Reflection

EDLD 5352 Reflection

I envisioned this course covering issues of increasing student performance through varying methods designed to increase student engagement. I did not expect the course to cover the use of technology solely. I was interested to find that the state had put so much effort into the Long Range Plan for Technology. I was also interesting to see that the initiative to increase the integration of technology into the curriculum extends to the nation level and legislature. If the goal of the course was to impart the significance of technology integration in instruction and its legal implications, then I those objectives were met.

I found many of the claims of the professors and authors intriguing regarding the use of technology in the high school classroom. I feel that many if not all of the ideas and benefits presented throughout the course for the use of technology had great merit and validity. However, I do feel that some major issues were not discussed. What is a teacher supposed to do with a student in her technology laden class instruction that does not have clearance to have access to the internet while at school? What is a teacher supposed to do when a student has their privileges revoked during the middle of an assignment due to violation of an acceptable use policy? What about students with modifications allowing for extended time that do not have access at home? These practical issues are a few of the stumbling blocks to technology based instruction. I think that before we sell out we need to consider these issues carefully.

The biggest overlooked issue is student motivation. All of the initiatives discussed are wonderful; however, I feel their effectiveness is limited to the top 10% to 20% of the students. These are the students who are highly motivated. My discussions with students in conjunction with this course revealed that students are not motivated to learn just because technology is involved. They do use technology and embrace it. It is no different than getting them to read Shakespeare. I can be like pulling teeth; however, they will put their entire life on hold to read the Twilight series. Students that I spoke to replied that they would have no motivation to read a teachers blog unless it directly affected their grades. If students will not log on to get the answers to the home work problems, why would they log onto a teachers blog unless it was mandatory? If it is made mandatory, what is the teacher to do about those students who do not have access outside of school? Most districts’ filter settings do not allow teachers access to blog sites, let alone the students.

Blogging as a tool for parent communication has a great deal of merit. I feel the reality is that the parent who would be up to date on information are the only ones who would use the service. It is a corollary to many of the same student issues. Many districts already have policy documents on line. It is surprising to me the parents who will tell you during a conference that they have not read them. My district has an on line grade reporting system. The percentage of parents not involved in the program but on line is staggering. The benefits and draw backs of blogging are the same as that for any other method of mass information dissemination. If it is up to the public to retrieve the information there is a great percentage who will simply not participate. They will continue to blame the district and its personnel for what ever trouble has occurred due to their lack of participation.

There were some good ideas put fort during this course. I do feel that many were extremely unrealistic for the high school class room. I feel that the fact that the idea of personal accountability is lost on the majority of students and parents today has been totally overlooked. We are dealing with a generation of students who has been brought up to believe that life is about them. Most believe that if they are not successful or caught in the wrong that it is someone else’s fault. To attempt to monitor a class of advanced junior and senior students using smart phones and open internet access would be a night mare. I would not even want to imagine what it would be like in a class of average and at risk freshmen. Weighing the en loco parentis duty to protect student from the possible outcome of bad acts committed by others and themselves against the possible benefits of to learning, I have to choose protection. Until there is a method to monitor what is occurring on line in real time, many of these proposals will have to wait. I might suggest that some real time spent working in today’s regular classrooms over the course of a semester might bring some of these expectations into a more real light.

I did not have cognitive trouble completing the assignments. I felt that some were pedantic and included a great deal of busy work. I question the use of some of the articles. When new technology hits the store shelves it is already outdated. Reading articles discussing specific technologies that are more than a year old do not convey the most recent information. I feel that writing reflections on articles that are descriptions of document management software is simply busy work. If scholarly articles are assigned then I feel that reflection, quotes, or discussion is appropriate. Reading an article about some product to maintain web links is interesting and helpful, but hardly warrants a students’ time to cite and post discussions. As administrators we do not have to be experts in the most current technology. It would detract from our other duties to attempt such a monumental task. We need to understand technology’s importance and implications to education and not stand in its way on our campuses.

This course has given me a great deal of insight to technology in education. I feel that I am better qualified to lead in its use on my campus as a teacher and administrator. As a result of this course, I have volunteered to serve on our campus technology committee.