iPads, Netbooks, Samsung tablets, MacBooks, LearnPads, and SurfacePro. In analyzing all aspects: functionality, student learning needs, costs, curriculum variations, etc, I determined that the Chromebook was the best fit for a middle school classroom.
Which Device? A Look at the best device for the 6th grade classroom - Document
Presentation - Which Device?
Bonus Item: Google Drive Tutorials
I want to include an item created outside of the MSET course work to show my drive and passion for what I do. Presenting Google Drive to a classroom of 40 teachers is a all task, as the abilities are across the board. Me standing up in front of the room showing how to do things is not an effective use of time. For some, they already know that. For others, I am going to fast so they get nothing out of it. With that said, I decided to provide a 15-20 minute overview of Google Drive with things like, the cloud concept, how it looks in education, etc. Then, I directed the teachers to my mini-tutorials on a wide variety of Google Drive topics. This allows them to work at their own pace and focus on what they wanted to learn about. The tutorials cover a wide range of aspects fro basic to advanced. I think this portfolio piece shows my leadership ability and my willingness to put in the effort to create a valuable experience for whoever I am teaching and/or leading.
Google Drive Mini-Tutorials
I believe that being a leader in technological change means getting educators/stakeholders to see the benefit of using technology to create more effective/quality learning environments. There is technology all around us, all the time and to lead people in discovering ways to use that technology for the good of education is something I am passionate about. In CET 765, I focused my leadership area on mentoring a colleague. This particular colleague had very minimal technology skill, so it was imperative I demonstrate patience and understanding. We focused on improving her instruction and her efficiency as a teacher with the use of Google Drive. Through Google Drive's cloud-based concept and creation tools, we worked together to discover how this powerful tool could improve student learning. Moving forward, it is mentor/mentee relationships like this that I will be doing more of. This was a good experience and at the end, my mentee was using more advanced features of Google Drive.
Mentor Project Diary - Google Drive
LT 716 - Systematic Design of Instruction
Solely knowing a lot about a particular technology is not good enough in being a leader and helping others. Being able to design a plan of how you will instruct/lead is very important. In this class, I focused on Google Drive, as this is one of my passions and a huge point of emphasis in my current school district. This project helped me see and learn the process of designing an instructional method for teaching technology. Being able to design instruction like this will help me a great deal as technology coach and technology leader at my school. This product isn't simply an assignment, rather a plan that could be executed for real if given the chance. It is also a document in which I can be flexible if given certain constraints by time, place, etc. I designed this project with a very real objective of helping teachers become more confident and knowledgable with Google Drive. It is an educational powerhouse. This project was developed in 2014 and since then, after another full school year of hosting Google Drive sessions, I realize that people are all over the board with how quickly or slowly they pick up on this. A true challenge, but one I relish.
Google Drive
CET 751 - Computer hardware and networking essentials
This was my lone on campus course and it gave me the opportunity to work face to face with Tom Farrell, aka "Tommy Tablet." While most of the course focused on hardware and networking, it was my project that allowed me to demonstrate leadership abilities in educational technology. For the class project, I chose to focus on the best device for middle school students (specifically, 6th grade as that is what I teach). With so many devices out there, it is important for a technology leader to be able to look at all types and styles, analyze them through the educational lens, and make a decision, or, at least provide a good informational document to the people who do make the decisions. My paper/presentation outlined the specifications and abilities of Chromebooks, iPads, Netbooks, Samsung tablets, MacBooks, LearnPads, and SurfacePro. In analyzing all aspects: functionality, student learning needs, costs, curriculum variations, etc, I determined that the Chromebook was the best fit for a middle school classroom.
Which Device? A Look at the best device for the 6th grade classroom - Document
Presentation - Which Device?
Bonus Item: Google Drive Tutorials
I want to include an item created outside of the MSET course work to show my drive and passion for what I do. Presenting Google Drive to a classroom of 40 teachers is a all task, as the abilities are across the board. Me standing up in front of the room showing how to do things is not an effective use of time. For some, they already know that. For others, I am going to fast so they get nothing out of it. With that said, I decided to provide a 15-20 minute overview of Google Drive with things like, the cloud concept, how it looks in education, etc. Then, I directed the teachers to my mini-tutorials on a wide variety of Google Drive topics. This allows them to work at their own pace and focus on what they wanted to learn about. The tutorials cover a wide range of aspects fro basic to advanced. I think this portfolio piece shows my leadership ability and my willingness to put in the effort to create a valuable experience for whoever I am teaching and/or leading.
Google Drive Mini-Tutorials
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