As I finish another EDIT course, and look forward to my final three, I still feel out of place among my degree program peers. I believe I can use much of the material that I've studied over the past 18 months, especially production methods and multimedia use in developing course materials. I've discovered lots of new (free) applications that are primarily used in the K-12 model, but also proven to be a great addition to my own courses (especially project management).
One very useful course for me was EDIT 677 - Assessments, which was not a part of the Ed.S. program. It helped me understand the need for assessments in the classroom and how to appropriately apply methodology in developing and reviewing assessments and assessment tools. I look forward to continuing my research in the field of instructional technology and I hope to find many more tools that will help me provide useful content for my students, be more resourceful with technology in and out of the classroom, and assessment technology use in our organization.
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Upon completing my Ed.S in instructional technology, I plan to continue to work as a lecture in computer science; however, I plan to use my new skills to modify instruction to better use technology in the classroom, as well as be more informed when making suggestions for new technology for the classroom and the CS department.
I am, however, not a hardware technician. I will attempt to fix technology that I immediately need or help another faculty/staff member should they have a problem with hardware, but there is a reason for the information technology services department, to fix our hardware and update software when needed (including the network). This is not to trivialize the need for either, but I choose not to be blamed for messing up any technology that is not my own. I am considering the role of instructional technologist. The person responsible for deciding on the the type of technology that should be used in an organization and how that technology should be used in the classroom to supports students and teachers. This person will also need to be creative with a budget since they will be asked for everything and, depending on the organization, can offer much less. I know there is much more to this role, but these are the overarching tasks that I see.
In working in a university environment, I do not see a central person acting in this role. It is more of a collaboration of faculty members, not usually staff, who a trying to decide what is needed for a particular course, its textbook and then technology. I think there should be a more defined and directed consideration of technology implementation for a course (and across sets of courses needed to complete a degree program). I see this, and every, organization needing a single person acting as instructional technologist to support the efforts of implementing technology. In completing the Ed.S. in instructional technology, my only goal was to learn how to effectively use technology in the classroom to improve student experience. I wanted better engagement with the content of the course and better focus during class. Given the use of technology by (most) students outside of the classroom, I figured some inclusion of that technology would be a benefit inside the classroom. I never dreamed I would also learn about the proper formatting for multimedia presentations and production methods. I know that since beginning this degree program, my courses have increased in the use of technology...in a more effective way. Class averages have increased and students have used their consistent access to the course material to also improve the submission rates of assignments. Oh what a day! An organization’s technology coordinator can provide different services to support teaching and learning. The coordinator performs many important services that include implementing appropriate (and current) technology in the classroom, teaching how to use technology, and suggesting content management systems and other software to benefit students. All services are important, in my opinion, no matter how trivial they may seem.
It is important for educational units to have visionary leadership in order for students to benefit, for teachers/faculty/instructors/staff to grow professionally, and for the organization to be successful. Many educational leaders do not show this type of leadership, especially in K-12 education. In order to be fair, the teach to the test model does not support visionary leadership in the K-12 arena. It thwarts the very planning effort that it takes to be successful.
The visionary leadership that I mentioned above is standard one of the NETS-A (www.iste.org) for education. The standard addresses the necessary tasks (indicators) to inspire and lead a shared vision for technology integration in order to promote excellence and support transformation throughout the organization. Educational entities are notoriously behind when it comes to progress in the area of technology and some areas of student-centered learning. Standard one's focus is technology leadership. In my research of CCU's computing sciences (CSCI) department, I learned a lot about how it can be easy to adopt a process, procedure, and/or policy without ever formally writing it down for others to know about and use. Taking an approach of shared-governance, like the CSCI department, is wonderful for those members who are creative and progressive, but it can easily leave the door open (or rather closed) for those who are complacent to continue in the old ways of doing things. Looking into this standard has helped me understand the areas for which I may want to suggest formal methods and processes, and even know when to write them for myself when making changes in the classroom regarding technology and technology use. A lack of leadership can be devastating no matter where is may exist, government, industry, or education. I clearly have an affinity for education since I left industry money for teacher money so long ago :), so for me a lack of leadership in education is more critical. Without appropriate leadership, students are left without the proper foundation needed to easily move on to successful careers (of course there are outliers on either end of success/failure). This is especially so in our digital-era where young children, as early at 6 months old, are handling technology. Because of this early step into technology, educational entities must step up their game and be sure to include functional technology and engaging technology use in the classrooms.
I know that saying educational leaders should have a plan for technology that is immediate is easy to say if one is not in the position of leadership; however, it is the job of leaders to be aware of trends in the local and global communities. It is easy to reply that the resources are not there, but because of the enormous footprint of innovation, most technology (software applications and web entities included) is available for free, especially for educational entities. There are always those desired technologies that can be quite expensive, but that is where a good leader will find another way to provide for their stakeholders. My worst, or rather one of my worst, experiences with poor leadership and technology surrounds to willingness of the few to jump into a new product without proper vetting. In one of my former departments, a faculty member was able to change the textbook for a set of foundation courses without notifying the department lead or other instructors who primarily taught the course. This was for a programming class, so the textbook had a close tie to the resources provided by the publisher. The problem with this was that the resources were proprietary and very expensive (more than $200 for a single install). Students were disgruntled, with many saying they could not afford the cost in addition to the textbook. This was a community college, so many students were there because of its affordability. In addition to the cost for the students, the resources only allowed for five seats, so instructors could not install the material on their work computers. The semester was a fiasco for this course and we were required to not use the publisher resources, use the book for general reading, and find open-source (free) software for the students to use. Learning moment: get the advice of your peers and your department leader before implementing new resources in a course that affects many. Another learning moment: have policy in place that does not allow one member to change course material. Reflecting on what I've learned since beginning this journey through instructional technology, I feel out of place among the K-12 students/educators also completing the degree program. The courses are very directed for this set of educators and I struggle to make it fit what I am doing at the college level, and especially so for what I teach in the computer science.
Even though this is the case, I've learned a lot of multimedia instruction and production methods. These topics have been very useful to me in modifying content and even pedagogy in the Java programming courses for which I am a coordinator. I will discuss more on individual contexts in the coming blog posts. |
AuthorTonya is an instructor in the computing sciences department at Coast Carolina University. Her reason for completing an Ed.S. in Instructional Technology was to understand the intricacies of using technology in the classroom in a manner most beneficial for students. ArchivesCategories |