Final Thoughts

One issue that continued to reoccur as I completed the tasks in the final module was that being a leader involves more than one person. Within any leadership position lies a team working with him/her towards a common goal. If I were asked at the beginning of the course if I felt there were opportunities to get the school community (i.e., parents, community leaders) involved in technology integration, I would have responded with a no. Simply because the school community is rarely connected with the in's and out's of a classroom and would not necessarily grasp the intentions or challenges. Now, on the other hand, I am totally supportive of community involvement in technology integration. For a couple of reasons:

1. technology is a vital aspect to many job descriptions and having their involvement would strengthen the school to work connection;
2. there are many community leaders who just by the nature of their position are experts in many examples of technology;
3. the more the community supports technology integration the greater the support within the school from teachers, administration, and students; and,
4. the community's support is imperative in order for important events to take place. Teachers and administrators are sometimes bogged down by their jobs that eager parents could help support the workload.

As a teacher interested in further integrating technology in my practice as well as increasing my role as technology leader, I will seek the support of the school's community, not just from parents and community leaders, but also from the students themselves, especially those who are tech. savvy and are interested in sharing their expertise with me and other teachers.

I really enjoyed developing a 3 year plan for integrating technology. It gave me a real sense of accomplishment and it was a practical assignment because it is something I can take to my principal and/or place in my teacher's portfolio for future reference. It also made clear the necessity of having a plan in place when integrating technology, not just for accountability sake, but also for measurement of effectiveness and future goal setting.

Philosophy on Integrating Technology in the Classroom

I believe that technology should support student learning and inquiry, not taught as a separate entity. Students should be using information and computer technology to in the same ways that a typical classroom uses pens, papers, and textbooks. Technology should be prevalent in every classroom and available to all students. In this way, students become the navigators of their learning, the teachers become the sails, and the technology the sea from which all possibilities emerge. Students will then become active, rather than static learners, and in the process more engaged in their education. Finally, when students use rich technology in meaningful ways, they are developing skills necessary for the 21st century professional, and they will be better suited to adapt successfully in the future if they feel confident in applying these skills.

The 3 things I have learned from this course so far are:

1. In order for schools to successfully integrate technology in to their classrooms, the school as a whole needs to approach this endeavour as a team. The principal and/or lead technology teacher will have to take on the leadership roll, but it is the individual teachers and classroom support staff that will make the integration successful.
2. Teachers who have adequate training as well as some tips and hints for troubleshooting are more likely to integrate technology in their classrooms. They are even more likely to continue to integrate it if they feel confident in adapting or readjusting lessons when things do not go as planned.
3. The best examples of technology impact the most students as possible. A SMARTBoard is a really cool piece of equipment and it has a whole host of classroon applications. However, few students can interact simultaneously on it, leaving many of the other students disengaged or lost.  For relatively the same cost, a classroom could have a class set of iPads or tablets with which to explore and develop skills.

As the lead technology teacher in my school, the 3 things that I will do to support my colleagues are:

1. Create and maintain a technology blog with lists of types of information and computer technology, examples of possible ways to integrate them, links to excellent lesson and unit plans, exemplars of others or myself using the technology, answer comments or questions about the technology, as well as tips and hints for my colleagues regarding the integration of the technology.
2. Ask my principal for some time during a staff meeting(s) or PLC(s) to demonstrate a Web 2.0 tool(s) which could be useful for many of my colleagues.
3. Ask for some time at a school assembly for my students to chow off their creations using technology, so other teachers or students may be inspired or want to inquire about how they can use it, too.

Being a Technology Leader

I really enjoyed the content in the latest learning module. Part of the reason why I liked it so much was because there was some collaboration involved both with my colleagues at school and peers in the course. Through the creation of a staff survey on technology to the feedback from the my peers, I learned quite a bit about what it means to be a lead technology teacher. The position not only involves solving technical problems and troubleshooting--though I'm sure those who are currently in such a position feel as though that is all they do--but also includes forwarding thinking and planning in order to best support the students' learning. Technology moves so fast that without someone staying current, a school could quickly fall behind the latest improvements, or they could be spending their money on technology that is out of date.

One issue that really hit home emerged from David Jakes paper Strategies, Solutions and Innovations for Technology Leaders. In his paper, he mentions that when technology leaders consider which types or examples of technology to integrate, they should also consider the option that impacts the most students. This statement made me rethink my position that every classroom should have a SMARTBoard. The reason why I have changed my perspective is because though a great interactive, novel tool, it is still teacher-centred, meaning the teacher decides the content, the resources, the process. For the same amount of money, a school could purchase a number of tablets, iPads, or other similar devices that allow the students to determine the direction, the source, and the content of their learning, making the impact of technology on the students in the classroom that much greater. Having these devices in the classroom also allows the teacher to design and present lessons and units that are teacher-centred because they can broadcast the lesson through Wi-fi, and maintain student autonomy by allowing them opportunities to revisit and work at their own pace.

I am interested in learning more about how a lead technology teacher receives funding, support, and/or attention from his/her board. More specifically, what does the teacher need to do other than send encouraging emails. I would like to know the process and required information to make a pitch to the board to have a technology-focused classroom with a large amount of computer technology integrated in to the programming. This would be an interested endeavour to undertake, especially considering they are few mainstream classrooms in my board which are technology focused.