Course Reflections - EDLD 5311/5306

I had been searching for a graduate program that was not the same old online kinds of programs that I was used to seeing, that I would teach me something valuable and relevant.  I had put off getting a masters degree because I could not afford to quit my job in order to enroll in a quality program.  Most of the online programs I came across were nothing more than ordinary and would only mean that I was getting a masters for the sake of getting a masters and nothing more.  I do not operate well under those circumstances.  I wanted something that I could get excited about. 

When I came across the Educational Technology Leadership program, I was not sure what to make of it.  I had never heard of Lamar University and I was skeptical.  I asked a few questions, in the district, and made sure that the degree would be recognized in Delaware, at least for my pay increase and at most for job mobility.

I contacted the university and started asking questions.  After which, it was only a day or two and I had my application submitted.  Once my mind was made up about the program, I became very enthusiastic about it and could not wait to get started.  I got my application in just beating the deadline and it seemed like forever before my first course actually began.  I have high expectations for the degree program and for myself.

But as far EDLD 5311/5306 goes, I can't say that I had any real expectations for what the outcomes of the course might be.  That isn't the way I operate.  I always go into something with an open mind and wish to take away anything and everything I can from the experience.  I wanted to learn new things and to think about things in new ways.  Besides that I wasn’t even sure what the course was about.

I had been reading the wrong syllabus because of a snafu created by the course for my desired program EDLD 5306 changing and merging with EDLD 5311, the introductory course for another program.  That coupled with the amount of time I had to spend preparing for my first presentation in a national forum, I did not have time to envision any outcomes.

Besides prepping for my presentation,  I was most consumed by getting myself acclimated to being "in school" again and becoming familiar with how the course worked.  I knew that having only 5 weeks to complete the course and that would not leave any margin for error.

  

My transition into the course would have been easier if I did not have to miss three days during the first week.  Having said that, I suppose my expectation was that I would adjust, do everything well and get an "A".  I am a perfectionist by nature and I always set lofty goals and have high expectations for myself.  I simply cannot accept anything but my best effort.  In this circumstance, I certainly wasn't sure things were going to turn out the way I wanted.  

Now that I have come to the end of the course, I am settled in and even more excited about the prospect of moving on to the other courses in the program.  What I have learned in 5311/5306 is not only relevant but has added depth to my teaching and to my content area.  I am revitalized.  I actually found myself making references to things I have learned here in my introductory statements to my students.  We began a new marking period today. 

I have learned about technology and its terminology in a broader context and at the same time in a concentrated, focused context.  In some instances I came to understand that I knew more than I thought and used more technology than I thought but just did not have a grasp of the terminology before.  In other instances I learned where I needed to improve, or could think about using everyday technology as devices for learning.  When you are used to being in an environment that is so controlled by current administrators, it can take a lot of energy just staying in the game.  It is difficult to think differently about tools that are constantly being maligned by the current propaganda.  Therefore, I became rejuvenated by the articles that we read.

I especially liked the articles by Marc Prensky.  He offered a refreshing view of using web 2.0 tools.  I understand some of the reasons for being cautious but in the end my desire for open and interactive learning wins the battle in favor of gaining student trust over being fearful that my students will wish to present me in a less than favorable light, and I have had that happen.  So move on and look for new ways of winning that battle and open the classroom up to better possibilities for learning.

I am certain that I will continue to gradually incorporate more and more information from this class and others as my learning and understanding of the subject matter continues.  I am thinking more progressively about technology than I ever have, especially because of the things I have learned about web 2.0 tools.  Sometimes I think I was born too soon, because I won’t be hanging around in education long enough to see the realization of what I envision the future of education to be now that I am wiser.

In spite of the obstacles I faced in the outset of this course I was able to achieve my goals with a high level of success.  At this writing, I only have access to three weeks of grades.  While I have fallen short of perfect, I am handling it well and will still get an “A” in the course, unless I did something dreadfully wrong in weeks four and five.  I don’t think so.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure that I still had it in me to be a good student.  But as with everything I undertake, failure is not an option.  My doubts have now been laid to rest.  Now that I am familiar with how the course and courseware works, and without the added pressure of any previous commitments, I expect things move along more smoothly in the future. 

There were so many things that could have kept me from meeting my goals but did not.  Thankfully my brain is still in good working order and I have found that 50 really is the new 40.  I have learned that I am as stubborn as ever, and that I am a better leader than some of the people who are in leadership positions.  My open-minded nature and ability to accept people as they are enables me to lead without bias.  My creativity and vision enable me to be innovative with ideas and designs for the future of education.  What I have learned in this course has opened my mind further towards even greater possibilities in the future of education. This course has proven that I was correct to wait for the right program to come along.  The experience has been far from the same old thing. 

Web Conference, March 22

I didn't think this one was going to be very important, considering it is the end of the course.  I was wrong.  The expectations, especially about the internship plan, were clarified greatly.

I had been really laboring over the internship plan for the past week when I should have been doing week four assignments.  For all of my efforts the plan started to make sense in the afternoon but I was still over thinking it.  I was making it way more complicated than it had to be.  I did not realize we could choose from the example tasks.  That made my life so much easier.

I finished writing the plan today, spoke to my mentors, via email, and have determined some things that I can do in the district that fit within the framework of the tasks.  "BAM, Bob's your uncle". Done deal. Now I am just waiting for the plan to be reviewed by my mentors.  A huge load off of my mind.

Now back to complete week four.  It's not as though I didn't work on it at all, I was multitasking the whole time.  It's just that the plan was more of a challenge.

Web Conference March 14

Dr. Borel reviewed forms, plans, and the schedule of courses in the program along.  She began to prepare us for what will be due in week five of the course and told us to look over the information in week five.  It was a small group so there weren't many questions.

I was glad to learn that options for participants in the ETL program have expanded to include administrator certification for principals.  I had previously thought the program would only lead to curriculum director positions.  It is nice that this degree will offer a variety of options.

Dr. Borel told us that we should share our wikis with all of the members of our cohort since we have such a small group.

About Me

Welcome to my blog.

My name is Nancy Petrella and I am a Visual Arts teacher at Everett Meredith Middle School in Middletown, Delaware. Meredith Middle is a part of the Appoquinimink School District. Appoquinimink is a native American word and it is difficult to pronounce until you get used to it. Everyone just shortens it to Appo.

I have been teaching for 12 years and it has always been about art. I became a teacher because I had some big ideas about the way art should be taught and I did not particularly like what I was hearing from art teachers at the time. However, I did not consider teaching until after I became a parent.

My son Ethan and Art are my two main guiding forces in life.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware in Fine Arts. Many years later I went back to school at Delaware State University and received my teaching certificate.

Between my time spent in pursuit of education I worked mostly in visual merchandising for Macy’s and John Wanamaker’s, and most of that time was as Visual Merchandising Manager for John Wanamaker’s. You probably have never heard of them because they were a fairly large chain based in Philadelphia and New York. Now they only exist in memory.

Web Conference March 7

I watched the web conference from March 7. I wasn’t able to hear all of the participants introduce themselves. Ironically, I could hear them better when they just talked out of turn in the beginning.

I am sorry that I was not able to make that conference. I wanted to meet everyone as well hear Professor Borel’s information.

I was able to get a better understanding of the requirements for internship and the 150 hours. Now I am wondering if my workshop/presentation on web-based international collaborations at the National Art Education Association Conference on March 1 will count towards the 150 hours?

Also, Prof. Borel spoke about the accreditation of Lamar University. I had already checked with the state of Delaware DOE to see if it was appropriate for me, since I live and work and work in DE. However, I want to piggy back on what she was saying about online degrees. Especially when online learning began the courses of study were looked upon as a bit of a joke and teachers were just taking them to get an increase in pay. However, since then, if you look for the right program that is no longer true. I signed on for this degree after looking at many options. This one got my interest because it is about technology and it would open new avenues for me. My experience so far has been jam packed with information and very rigorous.

I hope those days of online fluff degrees are gone for good. We are in a new era of delivering rigorous and meaningful content online. Especially since online courses are becoming mandatory in more and more high schools across the country. A change in attitude is due.

Technlogy Assessments

Students are, by far, more tech savvy that most teachers could ever dream of being.  I believe that technology assessments for teachers are extremely important for evaluating the needs of individuals and targeting professional development activities that will meet those individual needs.  In extension, it becomes important for technology coordinators to schedule professional development activities for those targeted needs and then require attendance based on the results of the assessment by individual not mandating an entire school or content area to participate.  This would ensure meaningful and quality professional development activities for everyone.

The problem is that assessment tools such as LoTI only assess levels of implementation not actual skill levels of teachers.  Therefore, the information is skewed and inaccurate in that regard.  I have been taking the LoTI assessment for at least 6 years, most likely longer, to my never ending frustration.

As a fine arts teacher I can teach 21st century skills without ever stepping foot into a computer lab.  My students always are required to think critically, analytically, and creatively as they engage in finding personal and creative solutions/ways of expressing important ideas.  They constantly must evaluate and assess those ideas. Having said that I do bring my students to the computer lab for research activities at least once per marking period and I use it for teaching art history lessons.  According to LoTI this is not enough, and I even look as though I am not the least bit technology literate, which is an absolutely false assessment.

I am capable of integrating more technology into my lessons but I am not willing to do that at the expense of working with the vast array of art media.  After all, I am teaching fine arts, not graphic arts and design.  I only see my students for 45 minutes per day for nine weeks.

National Educational Technology Plan

I have been inspired.  I love the idea outlined in this plan, whereby education is always on any time day or night anywhere/everywhere in the world.  I love how fluid the process of teaching and learning would become if this can be achieved.  I have always been a night person by nature and some of my best ideas have come to me in the silent, solitude of the night.   Then to take those ideas to another level by being able to go online to discuss and collaborate with maybe just one but possibly others at the time an idea occurs is a priceless opportunity in learning.  As is being able to learn in one’s own time and way.

As I was reading I began to envision opportunities with my own students that brought me back to my teaching roots and the very reasons I became a teacher in the first place.  After teaching for 12 years I have reached the threshold of becoming jaded.  I have not crossed the line but certainly I have reached it.  I realized that when I was at the NAEA conference last week.

I have been reborn as an educator because there is hope for the American Education System.  That hope exists within the pages of the National Education Technology Plan.  I am shocked because I thought I was going to be bored by this document.  I was dreading reading it.  I only hope that its ideas do not get lost in translation and interpretation, relegating it to just another ineffectual document.  You know how it goes.  It was a nice idea but…….

National Educational Technology Plan Goals

“1.0 Learning: Engage and Empower
All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of
school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in
our globally networked society.”  ( Executive Summary, p 14)

“2.0 Assessment: Measure What Matters
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what
matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement.” ( Executive Summary, p 15)

“3.0 Teaching: Prepare and Connect
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that
connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that enable
and inspire more effective teaching for all learners.” ( Executive Summary, p 16)

“4.0 Infrastructure: Access and Enable
All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning
when and where they need it.”  (Executive Summary, p 17)

“5.0 Productivity: Redesign and Transform
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage
of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of
time, money, and staff.” ( Executive Summary, p 18)

Basically professional development for teachers will be handled in much the same way as the teaching and learning environment for students.

“Support the development of an open architecture mapping and navigation platform that will
enable the visual depiction of learning progressions across all content areas and reflect
21st-century expertise. Accessible online, these learning progressions can be used to
reenvision content, resources, assessments, curricula, and professional learning for teachers
and encourage the sharing of best practices and new approaches to improve teaching and
learning. This platform would encourage a variety of mashups and spur innovation.”  ( Executive Summary, p 20)

Resource: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology – Executive Summary, 2010

District Tech Plan

Appoquinimink school district

View more PowerPoint from Nancy_P

According to the Appoquinimink School District’s e-rate technology plan, the goals and strategies for using technology to improve education are outlined as follows:

"•Strengthen our capacity to enhance education through interactive multimedia technologies

•Employ technologies to develop the creative and collaborative skills essential to success

•Tightly integrate our technology direction with our efforts in international education

•Continue to work toward our district’s Technology Implementation Standards

•Cultivate alternative sources of technology support such as students and volunteers

•Provide high quality, targeted professional development"

   The goals outlined in the plan are on point to where we are as a district in the upgrading, implementation, employment, and integration of technology.  This plan was written for the years 2009-2012, so we are coming to end of this stage and will be moving forward with a new plan in the near future.

   During my tenure in the district I have witnessed many changes.  We are a small district in comparison to most school districts throughout the country.  However, we have grown from seven schools in 2000 to 14 schools in 2012 with two more schools opening in the 2012-13 school year and another the following year. Making us the fastest growing district in Delaware.

   We have a technology coordinator who is responsible for coordinating professional development opportunities.  Some are required while others are optional.  Notifications about various opportunities are sent out on a regular basis and are either offered by the district or through e-learning by the state.  An example of a mandatory training would be for teachers who are new to interactive white boards if one is being installed in their classrooms.  I have been through many mandatory trainings over the years.

   Installation of new technologies has taken place in tiered increments since this plan has taken effect.  We are near completion and the budget seems to have allowed for the plan to progress smoothly.

I am hopeful that I will finally have a S.M.A.R.T. board installed in my classroom before this is over.  Right now I have a document camera and a LCD projector but that does not allow for the interaction I would like to implement.

   Our district plan is evaluated three times per year against the following success measures:

"1a-1h: hardware is present, installed, and in good working order.

2a-2c: computer labs are in place and in service.

2d, 2e, 3a-3c: LoTi results indicate technology use supports increased higher order thinking and engaged learning.

4a: standards worksheets indicate more standards have been achieved by 2012.

4b: resources available(such as electrician employed or or contract funds made available).

5a, 5b: student helper and parent volunteer logs indicate that these groups are engaged in assisting with technology.

6a-6d: Professional development tracking system indicates that professional development in these areas was offered and utilized."

Resource:  Appoquinimink eRate Technology Plan 2009-2012