Being able to review the STaR chart, comprehend its meaning, and why it was relevant to me was one outcome I envisioned. Looking over the Long-Range Plan and what it means to an educational leader was another outcome I envisioned. Every year, I am asked to complete a STaR chart survey and I do. Before I took this course, I had no understanding of why my responses to the chart where relevant. All I knew was that I had to complete it and when I didn't, I was constantly getting reminder e-mails to complete it. It wasn't until this course that I discovered that the STaR chart results help an administrator and the state determine how well prepared a teacher is to equip his/her students with the technology knowledge and skills. I also learned that the Long Range Plan is an ongoing plan to help teachers help students become 21st century learners in an ever changing technological world.
Successful completion of the course assignments were difficult for me. At first glance, the syllabus and assignments were overwhelming. This was mainly because I had not created a blog before, and I thought that reviewing technology standards and plans would be foreign to me. However, after I began working on the assignments and following through with them, I realized that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Reviewing, quoting, and responding to the articles each week was the most time consuming part of the course. With the end of the school semester and all that comes with it, it was difficult to get the assignments done in a timely manner, but I managed to get them done, with the exception of one week.
My attitude about technology was confirmed after taking this course. We live in a society where the children know quite a bit more than adults do when it comes to technology. With this growing knowledge, we need to be able to expand it by utilizing technology more in the classroom. As my principal stated in my interview of her, we have a building with high tech 21st century equipment and it is being used as an expensive chalkboard. The teachers are not applying the technology skills they are learning in their professional development. As an aspiring administrator, I agree that the professional development of teachers has to come with help in the classroom so that it can transfer better. The action plans do need to have activities built in as Dr. Abernathy and Ms. Cummings stated.
Before I started this course, I honestly didn't know how blogging worked. I hear about it all of the time in the media, but never really knew what it was, until now. After creating a blog for this course and reading how beneficial it is in the classroom, I have considered using it in my classroom. My students are always wanting to get on the computer to do research or play educational games, so I thought, "Why not get them blogging about a story that we are reading together in the classroom? What a great opportunity to introduce them to it for educational purposes? It's a different way to get them to respond, instead of the old fashioned, paper and pencil way. With blogging, students will not only be able to respond to posts from me, but from their classmates as well. As we become more familiar with it, we will be able to blog with other students that may be studying the same story in another classroom or at another campus. Not only will blogging benefit the student, it will benefit parents, as well. Teachers can create blog pages in which parents can keep up to date with learning that is going on in the classroom. Parents will be able to post questions or concerns they may have. The possibilities are endless.
Not only do students and parents benefit from blogging, but other stakeholders do as well. The principal can respond to a student's posted blog or a teacher's. Principals and teachers could communicate via blogs on ideas they may have. They could also open it up to other educators for their input. Blogs could be used to post information so that the community can see what great opportunities are being given to the students in regards to technology.
Although blogging does have its benefits in the educational setting, it has its downfalls as well. If not carefully monitored, students may begin to use these blogging opportunities to post views that are not relevant to their educational learning. They may also use blogging as a bullying tool. Parents may use it to complain about their child's teacher, the principal, or the school.
If we are to create 21st century learners, then we must use 21st Century ideas.
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