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Tuesday, April 26, 2011
1. Vison and Philosophy Technology
10. Utilizing Web Pages of Utility and Sophistication
Websites are important and vital part of communication. It is a quick and easy place for parents and community members to go to access information use at school phone numbers, closings, teachers emails, sporting events, and even handbooks. It is all a place that can contain links to teacher websites, blogs, and even other help sites. It is important to make sure that your websites are kept current and are user friendly. Below are links to some various school websites. I encourage you to visit them look at the different layouts, consider what seems to work and not work.
9. PowerPoint Substitutes
Ever got to that important meeting only to realize the PowerPoint presentation you prepared is on the computer back at the office? Or arrived at a meeting to discover the technology set up does not open the PowerPoint version you have prepared your document in. It has happened to all of us.
While PowerPoint is a valuable tool, it does has its limitation. If you send that PowerPoint to someone they have to have the PowerPoint application to view it. A PowerPoint is only available on the computer it is saved or the device it is saved to. Try out Prezi this web based presentation application is free for the basic version, and the more complex version is free for educational purpose. The presentation is stored online and is available from any computer that has internet access.
Click this like to view a Prezi:
8. Harnessing Technology
Time and Money that is the bottom line of what so much comes down to in education. The most powerful information that I have gained in this class is a statement by Dr. Jeffery's. In one of our first few classes he said something to the effect of "If you believe that something is important then you have to find the time and money for it." Wow! How true as I think back through my years as a teacher how many times have my administrators pushed some new practice or idea but then did not give us the time or money to be effectively be trained or implemented. It becomes very old very quickly. As a school leader I know that integrating technology is going to be a vital part of ensuring that my school is preparing students for global economy. During this course I have read many articles and books about education, and very single one of them has talked about the important roll that technology plays in increasing student achievement. As a school leader I am going to have to find time and money for professional development to help teachers with this process.
7. Use of Technical Vocabulary & Skills Specfic to the Mission & Vision
Most missions/visions of schools have to with preparing students for life after high school. If we are going to live up to these missions and visions we have to lead our schools to incorporate technology in to our instructional practices. So we has leaders need to know technology. Wagner, spends a lot of time talking about the changes in student willingness to listen to lectures and the importance of incorperating technology into education.
If you are going to lead people you have to be knowledgeable of where you are lead them to. For school leaders this means we have to truly know technology. We have to be able to communicate about technology. To do this we have to know the terms so that we can inquire about technology and have discussions about best practices. Also, as leaders we will be approached by teachers and staff with questions that relate to the terms of technology and we need to be able to answer these questions. If we can not answer questions and our staff have to turn else where to find the answers we will begin to lose credibility.
Leading by example is the most important thing that we can do, so as leaders we have to have the skills to use technology. In the article, "How to Become a Digital Leader", Bill Ferriter talks about that teachers are looking for guidance and support as the utilize technology in their classroom. We as leaders have to provide the support for them. If they don't find it in us they will either seek it else where or even more likely give up. If teachers give up that will quickly up a halt to any goals being accomplished to help schools fulfill their mission or vision.
Ferriter, Bill. “How to Become a Digital Leader.” Educational Leadership, October,
2009. Pgs. 90-91.
Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap. Basic Books, New York, NY, 2008.
Monday, April 25, 2011
6. Using Cloud and Web 2.0 To Enhance Creditbility
This blog is really connected with the 2nd blog, entitled 3. Technological Integration and Achievement & Productivity. As talked about in the previous entry, students are no longer willing to do work simply because it is assigned. We as school leaders have to help teachers give the work they assign credibility. We have to offer instructional leadership to assist teachers in bringing the web 2.0 and cloud into lessons. If students learning involves using these applications they are more likely to see value in the assignment and do it.
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