Before my current teaching position in La Grange ISD, I worked in International Programs for Texas A&M University. My first position with International Programs was with the Institute for Pacific Asia. We would web conference with professors and researchers in our regions such as China, Korea, Japan, and India.
I then transferred to a position in the Qatar Support Office. We assisted the College of Engineering in recruiting, hiring, preparing, and then moving the new employee and their family to our branch campus in the Middle East (Doha, Qatar). Web conferencing was an essential tool in all steps of this process and the face to face communication was truly invaluable. In addition, with my director, we created the first Arabic language class at Texas A&M using a professor in California and students at Texas A&M and Montana State University all communicating via web conferencing.
My current position at LGISD would greatly benefit from the use of web conferencing. My class of 2nd grade bilingual students would have the opportunity to interact with students in a variety of cultures around the world. In addition, the teachers could use this tool to collaborate with other teaching professionals and increase our opportunities for professional development. With current budget restrictions, one of the first cuts is for professional development travel. Web conferencing could provide this resource with virtually no cost to LGISD. We have the infrastructure already in place to facilitate these conferences.
I know from my past experiences at Texas A&M that face to face web conferencing is such a fantastic tool and really bridges the distance between parties and is much more effective than a phone call or an impersonal email.
Little Leopard Blog for LGISD
This blog began as a product of my Research Course for my Masters in Education Administration. I hope this information will be useful for my Lamar classmates and my fellow educators in LGISD.
Summary of the National Educational Technology Plan: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology
The National Educational Technology Plan was new information for me and I suspect that many of the teachers I work with have never heard of this as well. I was very impressed with the plan and goals and as with the other readings for this course, I believe this document would be valuable for all teachers in my district to read.
In regards to Learning, the plan states “The model of 21st century learning described in this plan calls for engaging and empowering learning experiences for all learners. The model asks that we focus what and how we teach to match what people need to know, how they learn, where and when they will learn, and who needs to learn. It brings state-of-the art technology into learning to enable, motivate, and inspire all students, regardless of background, languages, or disabilities, to achieve. It leverages the power of technology to provide personalized learning instead of a one-size-fits-all curriculum, pace of teaching, and instructional practices.”
In regards to Teaching, the plan states “Just as leveraging technology can help us improve learning and assessment, the model of 21st century learning calls for using technology to help build the capacity of educators by enabling a shift to a model of connected teaching. In such a teaching model, teams of connected educators replace solo practitioners and classrooms are fully connected to provide educators with 24/7 access to data and analytic tools as well as to resources that help them act on the insights the data provide.”
In regards to Professional Development and Training, the plan states that the goal should be “Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more effective teaching for all learners.” However it points out the sad truth that “ teaching today is practiced mostly in isolation. Many educators work alone, with little interaction with professional colleagues or experts in the outside world. Professional development typically is provided in short, fragmented, and episodic workshops that offer little opportunity to integrate learning into practice. A classroom educator’s primary job is understood to be covering the assigned content and ensuring that students test well. Many educators do not have the information, the time, or the incentives to continuously improve their professional practice from year to year.”
Reflection on the 2008 Progress Report for the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020
This progress report was very helpful for me as an educator who is striving to learn as much as possible about how we can improve the use of technology in our classrooms and better prepare our students. I learned that “Legislation… that impacted educational technology…included the Virtual School Network (Senate Bill 1788), Internet Safety (House Bill 3171 and Senate Bill 136), Technology-Based Supplemental Pilot Program (House Bill 2864), and Technology Literacy Assessment Pilot (House Bill 2503).” In addition, the progress report details the Technology Immersion Pilot (TIP), the Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN), and the activities being conducted through the twenty education service centers in Texas that assist our schools and school districts.
My reaction to this report and the various readings I have read so far for this course are the same. I believe if more teachers were made aware of these resources and if incentives were provided to reward teachers for their use, that we would see a positive shift in the direction of meeting the technology goals that have been set for us. I keep reading these articles and reports and thinking “Wow! Does anyone in my school even know about this??” I find myself wanting to email every article and report to my principal and saying “please make this required reading!” I truly believe that teachers and administrators have their heart in the right place – they want the best for our students. But if we created an environment that allowed teachers time to investigate these resources and rewards for their use we would see more teachers taking advantage of the tools out there. I would much rather sit through a staff meeting that discussed topics such as the ones covered in this progress report than the required annual TAKS testing rules that teachers who do not even administer the TAKS exam are subjected to attend each year.
Since I am in a small school district in a small town I know that tools such as distance learning could be put to incredible use at our local schools. There are courses that could be offered at the high school that would not have otherwise been available due to a lack of a teacher in that area. In addition, there are many courses that our faculty can take online that would allow them to incorporate technology to more effective use in our classrooms. My overall reaction to this report is that our school and our school district has much growth that is needed to meet the standards set out in the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology but with resources available to us (such as those mentioned in the 2008 and the 2010 progress reports) we can take steps immediately that will not cost a thing.
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