Action Research Course Reflections

Going in this research course I was expecting that I would be inundated by typical research and stuck in the library trying to find out about and assigned research topic.  I was glad to find out that this was more about putting ourselves in the position of asking a question that can make a difference in our own positions as administrators that could possibly have a positive effect on our campus environment or workplace. The course was not difficult but the timing of it could not have been worse.  With all the holiday season and school milestones for this time of year, it proved a little arduous to meet with my site mentor or spend adequate time actually completing my assignments on time.  Thankfully, I did succeed in completing the course.

The lecture videos were typically short and to the point.  They did help in getting some understanding in how to setup and action research plan.  And this may sound arbitrary, but it seemed that the professors in the video were reading straight from a teleprompter.  Although there is nothing wrong with that, it just seem fairly obvious that is what was happening.  I do appreciate their guidance through the course and they provided great insight into the use of action research and how to set it up to achieve our own "wonderings".  The videos from week 2 of the administrators that explained how action research has helped them was a great real world example to work from.  I really took to heart from the video by Johnny Briseno that it isn't really necessary to "reinvent the wheel" to develop an action research plan and just google and modify to your own wonderings. Also the fact that he stressed that none of his decisions are made without data to represent what changes should be made. That is important in backing your research and decisions.

I am glad that there were templates available to structure the action research plan.  I found that to be a skeleton to setup my work and also make new or different changes within my research plan.  My mentor and I found both the Action Research template and the CARE model helpful in developing my action plan.  My mentor is excited about what I have come up with and cannot wait to see the finished product.

Working my colleagues via the discussion board and through their blogs and wikis is great.  But somehow I feel like I am cheating.  I am not copying their work or anything but I guess I am not used to working with others to do my own work.  I do understand the concept and like the fact that we can constructively criticize each others work, but when I am working on my assignments, I feel like I am peeking over someone else's work to help myself out.

All in all, I am excited as much as my site mentor and am eager to find out how my plan will develop or what kind of changes I will have to make along the way.  I am normally a patient person, but now I am like a kid a Christmas and I cannot wait to see the results.

Week 4 Reflection for Action Research

One of the easier weeks I have to admit.  The reading I got through with a clear understanding and was able to apply what I have read to my research plan with no problem. The techniques of the CARE model, Force Field Analysis, and Delphi Method are going to help me well in presenting to administrators, faculty, and staff the importance of this and how it will add to the school improvement for all the stakeholders.  Since there were no holidays to hinder my work it went smooth and easy.  Although the meeting with my site mentor did seem a little tense because she was facing pressures of end of the semester deadlines and more holidays coming up.  With this final week being shortened I think I am going to be even more busy trying to finish before the Friday deadline.  Wish me good tidings.

Week 3 Reflection

It just seems like I cannot catch up after Thanksgiving.  I don't have the distractions I did the previous week but it feels like aftershock and I have to work twice as hard to get back on track.  I am not sure how a lot of my colleagues do it but I am sure they probably even have more outside school distractions to deal with, but they turn out great work on time.  I wish I had their resolve to keep up. I am understanding how Action Research does work and I was having a difficult time trying to apply it to how I work technically but discussing with my site mentor has helped to determine how we can work together to use both her educational background and my technical background to use this concept.  She is learning as well about action research and how maybe she can use it in other areas of her position as IT coordinator on her campus.  If I can just get back in the pack with the rest of my cohorts I think I may be successful in this course.

Action Research

Action Planning Template
Goal: Upon opening a new high school this year my site mentor ran into several asset management issue,  For example, many technology items still unboxed had been stolen by construction personnel who were still working on school grounds and had access to the building. After discussing this issue with her, I proposed to device and asset management system that would allow her to reduce loss, and also manage technology item within classrooms and labs and also on loan from the library that is not allocated to the classroom and determine popular trends with usage of the equipment. We also hope to have an inventory of the machines in the classrooms and connections to expedite repairs from district technicians.  And finally create a protocol for receiving new equipment on campus and keeping it secure until equipment has been installed and added to the inventory database.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Survey Teachers with questionnaires regarding technology equipment in the classroom. Equipment type, peripherals, port connection if available	Glen Green Site Mentor	Prior to Winter holiday break	MS Office Word, Excel, Access	Data collected will be entered into a database for tracking purposes and other logistics
Create a protocol for movement /transfer of technology equipment across the campus	Glen Green Site Mentor	Jan 2011	MS Office Word, Excel, Access	Keep and up to date inventory of what equipment is in what location so when it is time to do district inventory, everything is in its coordinated place.
Track usage of non-classroom/lab equipment with a check out system from the library Coordinate a database system to track repairs on disable technology equipment	Glen Green Librarian	Jan 2011 – May 2011	MS Office Access, Excel	Data collect will help in decision making to purchase more or less or consider different equipment to assist in learning.
Coordinate a protocol for receiving new technology equipment into the building.	Glen Green Site Mentor Administrator	Feb 2011	MS Office Word, Excel, Access, Campus Asset Tags	Work with an administrator to assign who signs for technology equipment and establish a chain of custody and storage room that is accessible by a limited amount of personnel.
Coordinate a database system to track repairs on disable technology equipment	Glen Green Site Mentor Technology Department	On Going	MS Office Access or Excel	Assess downtimes for repairs from call in to repair of the equipment and to help expedite repairs to prevent loss of learning.

Week 2 Reflection

A tough week with Thanksgiving and trying to study.  I am thankful it's over.  The reading was long but I do get the gist of what kind of question administrators face and how they would use them in action research.  Although my background is mostly technical in nature, but having worked in the education arena for most of my career, it was difficult for me to really ask questions that would have some overall benefit for the children using technology.  Although I did come up with a few with my site mentor managerial types wonderings which we could explore for action research in technology.  So it is on to refine some of those questions and maybe I can think of something that might directly affect children and learning with technology in the process. We'll see.

Action Research Description

Action research sounds to me much like the scientific method.  First you have a question, and then you construct a hypothesis. Then you test and analyze your results.  Only you are doing this as an administrator or educator.  Much like the scientific method, if your findings are not positive or the outcome is unfavorable you can try other test to get favorable data that you need so that it is an on-going experiment. Although you might achieve success in one area, you them might want to use this same formula on another subject area and see if you can get the same results.  It is not only limited to the administrator, but it is a chance to reach out to the classroom level on a regular basis on teaching strategy.
I am a technologist who happens to have a background in education but not much practical experience.  I have more technical knowledge than I do education right now. But I have a "wondering" since we are not in a environment where computers are 1:1 with students as of yet whether it is feasible to have a technician on hand at the school or rely on the school district's assigned IT technician help on a scheduled basis.  An article I had to read in my last class sparked that question because the writer was so frustrated with the IT tech because it seemed like the particular school  was just one of his/her many school they have to serve and it was not personalized service so the tech was being badgered by the author.  Well if the tech at least has a more dedicated educational background, then the tech would know and understand how computer downtime or problems affect the learning process.  Many techs just see a computer being down as just another problem they need to attend to and move on to the next issue without thinking what the computer is ultimately used for or the end product that comes out of it.

Educational leaders can mostly use blogs to share ideas based on their action research.  Then get feedback from local or global colleagues on what they may do different or sharing thoughts on how they tried what the administrator tried in their post.  So it is a free way to get the word out on what works real-timewithout having to publish in a magazine and having to wait for publications weeks or months later.

Getting ready for my 2nd class Research

So I was successful in completing the first course in my Masters program, and now I am onto my second.  I only got a week break in between so next week is another 5 weeks of brain trauma.  I already bought one of my books.  it was available in eReader format. So since I am an educational Tech major I went on ahead and downloaded it in  e-format to be consistent.  Let's see if the format of the reading makes any difference with my comprehension issues.  Well off to school.  See ya.

EDLD 5306 Course Reflection

Although I previously worked in an educational environment as a teacher and a technical support personnel, I never saw the connection between the two entities.  I just thought that teacher taught with the technology tools given to them by the district; whether it be computer; technology a/v  equipment, software training, etc. and the techs just fixed it or made it ready to use for them.  Now I see a big difference than what I thought before.

From learning about Web 2.0 tools to learning Cyber Ethics and about intellectual property, there is much to be taught to both sides, the teacher and the tech supporter. And ultimately to pass down to the student/learner.   I knew that teachers had to at least have competencies to, what we use to joke about as tech support people, how to turn it on.  More so how to connect and get it started.  But what I have learned now is that we are in a mix of generations now that many veteran teachers have resisted or not taken in learning computers and many pre service teachers are like us and have grown up around computer and not fully prepared to use them in the classroom to students who expect that, being that they were born into this digital age.  I now understand it is not a joke to have the teachers, administrators and staff using technology in whatever way possible to get our new digital learners adept and ready for the world they will lead into once they graduate and that they are evaluated using the Texas STaR chart.

 

For me this was a difficult transition of what I was used to almost 20 years ago learning from a text book, library and writing using pen and paper.  The only time I was ready to use a computer was when I was ready to do a final draft of a paper.  Now about the whole process of learning in by the computer and no hard copy involved.  I am still stuck on the old premise and I had to print everything out to read it and highlight particular point of interest to me and then look back on them and post them using our Web 2.0 tools.  I think I am about half way there to where we would want out student to have 2^nd nature.  I almost feel lonely doing this because there isn’t a physical class setting involved.  Being a technology oriented person I have adjusted and learned how to use the tools and how to coordinate with my cohorts in completing assignments and asking questions.  Even though we do communicate and collaborate via our wiki’s and emails and blogs, I still feel like I am floating in cyberspace along with the rest of the world of strangers but with a small strewn out group in the big cyberdome.

What I am going to take with me from this is that technology is still growing and the global community is going to continually change the shape of education and just like the tech support person I am, I will have to keep up with all the latest technology changes in education just like I do with all the latest computers and gadgets and how to fix them.  My son who is a 3 year old “digital native”(Prensky,2005/2006) already knows how to navigate around an iPod Touch to get to his educational games and knows how to navigate on my laptop to get to his PBS Kids educational website and TV on my computer.  It startles me some that he has a 9 year head start on me because technology has always been around him. And I didn’t get to use this stuff until I was 9 years old and it was on a very limited basis and not common place like it is today.  I think I am also jealous of him. But as technology grew I got in at the right time to soak up what was going on with it and use it to my advantage.  The knowledge I brought into this class was asset management.  One of my favorite parts of my jobs where I have dealt with asset has been  asset and property management.  Through this course I got a little better idea on how schools systems use theirs and ideas on  how to improve on future asset tracking.(Holub, 2007)

I think learning with others who have learned previously the same way I learned has helped me adjust, many of us ran into similar difficulties and were able to share with each other possible solutions as well as viewpoints on what we have read about.  Even though we are far apart, we can still communicate in an instant. Much like passing notes in a real world class but it’s email now.  This is just a shift in the way kid now will receive information and we are going to be the “Connectors” (Gladwell,2002) to disperse this information to them in a high tech fashion that they are use too.

Prensky, M. (2005/2006). Listen to the Natives.  Educational Leadership, 8-13.

Gladwell,  M. (2002). “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” [Audiobook]

Holub, P. (2007).  Assessing Your Assets.  Technology and Learning, 16-17

EDLD 5306 Course Reflection

I enjoyed Concepts of Educational Technology course I took.  I am glad I finally decided to take the step to get back in school and do this.  At first I was excited and did not realize how much work would be involved in the course.  I think the thing that overwhelmed me most is that since it is a 5 week course it would be accelerated and involved a lot of outside time for the work and mostly for the reading.  I gained much insight into the fundamental issues technology specialist and administrators in the schools have to deal with on a yearly basis.  Since I come from the technical side of I did not realize that the technology specialist in the schools had to deal with outside stakeholders and rating teacher competencies. I just really thought they trained the teachers in-house and ordered software and hardware.  So this was an eye-opener for me.  Mainly what I want to achieve out of the program is to bridge my technical skills with my teaching skills and help to give a better understanding to educators, technologist, and administrators what each entity does to serve each other and no one entity is trying to hinder another but help to achieve the ultimate goal which is student/learner success in technology and their education.

I was able to achieve a rapport with my cohorts and able to share ideas even though most of us are a distance away from each other. The majority of the issues discussed in this class, I would agree with most of my cohorts to say that they are very relevant to what we face with education.  Especially in how to teach the "Digital Native."   This is a new challenge for us being I think the transition generation that grew up around the times when all of these tools were being developed.  We have to use what we know and integrate it into what we know is going to be to keep the "digital native" interested in our classrooms.

I was not able to achieve full success with a small bit of the reading because of external forces in my life.  And I was not able to attend all of the web conferences like I would have like to because I looked at one source and it had them scheduled for the 4th days of each week, and come to find out they were scheduled for a day prior to them in another source.  So the inconsistency threw me off.  I wish I could have attended them all, then I could have gotten some clarity with Ms. Borel and other classmates online real-time. That could have made a difference on a couple of assignments.  This is a great way to share information face-to-face so to speak.  I wish there was a way we could have conferenced together outside of official web conferences.  I hope that sooner or later we learn more tools that will help to integrate technology into the classroom like this course did.  I do consider myself very tech saavy but after taking this course I feel like I have only brushed the surface of tools available.

I am learning that there some educational views from educators standpoints that I may have to voice my professional opinion. From a technical standpoint, that there may be limitations to what teachers want given the current infrastructure, and on the  other hand I may see limitless possibilities in other areas of instruction given the current infrastructure and I feel like I will be fully utilized as a technician and technology leader with what I have learned. So I am very upbeat in the prospect of what I can contribute from my experiences.

EDLD 5306 Web Conference Week 2

This is the 2nd web conference I have been able to attend.  I am glad I attend the first so I could get the bugs out and am able to connect correctly.  I attended the conference on Tues. Oct 12.

Daryl Anne informed us that we needed a gmail account setup in order to share the site.  Also she gave us useful information regarding Internship.  She said that it will entail an 18 months.  Also she directed us to the Internship Handbook Ver. 3.3.  Our course based assignments will include 100 hours of activity and our field base will also include 100 hours. 33 activities will come from the textbook.  And a summative final report will be done before the internship is over.  Also she went into doing our CV in Week 4.

I do like to do the web conference because it gives a little bit back to the traditional class room setting with having a teacher in front of the class so to speak but more of in an advanced technological way.  And it beats having to drive to class and drive home too.

Schools and libraries program of the universal service E-Rate and PISD Tech plan

Schools and libraries program of the universal service

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Values of Technology Assessment

One of the greatest values of assessing faculty technology skills is knowing where you and your faculty stand in terms of knowledge of technology and comfort of using it as well. Once you find out where the majority has a baseline, you can build on how you want educators to grow with technology and what means are at your disposal to do so. An estimate of funding can be determined when you look at your results from  the assessment. Information gathered can also classify the level of knowledge in order to see what faculty might have the ability to do in house training as well with the different components. For instance there may be a couple of teachers who are masters with business applications who can train on productivity software. Or maybe someone is a gadget person that wants to share their knowledge, you can pull them to educate the rest on the benefits of using said gadgets in their curriculum.
The major pro for assessment is getting the feedback of where you are and what kind of possibilities you can aim for with the resources you have.  You can also plan for funding for the future. Honestly I cannot think of a con for doing a technology assessment because ultimately you want to have students be able to be competent in mastering the usage of technology in the world they are about to face.

2nd attempt at Blogging

Well here I am again testing the waters of the Bloggesphere.  My first attempt was a wash a few years back when it was just starting to be trendy to Blog.  I did not take the time to maintain it and forgot all about.  Well, now I have purpose for a blog and a reason to maintain it so here I am for a triumphant return. I title it Adventures of a 21st Century Grad Student.  I titled it this because I was also a 20th Century Grad student in 1992-93 and it is a different world now then it was then only less than 20 years ago. I will share more as my coursework progress along with some of my course work.