The National Education Technology Plan

The National Education Technology Plan 2010 (NETP) was written to help transform American education. The NETP is a great resource to see what is expected of us educators at the campus, district, and even state levels. The first transformation must happen with the way we teach. The plan states that teaching must happen in such a way to be diversified for all learners. As the 21st Century changes, so do our students’ learning styles. This encompasses how students will learn and where and when students will learn. If this plan is going to be effective, the technology being taught must be motivating, enabling, and captivating. Twenty-first Century learners are networking through social media and have access to such technology 24/7. Therefore, their attention span for sitting in a seat with a textbook open is not going to be great. This is why student learning needs to be technology driven. These students already know how to network, they just need to be given the go-ahead to do it academically.
The NETP also address professional development and training for educators. The plan states all teachers must be fully engaged in their own professional technology research as well as take an active role in what their campus/district is offering. Teaching should be a team activity. Gone are the days where teachers worked alone, didn’t communicate with parents, and tried to create every lesson with pencil and paper. In the technology plan, teachers will work with students to create lessons, help communicate with peers, and also to reach out to the ‘hard-to-reach’ parents. Professional development should no longer be a sit-down and take notes type of presentation. All educators should have hands-on learning experiences, continuous support, and easy to access online environments.

EDLD 5306 PowerPoint - Week 2

Meredith's Technology Powerpoint

View more presentations from Meredith Johnson Deibler.

Web Conference Summary

Technology is an amazing invention. It is so amazing that it keeps people on their toes at all times. No one can be 100% certain it is going to work all the time. In my experience, it didn't. Tonight's webinar audio only worked for about 15 minutes in my case. Yet, it was quite fun to see everyone's faces and see everyone communicate with one another. I will definitely try out more of the web conferences and hope to have better luck next time! Thank you, Dr. Borel, for typing out some of the questions/answers being said. I now have a better understanding of Tk20. I also learned that I must choose a school mentor during Week 3. All in all, the web conference was a bit aggravating due to audio issues, but I feel it is a very valuable tool/resource.

District Technology Plan

State: Texas
District: Garland Independent School District
When looking at the Garland Independent School District (GISD) Technology Plan, the budget given for Educator Preparation and Development (Professional Development) is $750,000. The district technology plan states they provide ongoing professional development during the school day as well as after. Each month the technology department offers 15-30 hours of professional development in various areas. As a GISD Employee, I feel I am given plenty of professional development opportunities to further my knowledge and to provide an energetic learning environment for my students. Another way Garland ISD provides professional development is by allowing teachers to teach one another. Each campus has at least one Technology Integration Coach. This person provides on-going and on-site help with professional development as well as technology in all curriculum areas. Each campus also has a Campus Technology Assistant (CTA) on-site. This person is in charge of keeping an inventory of all hardware and instructional software. This person is also responsible for repairing minor hardware and software issues. GISD is a very large district and must keep close watch on their technology services in order to provide the best and more up-to-date services for their students. The CTA will also perform assessment data on each student during the school year to ensure student learning. This data is also given to the teacher’s to create their own data spreadsheets. . One way the district evaluates progress of their technology programs is to implement technology into certain classrooms and campuses. Once the pilot is complete, data and assessments are performed. Technology that was high scoring and had a significant positive impact on student learning is then distributed throughout the district. If the technology is negatively evaluated, it is either re-designed or thrown out. As a GISD employee I had no idea our Technology Plan was so well designed and carried out.

Assessing Educators' Technology Leadership Knowledge

Who is technology leader? Is it someone who can compose e-mail? Someone who can log their students onto an internet website? A technology leader is someone who transforms an ordinary paper and pencil assignment into a digital whirlwind. How do we know and why is it important to know which campuses have these types of leaders? If we didn’t assess educators’ technology leadership skills we would not know who to rely on, who to go to for information, and who to admire. Each campus has their own advanced ratings. It is important for a campus to find where they are lacking and turn to other campuses for support and guidance. After reviewing my campus’s technology assessment summary, I noticed our school has dropped from Advanced to Developing in Educator Preparation and Development. The good thing about this assessment is the awareness of what is happening and what needs to change. The con is facing the reality. We have so many educators who are still not willing to change their teaching ways to reach every student. This statement is also backed by student data. Students in classrooms of technology-minded teachers usually perform better than those students faced with a daily worksheet. They are challenged more, the objectives are taught in a ‘language’ they understand, and they are generally more involved in their school work. Educator and student technology assessments are valuable assets; they allow one to see change, set-backs, and hopeful growth over time.