EDUC 638

EDUC 638 June 5, 2013 Reflection Blog-Interview with a School Technology Leader

Each new form of technology has pros as well as cons.  There is a great amount of work that goes into selecting what kinds of technology will be implemented in the school way before students step into the classroom.  Many technologists work year round to review, select, and decide on the implementation of various forms of technology.  To get a better understanding of the work that has to go into educational technology I interviewed the Media Specialist at the elementary school in which I work.  Since the district I work for has over 50 elementary schools alone, and the IT staff attends to the entire district, it is a challenge to get a hold of someone who works at the district level.  Our school, as well as many other schools in the district, does not have specific IT personnel.  If issues arise the Media Specialist attends to the issue, or submits a work order for the district to come and fix.  Today we will discuss some of positive as well as negative aspects of educational technology that seem to be a general consensus among educators and technologists.       

Most people prefer to hear the negatives first, so today we will begin with discussing some of the downsides to educational technology.  The first major drawback to using technology is of course the cost.  There is an initial cost that must be considered before a school can buy new technology.  The woman I interviewed described how the schools in our district go through a refresh program every five years where money is provided to the school to update existing technology and purchase new technology. Another drawback to technology is the constant maintenance that is required to keep certain technologies running at an efficient rate. School districts and/or schools must hire someone who can maintain the various technologies used throughout the school or district. Another drawback to technology is the lack of familiarity and effective use by classroom teachers. Each new technology has a learning curve and can affect how it is used in the classroom. Some teachers use certain technologies ineffectively and others don’t use them at all.

Picciano discusses the uses of technology on the administrative/leadership level. He talked different uses such as office automation, spreadsheets, and databases. These all have extremely important roles to all administrators, office workers, and teachers. They can help make certain tasks more efficient so that more is accomplished in a given amount of time. The database portion is especially important because it compiles all data that is relevant to a certain school or school district. Through the use of various databases and spreadsheets, school administrations can make important decisions based off of that data. This is data-driven decision making. Using data to make decision is a way to make administrators informed about certain details such as trends or changes in different categories. It is important to remember that the databases are there to inform decision makers of the data. This does not replace their experience, intuition, or preferences. It is just another tool as the disposal of the administrator(s).

Technology has an exhorbant amount of ways that it can be used but it is still just a tool. Whether it is a teacher using technology in a classroom or an administrator using technology to make decisions that are best for the school or school district, the technology that is being used is just a means to an end.

  

References 

Hall, D. (2008). The technology director's guide to leadership . Eugene, OR: ISTE.

Picciano, A. G. (2011). Educational leadership and planning for technology. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Reid, S. (2013, June 05). Interview by M Boland []. Interview with a school leader regarding the use of educational technology.

 



EDUC 638 May 23, 2013 Reflection Blog

           
             As I was reading chapter 1 of Picciano’s book Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology (2011), a quote from Molnar caught me a little by surprise. Not just by its content but also by the date it was reference. Molnar said this, “The world of education has changed from an orderly world of disciplines. . . to an infosphere in which communication technologies are increasingly important. While education is changing, it is not changing fast enough.” The thing that caught me off guard was that Molnar said that in 1997. It is still exceptionally relevant in today’s culture. Whether it is because of a lack of familiarity with people involved in education, a lack of funding or a combination of both factors, the simple fact is that most schools are behind when it comes to technology. From a personal standpoint, I remember thinking how silly tablets seemed when they first came out. We already had laptops and it didn’t seem like tablets did anything that could not be done on a laptop. It wasn’t until my husband bought me a Kindle Fire that I began to see how useful tablets could be.  I decided to begin researching all of the different ways iPads and other tablet computers could be used in a classroom and was amazed by the possibilities I found.  I wonder how many other people in education had similar feelings with tablets or other forms of technology. Instead of embracing new tools to be a more effective educator, we hesitate using them because we do not see the need for them or are afraid of something which we do not understand.

           In chapter 3 of Picciano’s book (2011), he was discussing the digital divide and specifically the causes of it due to socioeconomic status. As Title 1 schools receive federal funding the ratio of students-per-computer in lower socioeconomic schools (16:1) would hopefully be closer to the higher socioeconomic schools (7:1). The additional assistance from the federal government could help to close the gap between schools that are on the opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum. The problem that we have is that there is a limit to the amount of technology available and there is a finite amount of time students have to interact with the technology that is available at the schools. The lower the ratio of technology to students means that there is more opportunity for the students to use technology is the time that they are given throughout the year. The more time that they have to experiment and learn new technologies than the more proficient they will be with the technology that they were able to interact with. I also believe that the more new technology that they use than the more comfortable they will be with adjusting to new technology as that is developed throughout their lifetime. I don’t know the best way to solve these issues, but I do know that we have to address the issues. Students need to be able to use these new technologies because they will need to use them when they move into the workforce.

References

             Hall, D. (2008). The technology director's guide to leadership . Eugene, OR: ISTE.

             Picciano, A. G. (2011). Educational leadership and planning for technology. Prentice Hall.