Week 5 Reflections

What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

After taking the initial survey for this course, it was clear that the main area to be covered in this course was technology. Since I was already very comfortable with technology, and already knew much of what was included on the survey, I thought this was going to be an easy class. The technology related skills needed to successfully finish this class, I already possessed. I expected to have a more hands on approach to programs used in various area of curriculum assessment, instruction and analysis of collected data. Though there was some of that, especially involving the assignments involving the STaR Chart and AEIS Data, there were very few new and innovative items presented.


To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

Yes I think the collection and analysis of the data we worked on is very relevant to the work on our campus. It allows us to make informed decisions about the direction of our campus and more importantly, the direction of our instructional program, so we can maximize efficiency and performance of our students. I found that my campus lacks I the area of training and staff development for teachers. With focused thoughtful planning, I think those areas can be strengthened in a very short amount of time. The main hurdle would be getting the entire campus to buy in and understand how much these various technology tools can help increase the effectiveness of instruction and student achievement.

What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

I achieved all of the required course requirements, but there are a few personal goals and activities I did not complete. I did want to participate in the roundtable discussions that were hosted via webcast throughout the course. Unfortunately, my school activities and concerts made it nearly impossible to attend. From blogging and chatting with other students, the overwhelming response on the webcast videoconference was lackluster at best. After hearing these reviews, I didn’t expend much energy in finding a meeting that would fit my schedule. Instead, I am working with my campus technology contact to try and setup one to participate in where the technology needed has already been tested and is working adequately.

Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

Yes I was successful, after a lot of unnecessarily repetitive responses. This was very frustrating and discouraging to me. Another aspect that made the assignments difficult was the lack of clarity and consistency in the assignment directions. We were told to “follow the rubric to earn maximum points”, yet the rubric didn’t match the assignment directions, which in some cases didn’t match the directions given in emails and overviews mailed out each week. During Week 4, one of the parts of the assignment was simply a statement. No direction or explanation as to the expected outcome. Then we were asked to respond to two other students’ work, after posting our assignment on our blog and discussion board. This was quite troubling, because I began to doubt my work and question whether I would be successful after seeing what others had created.

What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

This course did make me think about other ways to use technology in educational endeavors. I have seen blogs, and even have friends who use them. They seem to me like a less interactive Facebook page, where the individual gets to express his or her feelings and views. I do now see how they could be a useful tool in sharing ideas with other colleagues. I do worry about use them in the public school setting with students, but as a professional development tool, I think it is a great possibility. The other thing this course has allowed me to exercise is my ability to endure disorganization and discord. Many other students are unhappy about the way this course was handled, and I would have to agree with most, if not all, of them. After some students tried to get the professors to reconsider some of the expectations and failed, I approached it from the point of getting through this course following what was in place, and hopefully giving enough feedback at the end to affect some change in this course.

What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?

I think they are a great way of sharing information, and even being able to track the evolution of a project or an idea if the blogger contributes information in a detailed and consistent manner. You would also have the ability to backtrack through the various stages of the project and see where good and bad decisions were made, so as to not repeat some mistakes and hopefully get a positive result. I don’t think that blogging will be widespread in the public school system because of a lack of control and filtering that would be required to make it a safe area for all to participate. It perhaps could be used under smaller controlled situations though.

What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?

I think the primary concern, as well as the biggest obstacle to widespread use of blogging is the content of the blogs. There would need to be clear guidelines set up to follow, as well as a way to enforce and ensure that those guidelines are being used. This content, if it is questionable, could be damaging to the school’s reputation and the legal issues raised by such an event.

How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

It would be a great way to communicate with stakeholders. Perhaps a closed blog would be best, allowing the teacher or principal to post information, but closing editing access to only the account holder and those who he or she grants access to. Facebook and Twitter are two examples of communication tools that can be sent with ease. Certain emergency situations can also be shared via this avenue. Imagine a principal gets to school and there is no water, and the district decides to close school for the day. The principal has 80% of his parents following him on Twitter, and in a split second, the principal can tell 80% of his campus not to come to school. As a band director, I could use it to let parents know when the band has departed its location to head home from a game, or also to let them know when there may have been a delay in getting back.