Final Blog

The last day of class was nice to see all of the various multi-media presentations. I love the photo story program and how easy it is to transfer that into the movie maker program. I really enjoyed this class and think it should be required earlier in the sequence of classes.

Tech class 518

Over all, I have learned a lot of new things that I most definitely intend to use as an administrator. I am already using excel in ways I had never used it before, I am going to make classroom movies of field trips and I am going to start a school blog at the beginning of the coming school year. I am grateful to have learned these new techniques and am excited to see how they will improve my school and my Pre-K program.
Lynn

Final Class

I very much enjoyed seeing everyone's blog, wiki page and multi-media projects! You all worked so hard and did a great job! I can see how technology can truly add to a positive classroom environment, but I can also see how technology can put myself in a position that I am doing a lot of work. For example, originally on my blog I added a section for parents to inquire about technology and homework. I "promised" a prompt response. I feat I would be spending too much time responding which would take away from what I should be doing as a teacher.

Final Weekend

I was impressed with all the various multi media presentations.  It was interesting to see how this type of presentation could be used in so many  ways.  There were a lot of good ideas presented by the class and I look forward to adapting the use of imovie into some of my classroom instruction.  In my opinion this is the type of class that could have an endless amount of topics to be covered.  I felt that what we did cover was appropriate for the intended use.  

Overall

This class was by far one of the most beneficial for me. I feel very comfortable using the blog and wiki now. I am also enjoying the movie maker and find myself thinking of different ways that I can use it in the future.

Class was useful.

This class turned out to be a class that I learned about things that I can incorporate now as a teacher and not just qan administrator. The podcast was very easy after seeing how it was done. This is something that every classroom teacher should be using with their students. The multi-media presentation was something I knew nothing about but also found it relativley easy to do also. I enjoyed the class and learned several new things.

Weekend 3

WEEKEND 3
I have learned a great deal from this class. This last meeting, I was glad that Dr. Closen demonstrated how to compress files for emails. The variety and complexity of the multimedia projects, wikis and blogs amazed me. Technology is a very useful tool and the best way to learn how to use technology is by taking the time to apply it! Thanks you Dr. Closen for all of your help and patience.

Last Class

Great class. Picked up some great ideas. We have have very talented people in the class. I look forward to using the new skills we learned in my classroom. Already I have kids doing pod cast in my summer driver ed class. And we will post them to the schools web site in july. Great job everyone and have a great summer!

Last Day of Class

I thought that it was great getting to see everyone’s multi-media projects. We have many talented and creative people in our class. I also enjoyed seeing other wikis and blogs, it gave me some ideas of other ways that I can utilize these in my classroom.
I feel that one of the best parts of this class was that we were able to learn new skills that we can take with us throughout our educational careers. I learned about so many different aspects of technology and enjoyed it!

I really learned a lot from both the blog and the wiki. I was happy to find the revision of the wiki, much more user friendly!! I plan to use both in the future. I learned a lot from this class and really enjoyed it.

Multimedia Presentations

I was glad we got to see everyone's presentations.  It gave me more ideas how to use them at school.  I'm hoping the staff at the school where I work will be interested in doing some staff development with imovie this next school year and applying that information to make videos for students.  I'm sure the movies will be cutesy, but long term, I hope the staff will use these videos as part of our assessment portfolios.  We'll see during my internship if I can motivate and lead them to this end result.

Final Class

Today's multi-media presentations were very good. Congratulations to everyone on a job well done! This class helped me personally from a standpoint of introducing technology to me and different ways that I can apply it as an educator. I am now currently blogging my upcoming football season and using a wiki page as an information site for our team. I know that as I start my new position next year I will definitely be much more aware of different methods of presenting information. I look forward to applying this towards being a better educator. Also, I would be remiss if I did not thank Dr. Closen for his patience with those of us who are "technologically challenged". That patience has helped me tremendously on making progress towards leaving the level of "novice" that we talked about the first day of class. Good luck to everyone and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Wikis, Blogs, and Multi-Media

Fantastic work with the multi-media presentations today! I definitely gained valuable insight into additional components that I would like to include in the near future for presentations.

I intend to use my wiki page for my staff next fiscal year in order to provide a secure location for pertinent information to be stored and accessed. It will be very useful to post information onto the wiki and grant each person access to the page. The blog will also be a useful tool for my staff and other colleagues to communicate regarding best practices in early childhood education.

This class has been extremely valuable to me. I now have knowledge and familiarity with the tools that can allow me to share important information to a variety of individuals in the work place and the community.

Last Sunday for EDL 518

I enjoyed seeing everyone's presentation today. I was able to pick up some hints and tricks that I would like to show to some of the teachers I work with. It is my hope that once our teachers are exposed to this technology, they will allow their students to explore it as well. I think students would be more likely to invest time in a subject if they could collaborate and share their creativety while being exposed to the curriculum.

Multi-media presentations

I enjoyed all the presentations today. The media used was impressive. Great job to everyone.

I have always tried to use different technologies within my classroom to engage students. This class introduced podcasts, and blogs as useful tools in education. I look forward to using both my wiki and blog creations for weekly if not daily use. Thanks again to everyone, I learned a great deal. Good Luck and see everyone down the road.

Take care!

Third Weekend Video Presentations

I really liked the idea of adding a podcast intro to the school web-site. We are going to launch a new website for our high school this fall and also introduce a new superintendent. It would be nice to add an introduction podcast for the superintendent and the new website. Overall, this class has been very helpful for me and is something that I have already applied to my teaching and coaching. I am using the wiki this school year as a class syllabus/pacing calendar and as a place for students to display their work. I also created a blog for the basketball team to receive updates and also chat with the current team as well as alumni. Enjoyed the class very much and learned a lot.

2nd weekend

Well it was an interesting weekend. I will say that without a doubt. I guess all we can do is roll with the punches sometimes. I am excited about setting up my blog and wiki though, I still regret to say that we can’t really get at this stuff at school. Our IT guys have it locked so tight that often I can't even get on Western Online at school. This is some really stuff though. I am glad that I’m getting the chance to use it and learn it.

Technology and low SES

I very much enjoy all of the great aspects of technology we are learning in class, and I can't help but think that it can only help communicate with my students and their parents better, however, I teach at a school where very few families have a computer at home, and if they do have a computer, even few families have the internet. I could never count on my students or their family to utitlize blogs, posts their feelings on an online survey, check a website for homework assignments or even respone (or get) an email. It is so sad to me that the information superhighway is so limitless and useless to those who really can't afford to utilize it. It instantly puts SES students at a disadvantage.

I am very much enjoying setting up my blog. I am utilizing it as an ongoing way to increase communication with my football players. I am asking questions like what are your goals for the season, and will give newcomers to the program a chance to introduce themselves, as well as returning players to welcome them. I believe this to be a very non-threatening way for young kids to communicate. I am hoping that most discussion stays positive, and apprehensive about non-football players gaining access. That is why the invite only option is great, but not perfect. The options for this is endless. My players seem excited, but I just got it up and running. I think this is something that I could invite mature students to help design, or even run. My fellow coaching staff have already discussed many positive situations, as well as possible problems. I can't wait to see how this develops.

Sorry I missed it!

Sounds like everyone had a very eventful weekend at Horrabin Hall. I was in Indianapolis watching the running of the Indy 500. It was almost as exciting as the weekend in class. Regardless, I have been feverishly working to get a jump on my multi-media project and finished my audacity portion of our assignments. I feel that the capabilities that audacity presents to the classroom teacher opens endless doors. I am considering using it for substitutes or preparing it for students who may have missed lecture. Also, I hope to use it with my dual credit courses for supplemental information on out class website. I am very exited about the opportunities this class has presented me thus far. Hope everyone else is enjoying it. See you all next class meeting.

Weekend 2

Well I thought it was an interesting weekend. WIU saving on it's electric bill. But I did get a lot out of it. I liked the potential of the POD Cast assignment. I having thinking how to include that in my Dr Ed class to put a POD Cast on our web site. And I have got a start on the multi media assignment. I thought sunday went fast, wow. Time flies when you have fun. Good Weekend

Blogging

I loved creating the blog. I think this will be very useful in getting teachers to communicate. We can't always get together in person, but we could take the time to talk on-line. I plan on introducing this at the beginning of the next school year. Hopefully the teachers will use it. I wasn't as impressed with the wiki. I just don't think I would use this. We have an awesome web site that parents are familiar with, so I don't think I would change that.

Time Management

I found it very helpful to learn how to set up a blog and the wiki page this past weekend.   I'm using the blog to complete a parent evaluation of our prek program that is required for the grant and the wiki page to supply information about screenings and registrations.  I think these are valuable tools and hope to be able to influence parents to use the sites.  It does bring up the concern of time management.  As I run through my busy life, I wonder, how will I have the extra time to maintain these sites and check them regularly to respond to parents.  I also think it will take time for some of the teachers to adjust to the changes.  The program I am working in has been very stagnant for the last ten years--every time I bring up an idea--they look at me like--Oh Petrie--what now.  I still keep pushing forward and encouraging the staff to try new things, but the amount of time it takes me to support them and make it happen can sometimes hinder my effectiveness in the classroom.  I'm still deciding the best route to take. 

2nd Weekend

Well………….this weekend was definitely interesting. Even with the unfortunate power outage, I will say that I got a lot done. It was quiet in my house since I was not expected home so soon. J That was great!! Sunday was very informational. I am very excited to get to use podcasts in my classroom next year. That was very cool! I also think that having a wiki page is going to be extremely beneficial for my classroom next year. I was very nervous thinking about having to do projects of this type, but I have learned so much and am anxious to get to use my new skills.
I am also working on my media project and since Sundays class was so beneficial, I was able to create a DVD using photo story of my class field trip. It only took me about a ½ an hour to create it and make copies for all of my students. They were very excited! I also showed it to my principal…………he was very impressed!

Techology

I will admit a feel better about it now than I did the first day, but I still feel lost or behind.  I thinks its just one those things that you need to sit down and just hammer your way through it.  I think the blog and wiki are interesting idea's, maybe just over my head right now.  oh well I will figure it out.  No one on our staff is familiar with blogs or wiki's, which I was surprised with.  Thought I was the only one. ha ha

new information

After the weekend I realized that technology is not quite as hard as I have made it out to be. Once you get logged in (which is not easy), the rest is not to bad. I have actually learned a ton so far in class. Our Principal posts all his daily information on his wiki and it has really become a good tool for our school. If every teacher would use it we could probably do away with some of the meetings and the announcements. The hardest part about all this stuff is the unfamiliarity of it. I do think the wiki is something I may continue to use. The only problem is that we got so much new information so quickly I am having a hard time keeping it all straight.

Wiki Page

I really enjoyed the lesson on setting up a wiki. It is very neat to have all these resources available and now know how to use them. It could be very valuable for students to have one of these for each of their classes. They could log on to see what assignments are coming up and look at the instructions. Parents could also have access to this to see what their child is doing. I found it very useful and something that I think I will try to do in the future.

A little less frustrated

Even though the class was shortened on Sat., a lot was accomplished over the weekend.  I have really enjoyed the hands on aspect that this class has offered.  Having the opportunity to ask questions and get immediate feedback from Dr. Closen has been a huge advantage.   I was quite frustrated with learning the wiki for our podcast but I have gained a lot of confidence since then.  I look forward to using the blog as a form of communication with my assistant soccer coaches in hopes to expand this communication to the parents and players.  

Informative Weekend

This weekend was an eye opener to all the forms of media that is available to educators. While I was somewhat lacking in the pod cast assignment, I feel I would have been more engaged if we had discussed the “pbwiki” lecture prior to the assignment. Luckily my partners were on top of their game. I look forward to creating a blog that can be used for my teachings at Palmer College. Although Saturday was a bust (4-hour on the road = 1-hour of class), Dr. Closen rebounded nicely and got us back on track. Dr. Straz

You're Never Too Old to Learn Something New

This weekend did go extremely fast even without the power outage on Saturday. I really enjoyed finding out how to create a podcast. I feel that at some time "down the road" as an administrator that skill will come in handy. I am looking forward to using my blog as I progress throughout this season. I am blogging about our upcoming football season and I am opening it up to my assistant coaches so that they can share ideas and feelings about our team. The same with the wiki page. I can definitely see that being a valuable educational tool which I am going to try and take advantage of and use. I mentioned on the first day of class that I considered myself a technology novice. So, I am always amazed at the new things that can be accomplished and the technology skills that you can learn to accomplish them.

This weekend went really quickly. I enjoyed the podcast production, and I learned that the wiki is not as difficult as it was when I first used it. I'm not sure what role a blog will play in the school setting, I can see how the wiki could be an asset. I agree with an earlier post that everyone was really patient...especially Dr. Closen...Thank you!!

Enlightened

Weekend two contained so much useful information. I was really amazed by how easy it was to use audacity and movie-maker. Audacity did not make much sense until we were actually recording our information and adding background sound to the presentation. In addition, I had no idea that movie-maker would be so easy to access, download, and operate. The information gleamed from this weekend could be easily applied in the classroom and will prove useful for putting together future presentations. At first, the notion of using audacity and movie-maker was intimidating. Now these tools not only make sense but they seem to be pivotal to developing projects that reflect high standards of professionalism. I am looking forward to tinkering with pbwiki, blogger dashboard and movie-maker this week. I know that by working through the projects and taking the time to explore these tools I will come away from this class with a wealth of practical skills. I feel enlightened and I am definitely less stressed about the multimedia and blog projects.

Lost, but learning

Sunday we talked about things which are totally foreign to me. The podcast was something that I have never done before but after putting one together it was not that difficult at all. I get the feeling that most of this stuff that we are doing is fairly simple it is just stuff that you have to sit down and play with.

Informative Second Weekend

I really enjoyed setting up my blog and I think it will be a useful tool for our high school basketball program. It is amazing to see how much blogging has grown in the past 5 years. As a sports fan, it seems every team has a fan sit that you can blog on. It is a source of information that must be handled carefully because there are many posts that are complete fiction and sometimes slanderous. Blogs can be a great source to share ideas, opinions, and information, yet it is always important to discriminate when reading a blog so that you can decide was is fact and what is fiction. I thought all of the activities this weeked were informative and provided me with knowledge tha will be put to future use.

Podcast Project

After completing the podcast project, I can see how useful it would be for parents, teachers, and children to utilize the information to become more well-aware and educated about various topics and issues. The process of creating the podcast was rather painless. I did have to redo at least one of my sections of the podcast script due to stumbling over my words. Also, we found in our group that background noise can cause you to have to record the section of the script again. All in all, the addition of the music (jingles from Garage Band) and voice recording was relatively easy to accomplish. I definitely will use podcasting to provide important information to community members, teachers, and parents.

Weekend #2

I felt that this weekend went way to fast. And the fact that we lost over a a half a day added frustration to all the assignments.

Frustrating

Technology sure can be frustrating. We had lots of difficulty creating the podcast and getting all of the audio to work properly. I have a much better understanding of the whole process and see how it could be very useful in the educational process. I would like to be able to show our staff some of the things we have done in class. The one problem is that blogger and pbwiki are blocked at school.

Podcasting

The first thing I learned about podcasting is to rehearse before it is time to record. I think I had to stop and rerecord twice during my section. Podcasting can be a very useful tool to get students engaged in their learning. I see a lot of potential for class projects and for school and parent communication. Our middle school students would love to be able to go out to the Internet and pull down audio files. I have seen other school websites where students create podcasts on school topics of their choosing. We have a lot of teacher complaints about students not caring about school or their success. I think podcasting could be one way of getting resistant students more interested in their own learning and thus raising their acheivement.

Technology

I believed coming into class I was good using technology. Leaving today, I learned even more including podcasting, and blogging. This has been a very helpful course. Work time in class and being able to ask questions from the instructor, and peers was very helpful. The makeup of our class is positive and helpful.
SOOOOOOO thanks for all the patience from summer 08 EDL 518 students and Dr. Closen.

Questions I do have for everyone.

How many school districts use technology like podcasting? What reason do/did they create a podcast?

Does your school districts use blogs or even websites like wiki? again if so, for what purpose(s).

In Clinton, we use none.

See everyone in June!

First Weekend of Class

Technology certainly spears education at all levels! Sometimes that technology is beneficial, and sometimes it isn't. I know some teachers in my building very much like utilizing the technology our district offers them, while others want to run the other way! I see most technology as a time saver, fun to utilize and stimulating to my students. I am excited to use it daily, and I am not afraid to try new things!

Recently, our district's school board and school administration made a new goal to utilize more technology to assist in driving instruction! I am so excited about this. My administrator approached me about a SMART Board and an ELMO, and I couldn't be more excited! Other teachers cringed when they heard of the goal! They feel like it is a waste of time, and their "old" ways of doing things are much more efficient and effective. I feel like this attitude put students at a disadvantage! Technology isn't going anyhwere -- why not expose students to what their futures entail, while at the same time making learning engaging and new!

First class

While I am somewhat tardy on my first posting, I realize that if you do not work with Wiki, Excel, blogs, etc. on a daily basis, it is hard to achieve proficiency. The first weekend I did learn a number of things I need to work on. While I do producer a CD that accompanies my textbook and I include a video, I have not considered a pod cast. Perhaps now I will.

First Class

First Class
I was really impressed with the Illinois Tech plans. I do not believe that these plans are required in Iowa, yet!!!! Regardless of the state and the state requirements, I believe that technology is the key for increasing student motivation and reaching out to all levels of academic ability in the classroom. With this in mind, as a future administrator the financial aspect of keeping up with modern technology and the vast potential for cyber-crimes (cyber-bullying, hacking, etc…) ushers in new worries and concerns. I am looking forward to learning about blogs, wikis and other modern tools. Technology does not always cooperate with me, so I am hoping to come away from this course with knowledge and skills that will make my life easier in this age of "bits and bytes".
Lisa

Excel

I have always been afraid of the Excel program. I had used it just a little, but never really knew what I was doing. I am enjoying learning more about it, and have already thought of ways to be using it. The first thing I am going to do is look at the preschool screening scores to find out how our pre-kers fared compared to other preschoolers in town. Thanks!

I have always kind of put off getting to fully understand excel. I am now excited about utilizing it for its full benefit. I am amazed at how many things you can do with it, and how it can create such a organized and complete informational document. I think it is a must for any administer to understand this program. My wife uses it on a daily basis, and will be a great support staff for me, as well as my brilliant students. I still feel it will take some practice for me to completely understand.

Using Excel

I often feel that I am fairly tech savvy, but after working with the Excel spreadsheets – not so much. This is one program that administrators need to know inside and out. Just today, I spent the whole day breaking down our test data into some useable formats. I used all the things we did in class, and I am getting a lot more confident about it. Learning this program is exciting and frustrating at the same time. I know what I want to do and I know the program will do it. The problem is using the right terminology so I am able to find it in the help section. I am fine as long as I have done something a time or two, but it is repetition that makes it stick for me.

Class May 3 and 4

I am excited about this class. While I use Excel frequently, I have always taken the hard way. I was happy to finally learn about the formulas. I look forward to learning about podcasts and the multimedia project. I do wish we would have touched a little about the wiki page, as I am not sure how to include information for the podcast project with my partners. I would definitely encourage people to take this class early in the program. I really could have saved time throughout the program if I didn't have to teach myself about a program before I could complete a required project!!

First weekend thoughts

I am excited to learn the things featured in this class. Many of the things like YouTube, podcasts and blogs for example are how our students communicate today. I feel like the teacher mentioned in class that is often behind the students. Knowing these skills will help me as a teacher and future administrator. I am frustrated though, because our school district’s technology department seems to want to keep kids and teachers from accessing technology. I realize there are good reason for firewalls, filters and procedures for accessing new technology, but they won’t even let us change the picture on the desktop for god’s sake. Isn’t our job as teachers to remove obstacles for our students and as administrators to knock down barriers to effective teaching? I am sad to say that much of what I will learn in this class (i.e, podcasts and blogs) I will not be allowed in our district.

Kevin Gunn

I'm excited to learn how to do many of the things required by this class.  Initially when I read the syllabus I was a bit leery about knowing how to complete all of the assignments.  Thinking about the assignments and talking to my administrator about them, I am now eager to learn how to improve my knowledge of technology and apply it to the school setting.  For my grant program I ma required to do an end of the year evaluation with parents.  My principal and I talked about doing this in the blog format to let parents give their opinions of the program in a more personal way.  I look forward to getting this set up and hope that parents will utilize it to openly communicate their comments and suggestions for our program.

Excel Terminology

When I first looked at the list of assignments for this class, I thought this would be one of the easier ones because I "thought" I was familiar with Excel. I was very happy that we discusssed many of the different tools that are available in this program. Aside from using this as a future administrator, I think the charts and formulas will be very useful in the classroom now. Excellent tutorial!

Slow getting started

I felt it hard to listen to the directions and follow with the computer. By the end of the day i felt i was getting the hang of it. I noticed when i went home with no noise it was alot easier to get the work done. I think this is a good class for us to take, but i think this would be good for all educators to take.

weekend 1

I enjoyed the first weekend. I was amazed at how fast time went by. I wish we could spend more time on excell and go a tad bit slower. I am looking forward to the multi-media project. The scavanger hunt has proved interesting already, finding a few interesting sites.

Weekend #1

I rather enjoyed the class this weekend. At the beginning, I was a little intimidated and not sure if I could keep up with those that have more experience with technology. After class on Sunday, I feel I was only a little behind. I do feel like I learned a tremendous amount of knowledge about Excel. It took a while to get the hang of it, but I think what I have learned will be beneficial to me currently as a teacher, and then later as an administrator.

I am excited to get started on the Multi-media project. I have been wanting to learn how to develop something like this and just have not taken the time to figure it out. I am sure that I will be needing some assistance along the way. :)

Pro-Dev.

Spending the time in class Sunday made me realize how much time we waste in pro-development. I got way more out of that than all the SIP days I've ever been to. I actually understand how to work excel and I will use it in the future. I don't know if I have ever carried anything over from staff development. I think it shows us that as administrators we need to select carefully what we are going to do and make it useful. I really liked that we walked through the assignments. It helped me learn how to set it up myself, and if you sit by Lynch you also get to teach it (ha) for your own reinforcement.

understanding

The first weekend was much better than I expected, this is the fourth time I have signed up for this class. I really liked the excel stuff we did on Sunday, I was terrible at it but I felt I got better as the day went on. Technology is a very weak area for me, and an area I must improve in. My school does a wonderful job with technology and I would like to contribute to that at some pt.

Excel

I am glad we spent some time with Excel today. I have used this program very little but understand what an asset it can be to an administrator. I am even more unfamiliar with doing podcasts but am excited about the opportunity to learn it also.

The Future

When this class started, my initial thought was how MY school utilized available technology. As the weekend progressed I realized how far behind our (my school) thinking was concerning technology. Our district has the resources and equipment available, we lack the "know how." As with other districts, we have teachers who will never try but I believe we have teachers who will. I hope to use lots of this technology in my job to help demonstrate some of the benefits. As administrators we willl need to provide leadership in building our schools into the cyber world to help improve student achievement.

A side note-> being able to work through projects in class was very helpful in understanding. My comfort level is increasing.

Still Learning

Prior to this weekend I was truly concerned about being able to keep up with the class when it came to technology.  After working through some of the confusion with Excel, I have gained confidence with the process.  I can definitely see how this would be an asset in the classroom and as a principal.  Though I have gained confidence, I am still apprehensive when it comes to some of the other assignments, primarily the podcast.  I am hopeful that this is an area that I will gain in confidence and knowledge.  

Visible and Invisible

I enjoyed the Invisible/Visible activity that was completed on Saturday. By sharing the names of the various tools, I was able to become more aware and familiar with recent advancements in the area of technology. In addition, definitions of technological terms were provided which I found to be extremely beneficial. Throughout the activity, it became evident to me how quickly various technological tools have become a part of our daily lives and are prevalent in our society. These tools are decreasing in size and increasing in memory space. It is intriguing to me to explore technology as it directly correlates to communicating with others.

Gaining Confidence

This weekend was very interesting for me, from a standpoint of just what can be done with technology. Getting comfortable with using technology is the biggest challenge for me. I do feel that all of the demonstrated uses this weekend have a definite practical use in the education field. As I gain confidence with using these skills I look forward to their integration and application. I feel that everything from Dr. Angel's presentation on IIRC to the Excel work that we did today all have practical and useful applications. My confidence in using them is slowly growing.

The challenge for me will be to constantly improve and look for ways to apply these skills and use them in everyday tasks. I feel that as class progresses and I learn more skills and hopefully become more proficient at them, my comfort level and confidence will grow.

Excell

Using the Excel program was a bit frustrating today. I think the two different versions of the program also make things a little more difficult for everyone to understand. The formulas were a bit confusing and the assignments were not very clear at first, but became more clear as the day progressed. I am looking forward to working through the excel assignments and get more familiar with the program. The podcast assignment will be something new that I am looking forward to completing.

Antiquated attitudes

One of the factors that concern me about applying technology as an administrator is ensuring that all teachers, even those close to retirement who typically hate change, are literate in the basic functions that are required for application in the classroom. Many staff members possess minimal computer literacy while others have exceptional ability and use it often in their lessons. In order to maintain the attention of the staff, it may be necessary to employ “differentiated instruction” during professional development sessions involving technology. Obviously, a great deal of planning should take place before forcing any sort of technology in-services on your staff. Perhaps allowing them to make choices would provide the staff greater motivation for implementing technology in their classroom. Realistically, all students should be utilizing technology in the classroom. The key is to get the entire staff to understand its importance.

Thoroughly enjoyed the presentation by Dr. Angel.
The projects may seem daunting when you take them as a whole new set of skills to acquire, but attacked individually they are manageable. The most difficult part for me is making sense of the data to be analyzed. How to draw conclusions and correlations about student achievement and the variables associated with the data? Is there truly a relationship between the 'economics' of a school and achievement? Rich

Great ideas that will probably be blocked

I am excited about the possibility of increasing the level of student engagement throught the use of instructional technology. However, I am very worried about student blogs and wikis being blocked by our firewall. Everything is very locked down on our district network. This is true for teachers and students alike. I think the use of blogs and wikis can capture student's attention and get them excited about managing their own learning. It will be a real shame if all of this creativity ends up not being possible due to network security protocols.

Computer Illiterate

After setting in class for the first day I can truly say that I am more than a little nervous. I have never really worked with computers in depth and listening to all of the terms and phrases that were thrown around today makes me fell that this will be one of my tougher classes.

Touch Screen Table

It is amazing to think about the not so distant future. Looking at the video in class the table reminds me of the iphone, but the capability to scan your credit card at the table is really incredible. Waitresses across America are getting nervous as their need will be limited to food delivery only. I love thinking about and discussing the future. One of the best lessons I teach every year is when we discuss what life was like 100 years ago and try to predict life 100 years from now. The thing is technology is changing so fast right now that who knows what to expect in 5 years. Yesterday we talked about how this class should be taken early in the program. On the other hand maybe it would be good to have it be the last class, so that students would leave with the most current technology skills before taking on the role of an educational leader.

Blog Assignments for EDL 518 Summer 08 Students

Welcome to EDL 518. You will use this Blog to post your reflections after every class. I look forward to working will all of you. I hope you find this course beneficial, and that it will help you in the remainder of your coursework towards your Type 75 and in your future role as a building administrator.