Life in the Crash Lane

EDLD 5363 Web Conferences

2011-12-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

I attended one web conference with Dr. Abernathy and two with Dr. Tom Harvey. I read the transcripts from several other web conferences that I was not able to attend. I found the conferences helpful in answering questions and clarifying issues with assigned work. And at the same time, I found them somewhat frustrating when the technology was not working optimally. On one occasion, Dr. Harvey, our presenter, was the only one that was locked out of the conference. The more he tried to log on, the faster it bumped him off. It left the students in a unique situation. We all sat quietly looking at each other until someone started asking questions and making observations. The interaction was not only helpful but fun. It was good hearing ideas, successes and frustrations from fellow students. During the second conference with Dr. Harvey, I was the only attendee. He warned me that abobeconnect had scheduled maintenance and that we might be having troubles. We did. Video was fine but audio was impossible. Dr. Harvey utilized another technology, our cell phones. I was impressed by his thinking outside the box and combining the two technologies to get the job done.

EDLD 5363 Week 5 PSA

2011-12-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

Producing the PSA on bullying has been a great experience - working with three team members, brainstorming and making and taking suggestions. Once the tasks were divided, each member worked on their assigned area. Team members critiqued and make suggestions and recommendations for changes. Criticism was both constructive and helpful. There were a number of experiences in working with the team that I found extremely helpful. In working as a group, my problems and frustrations became their issues also. They help to solve my problems and I hope they found that kind of help in my interaction.

We all definitely brought our own strengths to the group. The creative ones went about the business of creating. The technical ones went about the business of designing. In some of our conference calls, someone would suggest a concept and someone else would run with it. The project offer definite challenges because of the distance and busying personal schedules but those challenges helped generate creativity and enthusiasm in finishing the project. Overall, it was a great experience.

Podcast and video editing

2011-11-25T19:59:00.001-08:00

Wow! The learning curve has been substantial yet manageable for the course thus far. I'm afraid that this week I almost did me in. I'd like to blame it on the Thanksgiving holiday or the new dependance on our classmates to collaborate in doing our work but I think that the frustration came from elsewhere. I realize just how much I am learning with this course. Things that I have never been exposed to before are now just a part of our workload. This week's assignment on podcasting and video editing stretched my abilities which is a good thing. It was all new to me! The readings were helpful and I thought that I understood them and would be able to navigate easily through the assignment. Not so fast....I understood the concepts involved in the assignments but actually doing the work was more of a challenge than I expected. I have to say that I enjoyed the assignment because I worked harder this week than in any of the other courses.

EDLD 5363 Multimedia and Video Technology

2011-11-18T22:00:00.001-08:00

The master's course for educational technology moves rather quickly. The five week courses are a bit intimidating, navigating through the sheer volume of material that must be covered in such a short time period. Each course seems too ambitious. This course was no different. I had no experience with video and multimedia technology. I was encouraged by the enthusiasm of my fellow students on the discussion board. Taking one assignment at a time, completing the readings and participating in the discussion board turns the experience from intimidation to excitement. I have to wonder if that is the experience of the students as he or she is learning new things. This course specifically gears learning to the level of today's students, students that are much more interested not in seeing graphics but designing graphics. The assignment was a challenge for a novice like me but exciting and fun at the same time. Perhaps this is one of the benefits of lifelong learning that I simply did not expect.

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

2011-11-01T07:02:00.001-07:00

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

Action Steps	Persons Responsible	Timeline	Resources	Process Monitoring	Evaluation
Interview local historians in the school and city to design a survey	Sr. Amata Hollas Martha Massie	Nov 2010 to Feb 2011	School and Motherhouse archives	self	Principal and Assistant Principal
Prepare age appropriate study on the historical beginning of the school	Sr. Amata Hollas self	Jan 2010	Archives and retried religious Sisters who taught in the school	Principal	Convent administration
Survey students and staff on connection of the history of the school and its present culture and community	Principal	March 2010	Teaching staff	Feedback from the teaching staff	Survey results

Action Research Week 4

2011-10-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Week four has been helpful in reviewing the comments of my classmates in regards to my action research. My action research project addresses both the school community and culture in relation to the long and rich tradition and history of our school, one of the oldest educational institutions in south Texas founded in 1867. In the discussion board I shared my frustration with determining a way to best evaluate and measure both the students' and the staff's experience. A couple of surveys at the beginning and the end of the school year was about the best approach that I could come up with. Most of the comments were encouraging but did not offer any additional suggestions of how to "beef up" my approach. The encouragement was helpful, however.

Action Research Week 3

2011-10-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

Week 3 has required even more refining for my action research plan. Last week I considered three options and found myself most excited about an inquiry on the culture and community experienced in the school. My inquiry is What part does the long history of the school play in the present school culture and how can that culture help in marketing and creating a stronger school community? I am a bit concerned about being able to collect enough data and analyze the data for my research. Because of the 140 year history of the school, I will be able to collect enough historical data but analyzing the connection between the history and its effect to the school culture and community may provide more of a challenge than I am prepared for. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Action Research at work....Week 2

2011-10-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

I am a Catholic priest, ordained in 1990; and in my two decades in the priesthood, I have always been associated with Catholic schools with the exception of three of those years. Now as pastor of St. Mary's, established in 1824, in downtown Victoria, TX, I find myself without the care of a school since my assignment in 2010. Next door to us is Nazareth Academy (NA), established in 1866 by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. I am excited to reacquaint myself with a new school community. One's senses are overwhelmed with the bells, the schoolyard, the smell of the hallways, the history and all those things that define the culture of the school and make up the community of NA. Of the three research action projects that I will undertake, the second is most exciting to me because it deals with the school culture and its long history in the community. The other two are just as important, one addresses on-going professional development and the other dealing with low Math scores in the 6th grade class. The obvious benefits of doing action research are not only to address the challenges but to celebrate the successes.

The Value of Action Research and blogs

2011-10-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

Action research focuses on an interpersonal approach to problem solving and addressing issues in the school community. It can be used not only to create options but also to become aware of issues that may not be apparent to the administrator. Critical feedback is important and available by the steps involved in action research. Issuing wonderings or inquires, collecting data, gaining insight into the issues and making improvements are the steps involved with action research. The study and evaluation of existing programs continues to provide on-going feedback to best tackle problems and seek improvement in the school.

Action research is also helpful in giving feedback and direction for professional development both for the administrator and the staff. It can assist the principal in giving needed insight not only to issues affecting the staff and issues of the school community but also valuable insight into his/her own practice as an administrator. Action research can be helpful not only to teachers, collaborating with their peers but the same reflection can be utilized for interaction with principals and their peers in other schools within the district. Using action research in place of or as a supplement to faculty meetings could give greater ownership to the educators. It is not just listening to outside information but creativity tapped from within the school community.

Since the students are using web tools daily outside of the classroom, it only makes to expand education outside of the classroom and school and outside of school hours. Blog and wiki sites can be utilized for academic interaction and information for both students and educators alike.

Course Reflection EDLD 5306

2011-09-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

My experience with taking an on-line course involved a bitof a learning curve. I convincedmyself to go back for another master’s degree for two reasons. Technology has always been an interestto me yet I have never received any formal training in that area. And secondly, I have always beencurious about on-line courses. Itseemed ideal for me, flexible and self-paced. Once I got over the initial intimidation of navigatingaround the virtual classroom and assignments, things began to fall intoplace. The web conferences,on-line support and instruction were everything that I wanted. Ms. Borel, Dr. Abernathy and ouron-line coach Sarah were always encouraging and helpful. I was very pleased with my results andcontinue to be challenged by the course ahead. In many ways, I still feel like a fish out of water sincemost of my classmates are in education but it is not discouraging. While I may not use these new skills inthe classroom, they will be extremely helpful in the parish office, parishschool and in the vocation office as I continue my work with young men studyingfor the priesthood.

Web Conference Week 2

2011-09-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 8:00pm, I attended my second web conference. I was able to successfully attend the first conference last week and had decided to take advantage of the first option and attend Tuesday's class. By the time 7:45pm rolled around on the 23rd I did my best to join the conference. I spent twenty five minutes trying to join, panicking, not able to remember how to join. I gave up.

By Wednesday afternoon, I had calmed down, refusing to panic at the possibility of missing the last chance at the required conference. I was then calm enough to go back through the notes and instructions which were right there all the time.

The web conferencing is great. The learning curve for the on-line class setting, though significant, should not distract me from getting the information. The conference brings a personal touch to virtual classroom, reminding me that real people are connected to the names online. People who share my struggles and other who can help me get past them.

E-Rate

2011-09-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Check out my first attempt with google presentation and my understanding of E-Rate and our local district.

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/412441/ED

The National Education Technology Plan

2011-09-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, presented the President's National Education Technology Plan in November of 2010. It focuses on personalized learning for all levels of education. It calls for tapping into the power of technology to encourage lifelong learning. The five areas targeted to implement the plan include: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure and Productivity.

The area of learning identifies what and how we teach. It suggest evaluating the core concepts and competencies of the material that the students should learn. It would involve various options for learning, both inside and outside the confines of the classroom.

Assessing the course of learning should involve technology based assessments providing data to determine the course for individual learning. Once these strengths and weaknesses are assessed, the plan turns its attention to the models of teaching namely a model of connected teaching, teaching from a team approach. This approach blends the classroom with virtual classroom opportunities.

Having a stable and secured infrastructure that includes personnel, support, professional development, hardware and software that push emerging technoology is the key to remaining relevant and competitive. The infrastructure must be prepared to handle multimedia to unlock new ways of learning and sharing information.

Education must keep pace with other sectors of society by improving productivity. We must be prepared to rethink and transform. Change forces us to grow. Federal, state and local districts all play an important part as we look to the future growth and transformation of our educational system.

The plan is practical. It states that in order for this vision to become a reality, action is needed on all levels. It calls for making this vision our own.

VISD Technology Plan 2011-2014

2011-09-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Victoria ISD's (235902) Technology Plan, spanning 2011-2014, was approved by the Texas Education Agency on December 28, 2010. The plan assessed the needs utilizing the results for the District-level STaR Chart and the results from the Technology Board Strategic Planning Team, the District Technology Committee as well as input from the stakeholders in both the schools and community.

The needs assessment looked at the existing conditions in the areas of instructional content, hardware, infrastructure technology, information services and professional development. The plan goes on to identify twenty-five technology needs. These needs are addressed in the goals, objectives and strategies of the plan. The needs include: developing and supporting a shared vision, assuring equity among campuses, the implementation of a cloud computing environment for greater accessibility, the implementation of open source products, accessibility of netbooks for student use, additional staff development, stable and secured infrastructure with increased speed, technology support and a district wide timeline to implement this plan.

The plan budgets $121,500.00 for Educator Development. The Director of Professional Development along with the district's technology committee will coordinate ongoing opportunities for professional development. The infrastructure budget is over $3.8 million, representing 83% of the budget. Services such as telecommunication services, software and hardware are assessed for replacement and ease of technology support. Goal five in this section addresses designing, installing and maintaing such infrastructure for all areas of instruction and support services.

Evaluating the implementation of the plan will be the responsibility of the District Technology Steering Committee, meeting every six months to receive reports of progress of the objectives and goals of the plan. The Committee will also adjust the plan on an as-needed basis, based on the input of students, staff and community members.

Assessing Educators' Technology Leadership Knowledge

2011-09-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

In week one's assignment, I evaluated both my own comfort level in terms of technology leadership and the use of technology with one of the schools where I assist. Since I am not a classroom teacher I made my best guess at where the school had both strengths and weaknesses.

In that week's assignment to post comments on the articles we read, I expressed my intimidation and that overwhelming feeling of sitting in a virtual classroom and feeling left behind with a considerable disadvantage. I appreciated the comments made by my classmates that they too could easily identify with the same feeling. The learning curve involved in taking an online course for the first time has been a good measure of my own (lack of) technology leadership and knowledge.

Assessments made with both students and teachers in the Texas STaR Chart proves helpful in determining the level of ease and/or frustration both on the part of the teachers and students. Areas marked for improvement can be addressed through leadership and vision, funding, providing on-going quality professional development and ensure that the infrastructure supports the needs.

The Texas Campus STaR summaries will help both districts and campuses with needed data to sustain continued growth, using the assessments of both educators and students.

Kicking and Screaming

2011-09-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

My maternal grandmother was born in 1893. I remember watching her cook using a hand beater rather than an electric one. I suggested to my Mom that she buy her an electric one. The two of them laughed at the idea. Granny never needed electricity to beat eggs or flour. Why start now? Later I remember the first microwaved we ever owned. Mom was reluctant to use it. The concept just didn't make any sense. Reluctantly she came along. Realizing that I should not have made fun of my elders, this is my first experience at blogging. I was brought along "kicking and screaming" but the fear has faded away of doing something completely foreign. I told myself that it was because I wasn't interested in learning but the truth was that I was afraid of approaching something that I knew nothing about.