EDLD+5366+&+5368+Embedded+Assignments+and+Reflection

Newsletter**-https://docs.google.com/fileviewid=0Byue5Vq3vj3GMzMxODRkODQtYmNjNi00NWYwLWJmOTctYTNlOGFmMzk2YzIw&hl=en
 * EDLD 5366 Digital Graphics, Animation, and Desktop Publishing
 * Rubric-**@http://docs.google.com/View?id=dggtpmb5_16gbk9j6dp

EDLD 5366 was a very challenging course for me as I am completely unskilled in anything with regards to art, aesthetic appeal, etc. The background information given in the first weeks of the class while very interesting was very puzzling at first, it was not until I neared the completion of the course that I was able to see how all of the information was connected.

The two assignments from the course that benefitted me the most were the Week 3 Rubric Assignment, and the Week 5 Newsletter Assignment. The rubric that I created in for the course was much different than any of the rubrics that I created as a high school Spanish I&II teacher, it was at a much higher level and involved a lot more critical thinking on my part. The rubrics that I created for my students have to be considered more as product guides than true rubrics and in my current position in the 3rd grade, the opportunity to use a rubric rarely presents itself if ever. Creating rubrics is a potential job skill that could end up being very important to me if I am able to obtain a position as junior/community college instructor.

The final assignment, the newsletter was a valuable learning experience for me, in my 6 years in the classroom I have never had the need or opportunity to make use of Microsoft Publisher, the program in fact is not available for use on my school computer. The assignment not only gave me the opportunity to use the 'CRAP' design principles, but it helped me to learn the basic principles (and a few advanced) of Publisher.

While I do not feel that I am capapble at this time of teaching others how to use Publisher, I feel that after using the program a few more times I will have learned enough to start helping others. I also see this course aiding me in the future if I take a position as a trainer or presenter and I have to prepare presentations for students or other teachers. By using some of the design principles I can create presentations that are not only more appealing, but that highlight the important information, thereby making the presentation more effective and educational. By creating more effective presenations using Publisher and other presenation programs I am able to address Technology Standard II (Williamson&Redish, p.44) by using technology to improve the learning environment.

Technology Standard V, specifically the part pertaining to professional practice is something that I am starting to see my school district embrace if only in small steps. My school district has always offered technololgy training staff developments, but now they are starting to use technology to deliver their staff developments. This current school year, the district unveiled their new online staff development portal. While the portal has only been used thus far for state and mandated trainings that all employees must complete, it is my hope that the portal will be expanded to include a wide variety of required and optional staff developments covering a wide variety of topics and delivery methods.
 * Standard V Reflection- **

Productivity to me is more than just getting more done in less time, it also speaks to getting things done well, in this context improving education. Throughout this course we have discussed and worked with many new productivity tools ranging from the basic (Word, Excel, etc.) to the more advanced (Publisher, Photostory, Web 2.0 tools, etc.). My first chance to work with productivity tools to enhance education came in Week 2 of EDLD 5306 when as part of my blog I reviewed and evaluated different technology blogs and webpages on how they could be of use to teachers.

[]

One of the recurring themes in this program has been teacher fear or unwillingness to learn about and use new technology in the classroom. I believe that in addition to on going technology training, exposing teachers to blogs, wikis, and chats is just as important. There is a difference between attending a mandated training and finding articles and sites that interest you personally, the intrinsic motivation may be higher and therefore lead to greater teacher willingness and technology use.

As our textbook stated, when introducing new productivity measures, it is common for there to be a brief dip in productivity as people acclimate to the new measures. The same would apply to getting teachers to start reading educational/technological blogs, wikis, chats, etc. there would be an initial time investment, but the teachers would more than make back the lost time through time saving practices.

Moving forward, thinking about how to use this information in a leadership role, the biggest conflict that I would face is current school district web policy. At present almost all educational blogs, discussion groups, and chat rooms are blocked by my district. Addressing this issue would involve a lot of research into the current web policy to figure out why these sites are not allowed, than preparing a presentation why they should be allowed, and addressing the appropriate district staff.

Online Course Design- []**
 * EDLD 5368 Instructional Design

EDLD 5368 covered two main focuses, the first being Understanding by Design by Wiggins & McTighe (2000) and the use of Schoology to create an online learning environment.

My experience with the Wiggins & McTighe text while interesting and informative, was not an entirely new concept. Wiggins & McTighe take a 'working backwards' approach to designing educational experiences, where they advocate starting with what students need to know, be able to do, and understand as the first step in lesson planning. I believe that ideas proposed by Wiggins & McTighe are not drastically different than the philosophy behind the creation of the TEKS created by TEA. My experience with the TEKS helped me to better understand Understanding by Design because it gave me a context to understand it through.

Where I most benefitted from my experience with the Wiggins & McTighe text was that the activities forced me to be very exacting and explicit in what I wanted my students to learn and how I wanted them to learn it. This is an important thing because as educators, not just technology leaders, we can become too comfortable with the information and lose sight of how hard it can be for our students to learn what we want them to learn. This course reminded me of that fact, which will help me not only in my currrent role in the classroom, but next year when I start my new role as Technology Skills Specialist.

The work that I did with Schoology not only reinforced the principles behind Understanding by Design, it also taught me a new lesson, and reinforced an old one. Working with the Schoology program allowed me to take the principles discussed in Understanding by Design and use them in the creation of my online training in the NetStart program. The work that I did with Schoology, specifically the planning and the work that I did with the rubric gave me a tremendous amount of insight into the amount of planning an online training or a live training. I believe that this experience will prove extremely useful in my new position next school year, and in the future as well as I continue to advance my career as a technology leader.

As I mentioned earlier my experience using Schoology reinforced an old lesson that I have learned several times already. As part of the course, I had to enroll 10 of my co-workers to be students in my Schoology course. While my co-workers were quite willing to help, many of them showed a lot of trepidation when it came to participating in an online course. This is the same trepidation that many teachers feel when dealing with any technology training. This is something that I must make sure to always account for in any and all trainings that I prepare in the future, whether they be online or in person.

Technology Standard VI has been addressed repeatedly since the first course in the program when the digital divide was addressed in the first reading for Week 1 of EDLD 5306. We have gone on in the program to also discuss internet safety in regards to social networks and chatrooms, cyberbullying, and copyright laws amongst others. The extent to which the program has covered the social, ethical, and legal issues surrounding technology use has prepared me very well to be a leader or teacher educator in this area.
 * Standard VI Reflection- **

Although EDLD 5344 School Law was not created solely for the Educational Technology Leadership program, it added a lot to the discussion. While the assignments for EDLD 5344 never addressed technology use directly, the discussion boards did. The discussion boards were more active for this coures than just about any other with observations, complaints, questions, stories, etc. I think that a lot of the topics discussed in the course struck a nerve with many of the participants as they realized much like I did that as a school leader our accountability will be much greater, and we must be more aware of our responsibilities.

The Multimedia Video course, EDLD 5363 required my group members and I to create a 1 minute PSA to be posted online to TeacherTube, our group chose cyberbullying as our topic. The only difficult decision that we faced was which aspect to focus on, everyone in the group presented so many ideas and so much information on safety, prevention, awareness, communication, etc. In the end we focused on awareness and parental resources as we decided that these were the two most important things to talk about in the 1 minute that we had. The activity, namely the difficulty of narrowing down what we wanted to address served to show not only how important safety is, but what a daunting task it can be.

Throughout this course, the discussion of handheld devices, Ipods, celphones, etc. has come up, namely their positivie and negative effects on students. The positives being instant learning and the necessary technological skills, the negatives being cheating or not paying attention in school. Despite all of the discussion, both in readings and discussion boards I have yet to see, or come up with on my own, a feasible resolution that satisfies both students and adults. I have seen a lot of different videos where schools claim to have successfully integrated lap top computer use in every day classes, etc. but I am still not convinced that the issue of student technology use and cheating, cyberbullying, etc. has been resolved.