Reflections+on+EDLD+5362

**__Reflections on EDLD 5362- Information Systems Management __**

 * ======In this course, I interviewed administrators on the planning and budgeting for technology as well as the district’s Student Information System. This was a rewarding experience as it allowed me to meet with technology and campus leaders to discuss technology within the district. I was pleasantly surprised by how committed my district is to technology and felt a swelling of pride as I created and presented the district’s technology plan to administrators and staff on my campus. The first step to achieving a goal is setting one, and we are well on our way as our goal is to develop a world class instructional technology program within McKinney ISD and exceed state standards. According to Virginia Richard in //The Model of a Modern Technology Classroom (//2007), “a standard model technology classroom includes hardware, software, training and infrastructure – all critical in providing the opportunity for model technology teachers and students to become effective users of technology for teaching and learning” (p. 1). McKinney ISD is making strides by ensuring that our classrooms are equipped with current hardware, up to date software, training that facilitates not dictates the use of technology (MISD, 1999) and infrastructure that includes school management systems that allow teachers to create data driven instruction for all students. ======

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In Week 1, we were required to interview a teacher who had been teaching for at least 20 years and discuss the advantages and challenges of having the Internet as a classroom tool. Mrs. Caliste, the elementary school teacher I interviewed, is what Marc Prensky (2001) calls a “digital immigrant” who is still “in the process of learning a new language” (p. 1). Speaking with her and hearing her frustrations over successfully incorporating this foreign concept with her students helped gain perspective on the teachers that I will serve as a technology facilitator and me to improve my training techniques to ensure I wasn’t leaving digital immigrants behind. As a technology teacher with a technical degree, technical concepts are easy for me to understand and implement in my classroom. Although I understand the complexities of technology, I pride myself on being able to teach those complexities in a manner that all students can understand and Mrs. Caliste reinforced the value of doing that. She was instrumental in the reformatting of my teacher staff development trainings to ensure that I include time for questions and a section dedicated to specific ways the new technology being demonstrated can be used in any classroom. ======

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The students in the Master’s program come from districts all across Texas and interacting with them and hearing about the technology infrastructure in their various districts was eye opening. I was surprised to hear about the career and technology centers in small districts that were well more equipped than my larger school district and dismayed by the lack of funding given to technology in other districts. As always, my online colleagues provided me with invaluable insight and technology tools that I have continued to use in my classroom and on my campus. I was inspired by some of the districts’ career and technology centers and as a member of my district’s Technology Advisory Committee, I have been and will continue to encourage and insist that my district dedicate the funding and resources to the development of a career and technology program and will prepare our students for 21st century STEM careers. ======

**Resources ** Meeks, Technology Group. (1999). //McKinney ISD Technology Master Plan//. Retrieved on March 11, 2012 from [] Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. //The Strategic Resource For Education Professionals//, Volume 9, Number 5, 1-6.

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Richard, V. (2007). The Model of a Modern Technology Classroom. //Tech&Learning,// Retrieved on March 11, 2012, from [|http://www.Techlearning.com/article7146] ====== ||= media type="custom" key="13703354" align="center"

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