Session 10

Focus Question- Summarize the class, what did you learn, what was interesting about the class, what have you taken from the class, what have you learned about your role as a potential technology leader in education?

First of all, I have to say when I found out that this class was all online I was not excited. This was because I have never taken an online class before so it was a whole new experience for me. I was always afraid because I like the face-to-face experience and with online classes you don't have that. This was an experience and I learned a lot from this class.

The class overall was a learning experience. In this class we learned the difference between management and leadership, the three fundamental aspects of technology, technology hierarchy, the Rodgers diffusion of innovation model, the best practices technology integration, technology barriers, the Ed Norman syndrome, and data driven decision making. Along with these topics that we learned in the class, I learned how to create a blog. This was my first blog and hopefully not my last.

I have learned that I my role as a potential technology leader is what I am doing now and will do. I recently fell into this job of being a Computer tech/teacher. I knew nothing about computers two years ago. Now I have learned to work with them and be able to learn how to use them. With my teaching background I am learning to teach others how to use computers, from kindergartners all the way up to senior citizens. I even have people asking me my opinions on technology they plan to buy. I see myself as an early adopter in Roger's diffusion of innovation model because I first have to see the technology and learn about it, then if I think it is good and something I could see being beneficial, then I drive right in. This is how I see me as a potential technology leader, I like technology and all, but I am not one to spend money on something I don't plan to use much. I have had one recent experience when a teacher wanted to buy a site license for an online program and they asked me to look into it and give my opinion. I researched and tested out the site and I found out that it was a good program, but I didn't see the school spending money on this program because it was limited and only beneficial to a small percentage of the school.

Everything I have learned in this class has affected my job. I have seen the Ed Norman Syndrome and I have seen best practices with technology integration, among other things pertaining to the class. I even noticed that I started like Ed Norman, but I learned from my experiences and now I am better at what I do. I even learned from other students in this class how to handle some of my teachers and how to improve my technology working conditions. I enjoyed this class and I hope everyone got as much as I did out of this class as I did.


Activity Log:
3/18/09- Downloaded podcast, posted blog
3/19/09- Helped a teacher with technology idea of blogs for the teachers
3/22/09- Responded to three students blogs