EDLD+5306+Course+Reflections


 * __EDLD 5306 Reflections :__ My Reflections on the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, Alvord ISD's STAR Chart and Tech Survey**

 Two of the outcomes I envisioned as I began this course were to become more familiar with the technology TEKs and guidelines and then to gain new ideas for implementing them into my classroom. I also wanted to learn some new techniques for using technology that I could share with my colleagues in my role as a campus technology facilitator. I was able to be successful in achieving these outcomes. I learned a great deal by reviewing the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology about where my students are headed and what I can do in First Grade to begin to help them get there. I also finally understand why I have to complete the Texas STaR Chart each year so that my campus and district can use the data to make long-range technology decisions. The EDLD 5306 Course was very beneficial to me as a teacher and as a campus technology leader. It closely aligned with my initial learning expectations for the course. This course has greatly exceeded my initial expectations. I have greatly improved my understanding and implementation of the Texas Technology TEKs. This has influenced my teaching practices since the first week of the course. I have learned new ways to integrate technology with my lessons and how to collaborate with my colleagues on-line. Prior to taking this course, I had never heard of RSS, wikis or even thought much about cyber-bullying. Now these terms hold specific meaning to me and I can feel confident in using them in conversations with my peers. The information throughout the course was very relevant to my teaching assignment and did not include any unnecessary time-consuming 'busy work.' Each module dealt with a specific content that I began to include in my teaching methods right away. I feel more confident in my role as part of my district's District Education Improvement Team. We will be making recommendations for expanding our technologies for the next school year.  Overall, I was very successful in carrying out the course assignments once I figured out how to navigate through the module. Fortunately, I have a colleague here in my building who is taking on-line courses through Lamar for the past year and I was able to ask her for help with the navigation screen. I found the discussion format very beneficial and enjoyed hearing what the other course participants had to say. It was interesting to see how their views did or did not line up with mine. The assignment each week was very time-consuming and it was hard to learn to pace myself for the first couple of weeks. Also, I had a hard time with thirteen articles to read on Week Three and a Mid-Term exam due at the same time. The next week only had eight which was much more manageable. The final week was the best week with only three articles and it left time to prepare for the Final Exam.