Session 1

Focus Area 1- Using technology to increase our personal effectiveness in our own role.

I think when we say to use technology to increase our personal effectiveness in our own role we mean that we are able to use technology in our lives and make tasks more effective and potentially easier. What I mean, for example, is for a teacher to find teaching materials without technology like computers, they would have to go to stores to search for the different materials they might need. With computers, teachers are able to search the web for many varieties of videos and resources for the classroom, which might be available otherwise. This example can go even farther by stating the fact that there has been an increase in on-line shopping in recent years. Another example, is that I use the Internet for information on a daily basis. When I come across a problem that I can't solve, then there are a few things I do. First I search the web and see if anyone on the Internet has had the same problem I have had. If that doesn't yield any results, then I e-mail other technicians in the school district to see if there is someone who can help and that usually is where I find the help I need. So in a way I use technology to grow my knowledge base in order to improve my effectiveness in my career. These examples are only some of the examples of how we can use technology to increase our personal effectiveness.

Focus Area 2- Communicating to others information about the effective use of technology.

I am a computer tech at my school, but that is not all I do. I also try to teach all that I can, even the small things. I try to teach students all I can about the computers in the thirty minutes I get with them each week. Even if the teachers just use me as a babysitter while they get away for a bit, I try to teach the students tools they can use on the computers. Teachers never give them a specific task when they send me their students, so when the students run into a problem I show them what went wrong and how to fix it. Don't get me wrong, some teachers do have assignments they want the students to do, such as, search for a news article in another country, or a science project they might want to do. I don't just do this with the students, but I also try to do this with the teachers as well. I have to say the students are more willing to learn then most of the teachers. The teachers just usually answer with the phrase, "Can you fix it?" and "How long is it going to take?" I try to show the teachers how to do simple fixes, but either they get too frustrated or they think it's my job and they just want it done yesterday. Teachers use technology, but not to it's potential. They use it to find information, but they use it as a reward for the students to play on instead of using it as a resource or a tool in the classroom.

Focus Area 3- Supporting the effective use of technology through planning for technology use and promoting technology use.

I see technology as the new subject in school. It deserves to be taught in the classrooms and planned. It needs to be put to use more than once a week and be a learning experience with specific goals and objectives. One example which I experienced recently was a teacher who took it upon herself to learn PowerPoint by experimenting with it at home. She learned just enough that she taught the students how to complete the task and let the students "play" with the program to complete the task. It turned out the students amazed the teacher and even myself with their final work. Another outcome that was amazing was students showed talents we never knew they had. I want to see more teachers like this one.

Learning Contract: As of right now I am going to try to do all three.

1- Learn PowerPoint to increase knowledge.
2- Create a PowerPoint or short instructions on how to use PowerPoint and incorporate it in the classroom.
3- An infrastructure plan???? Unsure

Activity Log:

1-14-09 Listen to Podcast, sign-up for a blog site and call it a night to think of all the work ahead in the class.
1-15-09 Contact Professor Newberry to try to get an understanding of the projects that are due.
1-16-09 Complete blog and try to figure out projects.
1-18-09 Finish Learning Contract and comment other blogs.