Week 5 Assignment: Reflection

“If you look back to America in the first third of the last century, you will find the roots of the public education system we have today – a system that is now outmoded for a flat world.” – Thomas L. Friedman

Technological advances necessitate the need for a shift in the nation’s existing educational paradigms. To stay ahead of the trends and produce students who will thrive in the competitive global society, our educational systems calls for innovative and passionate instructional leaders armed with 21st Century knowledge, skills, and tools. School administrators must be at the forefront of all these emerging educational transformations; thus, it just makes a lot of sense to include the study of technology standards (e.g. ISTE and NETS-T) into every principal preparation program in the country. That being said, I am truly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to take a masters program in Educational Administration at a university that undoubtedly recognizes this urgent need.

EDLD 5352, Instructional Leadership, has helped me acquire the essential skills and knowledge required to lead a 21st Century campus. The readings, lectures, and activities I completed throughout the course have exposed me to the key components of the Texas Long-Range Plan for technology, the STaR Chart, the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards. After five weeks of intensive study, I can confidently say that I am on the right track in my pursuit to be one of the best educational leaders in the field.

In particular, the readings allowed me to recognize the needs of digital-age students and to identify the social, legal, and ethical issues associated with technology and teaching and learning. I was amazed to find out that there were so many legal issues that I still had to learn and master. At some point, I actually felt overwhelmed especially when I read the article, “Copyright Primer for Administrators,” by Davidson. In this article the author gave an unnerving remark -- “But in the final analysis, it is the administrators who bear responsibility for the actions of stakeholders in all roles of the education environment.” This was a very intimidating statement but the message unquestionably hit home! I felt the urgency to keep practicing my technology skills to diminish my “digital accent.” I certainly do not want to run into problems due to lack of technology know-how. As a matter of fact, I have begun to read a book written by Thomas Friedman, “The World is Flat.” I am also planning to do an in-depth research of the different legal issues concerning technology and its fair and appropriate use.

The assessments I took at the beginning of the course increased my awareness of my personal level of technology competency. This information helped me adjust my perspective of what it takes to be a 21st Century educator and motivated me to go beyond my comfort-zone to learn and to experience firsthand some of the technology applications mandated by the district and the state. Additionally, I was able to examine data from multiple sources which allowed me to create a plan of action that was congruent to the specific needs and demands of the key stakeholders on my campus.

Another highlight of this course was to plan professional development activities and to develop an evaluation plan that would help determine their effectiveness. Since I believe that it takes more than one person to develop an inclusive professional development, I asked the assistance of our Campus Educational Technologist in creating my proposal. I found out that when we allow data from different sources to drive our decisions and make student achievement the heart of our every action, we could never go wrong.

The part where I felt I was really pushed to go out of my comfort-zone was the discussion board activities. At first, I was merely complying. The article “From Compliance to Commitment: Technology as a Catalyst for Communities of Learning” by Marilyn Burns was almost like written specially for me. While I am a strong proponent of technology in the classroom, there were instances when I would do some things just to comply. For example, I felt that the discussion board activity was a little bit too much for me in the beginning. The first two weeks, I posted my responses because I had to. However, as the weeks went by, I realized that I actually enjoyed learning about my classmates’ points of view. Additionally, I paid attention to every detail mentioned in the discussion board and this helped me reflect on my own perspectives about the world we are preparing our kids for. Through this activity, I gained a sense of what an online community of learners really looked like.

My favorite part of the class was creating a blog. I benefited greatly from reading my classmates’ posts and I could imagine how this activity could be an essential part of today’s classroom instructions. In my opinion, teachers need to be strongly encouraged if not mandated to incorporate this open source software in their core-content areas. Advocates of “green earth” would definitely agree that paperless assignments and homework would save a lot of trees and in turn save the earth. In addition, students who have access to the Internet would be able to keep a file of their work they can keep as they move from one school to the next. Most importantly, students can easily collaborate with one another 24/7.

Administrators must also take advantage this Web 2.0 application. School leaders can use blogs to talk about important and exciting events happening on campus. Furthermore, this would be a great tool to discuss current research-base strategies that parents can use with their children at home. Another reason why administrators need to use blogs is to model their expectations – practice what you preach.

Now the big question is: Why do some teachers and administrators not readily plunge into the idea of blogging? One factor I can say to explain this is the fact that some educators are still overwhelmed by all these emerging technological advances. Others are worried about safety and privacy issue. While those who believe that anything published needs to be perfect and grammatically correct are concerned about the errors that their students might have when they post their responses online. On top of these, the issue of inequity almost always comes up when technology is discussed. There are schools with minimal technology and there are a number of students who do not have Internet connection from home. Unless school leaders take the necessary steps to address these valid concerns, blogging would remain an arena for the few and “privileged” learners.

I am in a wonderful position to help transform our educational system. I must continue to hone my craft to be the 21st Century school leader that our nation calls for to reclaim its glorious status in the global economy. High-tech devices are only tools. We need educators who have the knowledge and skills to man and operate these devices to maximize their use. I have the capacity to affect other educators so that they too would feel the urgency to make a change in their current practice and to embrace the new digital landscape.