Participant: Mitch Fowler
Session title: The Technology Specialist as Teacher Leader: Strategies to Ensure Successful Technology Integration
Strand:
Lead presenter:
Date:
URL: |
What were the main points made during this session, the "takeaways?" |
| Patrick's session was great and to the point. Some of his main points were managing the hardware environment, collaborating and coordinating with administration, effectively structuring teacher PD, and collaborating with the teacher. Built within these main points I found other themes. For example, it is vital to understand the school's demographics to identify the amount of instructional challenges that lie ahead. In addition, Patrick notes that when approaching teachers with technoloyg, one must create a direct link to the instructional value of the technoloyg. In other words, don't just inroduce technology for technology's sake, show the teacher how it can help them teach in the classroom. Finally, I loved what Patrick said about PD. He mentioned that it is your job to present OPPORTUNITIES for PD, not to FORCE people to come. People who choose not to take advantage of the opportunity should be dealt with by administration not youand should get last priority when it deals with technology.
|
What questions did you have after this presentation? |
| What does the techer technology survey look like?
What type of hardware management system does Fairfax use?
Do you compensate your teachers for coming to PD?
Do you work with a 1:1 program?
What are your policies on Youtueb, Myspace, etc.?
Do you advocate for varied access within the district or blanket access?
How exactly do you deal with the "ambivolent?"
Are "high flyers" compensated for leading at the building level? |
In terms of your own professional development, what did you gain from the session? |
| I liked Patrick's point about knowing your strenghts. I think sometimes people can forget that they were once a classroom teacher too and that they have specific strenghts that can be brought to the table in terms of instructional technology. I also personally liked the point that and instructional technology coordinator's priority is to always work with students and teachers. I think that a poor set up in the technology department can limit adn instructional technology coordinator's schedule. However, with planning he or she can be in the classroom as mch as possible. In addition, I liked what Patrick said about feedback on how long repairs may take. For exmaple, teachers who are not familar with technology may flip out if their internet doesn't work, but a quick response with a short time frame may calm them down.
|
How will you apply the learning to your professional situation? |
| As a classroom teacher, applying some of these points may be difficult. However, I can really see myself using the summer to plan and put goals into place while working with the technology department. Luckily I have a very friedly group to work with and they are open to sitting down with teachers and helping. I can also use the information I have learned about "high flyers", "curious", and "benevolent" to identify individuals who may be curious about technology, but just need to be pushed. At the same time, I can also ease my mind about the benevolent folks who will need to be changed by an act of God. |
What other resources (including reading material) are relevant to this session? |
| I mentioned in a previous post that any opensource help desk application would be great here. I could really see an online application helping with the hardware management. As far as collaboration with teachers or administration, my inst. tech. person shared a great site with me that is collaborative concept mapping. It is called bubble.us (www.bubble.us). I have used it several times this year in order to run ideas past people that I can seem to sit down with because of scheduling. |
External reflection link: |