This course on instructional leadership and technology provided the student with knowledge that was more useful than expected. While initially thinking the course was only about instructional leadership, the student learned the importance of integrating technology into the curriculum and preparing students for success in a digital world. The student felt overwhelmed by the workload at times but completed all assignments and learned about web tools like SlideShare that can be applied in their role. Going forward, the student plans to educate their staff on the importance of technology and promote greater integration of technology into lessons and communication with stakeholders through blogging.

1. EDLD 5352 Week 5 ReflectionJennifer Hodnett When beginning this course, I really wasn’t sure what it would be about or what we would actually be learning. In fact, I thought it was just a Instructional Leadership course. There wasn’t anything in the title that let me to believe otherwise. The class was certainly a challenge, but I gained a wealth of knowledge and useful information that will benefit me as an instructional leader. I really didn’t have any expectations about this class because I was not aware that it was technology oriented. I do feel that I am more prepared to include technology in my vision and I definitely have realized the importance of technology in the classroom. I really thought that I was in tune with technology and I quickly found out how much of a digital immigrant I really was prior to this class. As far as this course aligning with what I had envisioned, I can say that this course was not what I expected, but definitely important. This course was very relevant to what needs to be done in our school. We do not integrate technology enough in our building. We need to have our students be at the center of the action rather than just being a spectator (watching the teacher use the technology). The opportunities that I received in this class are certainly applicable to my teaching. I now feel like I can incorporate teaching, learning and technology. I understand now how important the information on the STaR chart really is to a campus. My staff will need to understand the importance of technology integration in regards to our student population. We have a lot of students that are from low socio-economic areas and do not have access to the internet at home. It is vital that our staff understand the importance of the use of computers at school. The readings were very helpful to me in learning more about the new types of technology that is available and possible ways to incorporate it into the classroom. On the whole, I feel that I achieve everything that this class offered. It was a class that did require a lot of time and I did feel overwhelmed at times, but I survived. My goal was to not have to put very many hours in on the weekends, but that was not achievable due to different schedules of the people that were in my groups. It was a little frustrating but definitely understandable for this time of year. I thought that the discussion board assignments were beneficial in being able to collaborate with other educators. I did find that funding is always going to be an issue when needing some of the tools for impacting a student’s education. I did not get to create a wiki or participate in a podcast or web conference. Time and a lack of a webcam prevented that opportunity. I was successful in producing what I perceived as the expectations of the professors. At times I felt confused on what exactly was wanted or the layout of the information. The work load for this course was very demanding for a full time teacher and coach. Although the discussion boards were a benefit, the third week 24 postings were a bit much. I’m not sure that we got much out of it at that point. The assignments were extensive and required a lot of time and preparation, but they did provide a way to learn the Web 2.0 strategies first hand. I have never used Slideshare and it was a very useful tool, but it did need more clarification when it came to uploading a regular document versus a power point. I did enjoy making the power point and it was much easier than I thought it would be. I was overwhelmed with some of the assignments, but I completed them thoroughly and felt that I did them well. I learned a great deal in this class. I was unaware of many of the terms that are used in technology. I learned how important technology progress is for schools and that we have plans on all levels to help carry this out. Technology has to be integrated into the curriculum. Students need these skills in order to be able to go into the “real world” and be successful. I plan on using the power point presentation on the STaR chart to inform my teachers and staff where we are and where we want to go. We do need to work on integrating more technology in our curriculum. I found that at my campus we are truly behind in this area. Even as a Health teacher, I plan to do more than I have in the past, including adding a section on Internet Safety in our Consumer Health Unit. Our school started this school year by offering all teachers a website. On the website there is a place for blogging. I wasn’t quite sure, prior to this class, as to how I could incorporate that aspect and I was a bit concerned that it might turn into a “gripe” session for parents. I was unaware of how to start a blog or that you can do it for free. I never knew how you upload a document onto a blog. I will definitely take away with me the use of slideshare. Blogging is an area that really could be useful in communicating with students and other stakeholders. I know that we have a few teachers on campus that are already using blogs. I will be interested to see how it changes and gets more involved over the next couple of years. Blogs are a very powerful teaching tool for the 21st century students. I feel that it is a responsibility for all teachers to expose students to proper ethics on the use of computers. I also believe that it is a duty for us as educators to discuss Internet safety. Bullying comes to mind when I think about concerns with blogging. An additional issue is that of how reliable the information might be on the blog. These are not things that you can control as a facilitator or teacher on a blog. Parents and stakeholders will be participating and communicating through the school district’s blogs. This could really have a big impact on the improvement of communication with parents and stakeholders. We will have to have policies in place to protect our students and staff. Blogging can be very beneficial in communicating with key stakeholders. The stakeholders can be informed about particular events that are taking place on campus and throughout the district. Positive interaction can be created thru the use of blogs. Schools can announce recent headlines for UIL results which help promote the school in a positive light. Many times, educational leaders get so overwhelmed with the day-to-day duties and a blog could be a very quick way to communicate with a lot of people in order to keep everyone informed. Although MHS is new to blogging, it will be a common practice in the future for all schools, parents and stakeholders. Many of the things that I learned through this class will be very useful as an administrator and help provide a bond between students, parents, peers and stakeholders.