Reflections

As I began working at the Faith School District last year, I didn’t really view myself as the technology leader at my school. I thought that I was simply a teacher who was interested in showing others how to better use technology in their classrooms. I feel like the view of myself has changed as a result of this of the last year. I think that my role at school is to be a technology advocate.I don’t really think that my view of the technology issues at Faith has changed as a result of the past year. I feel that more issues have come up and I seem to be defending and handling these issues differently. After the first year, I feel like my voice is stronger. We have been given many different tools, and for the most part, each one helped to strengthen the curriculum in different classrooms in different ways. I feel now that I need to be an advocate for the students, for the school, and now the technology program.

In the past year, I have increased my awareness of many technology leadership issues that we, as a nation, face. I was most affected by the reading by D. Tapscott, called “The Digital Divide”. This digital divide is what I am most concerned about at my school. Some students and teachers fall into the “have-nots” and even some “will-nots” when it comes to technology. What do I do to help these people? I am the type of person who believes that if I am not part of the solution, then I must be part of the problem. How do I take the negative thoughts and feelings from certain people and not take them as personal attacks?

I believe in order to best prepare students, they really should have adequate access to a wide variety of technologies through our school in all curriculum areas. Not all of them have this access at home, and school seems like the best place to introduce them to technology. At the present moment, I feel that the Faith School has taken huge steps in order to provide these technologies. Although it would be easy to read the Tapscott article and feel disheartened, it makes me feel determined to speak up for technology at my school. I also want to do everything I can; with the technology we have, to integrate technology lessons into all classes.
Of all the articles that I have read Hughes ® Framework, RAT, made the most sense to me. It helped me to take a look at how I am using technology in my classes. I think this would be a great framework for schools to use as they assess their technology integration. So often, we see technology as a cure-all; this is misguided. Technology is really no replacement for good teaching. I think, though, that technology can really enhance lessons and, as the framework suggests, transform the teaching and learning that is occurring in the classroom.What I learned in my research, relates very well to my everyday challenges as a teacher. I think, as a result of the course, I am going to be more aware of my own tech. integration and the challenges that my school faces with technology. As I mentioned, the RAT framework, is really going to help me examine how I am using technology. One way I am planning to better incorporate technology is through the use of wiki’s. They are such a simple and attainable way for us to use the technology we have to enhance my students’ skills with computers. And the coolest thing of all…it’s free. Although at times, I feel quite pessimistic about how I integrate technology at my school, I feel I have been given tools to increase my optimism. I know we have a long way to go, but the information I have been given will increase my own technology integration and I plan to become more of a leader and an advocate at my school. I know that simply throwing equipment at our school will not do what we need; we need to work as a team to make sure it is used and is helping to, at least,. amplify what we are doing in the classrooms.

I know what we need is attainable, and I will make my voice heard about the issues that we are facing. I need to continue to do my job to the best of my ability and stand up for the technology that I believe in.