EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Ashley Webb

Week 5 Assignment: Due by the end of Week 5.

Overview
Throughout this course, we have examined the role and responsibilities of an educational
technology leader in the 21st century information landscape. In Week 1, we looked at
educational technology in terms of the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, the Technology
Applications TEKS, and the Technology Applications Inventory. Our focus in Week 2 was on
using data to make informed decisions and gathering data on educational technology through
the Texas STaR Charts. Week 3’s focus was on the needs of the “digital natives” we serve,
online learning communities, and expectations for educators. In Weeks 4 and 5, we discussed
online safety and the social, legal, and ethical issues confronting today’s digital-age educators,
students, and parents.

For your Week 5 assignment, you will consider the outcomes of this course and the extent to
which the outcomes will influence your role as an educational technology leader in your school.

Follow these steps to complete your Week 5 assignment:

• Reflect on what you have learned in this course.

• Assume a school leadership role as an educational technology campus facilitator or as
the district educational technology director. From that vantage point, compose a 150-
word response to each of the guiding questions provided, the equitant to a 750-page
paper.
• Write reflectively instead of in question-and-answer style and post in your blog.
• Submit your blog address to your coach after you check the validity of the address.
• Submit your reflections by the end of Week 5.

Submit your assignment by 11:59 PM on the seventh day of Week 5.

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EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Ashley Webb

Rubric
Use the following Rubric to guide your work on the Week 5 Assignment.

Does Not Meet

Tasks Accomplished Proficient Needs
Expectations

Course Reflection Student composes Student composes Student Student does not
reflection on each reflections on six or composes five or submit the
question of eight seven of the less of the assignment. (0
provided; reflections questions provided; reflection points)
demonstrate extensive reflections questions,
knowledge of course demonstrate and/or
content. This adequate knowledge reflections
document is posted to of course content. exhibit a lack of
the student blog and This document is understanding of
represents an 800- posted to the student course content.
1,000-word paper. blog and represents a This document is
(Maximum 8 points) 600 to 800-word posted to the
paper. student blog and
(7 points) represents a 600
or less-word
paper.
(6 point)

Assignment Responses are Responses are Responses do Student does not

Mechanics relevant to course relevant to course not reflect submit the
content; no errors in content; three or knowledge of assignment. (0
grammar, spelling, or fewer errors in course content, points)
punctuation. grammar, spelling, or lack clarity and
(Maximum 7 points) punctuation. (6 depth, and/or
points) include four or
more errors in
grammar,
spelling, and
punctuation,
including APA
errors. (5 point)

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EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Ashley Webb

Week 5 Assignment: Course Reflections

For your Week 5 assignment, you will consider the outcomes of this course and the extent to
which the outcomes will influence your role as an educational technology leader in your school.

Follow these steps to complete your Week 5 assignment:

• Reflect on what you have learned in this course.

• Assume a school leadership role as an educational technology campus facilitator or as
the district educational technology director. From that vantage point, compose a 150-
word response to each of the guiding questions provided, the equivalent to a 750-page
paper.
• Write reflectively instead of in question-and-answer style and post in your blog.
• Submit your blog address to your coach after you check the validity of the address.
• Submit your reflections by the end of Week 5.

Post your course reflections to your blog site. Please respond to the following
reflection questions:
• What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes?
Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

• To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you
do in your school? Why or why not?

• What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

• Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or
discouraged you?

• What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership
skills, and your attitudes?

• What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?

• What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?

• How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

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EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Ashley Webb

When I began this course, I had no idea that I would learn so much about technology.
During the first week, we were asked to complete the Technology Applications Inventory and
the SETDA Teacher Survey and it was then that I recognized that I had a lot to learn about
technology and how it is used in education. These assessments emphasized my strengths and
weakneses in regards to technology in the field of education. I learned a great deal of important
information that will be useful when I am an administrator and currently as a teacher. I feel that I
have obtained great resources that will be useful in my future as an administrator.
I feel that the learning outcomes that I envisioned for this course a great for my current
position and for all of my future positions. For the most part, the majority of the learning
outcomes that I envisioned were met. I do believe that people are learning new things about
technology daily so to say that everything was met would be wrong. This being said, I feel that
I’m a little overwhelmed with all of the technologies that I learned about. I believe that with
more practice and time, I will become more comfortable and confident using the information
that I gained. I do think that using a blog, posting on it, and using other sites to put information
on the blogs was very interesting. I really enjoyed this part of the course. I am definitely going to
try these in my class this year.
I feel that everything I learned in this course is revelant in the work that I perform daily.
All the knowledge that I have acquired within this course will help me understand what my
school needs to do to become more advanced on the STaR Chart in this everchanging technology
world. I now have so much more knowledge about the Long-Range Technology Plan and the
STaR Chart. Even though I teach reading, it is still my responsibility to make sure that the
students at my school are able to master grade level Technology Application TEKS. The
information that I learned from this class will help me in monitoring these students.
Some of the assignments for this course were very trying. I spent more than fifteen hours
a week working on the required assignments. This was by far the hardest course I have
completed so far in the program. This obviously is not always a bad thing because this was the
course that I learned the most from. I did, however, have a really hard time with the assignment
from week three. My administrator was not able to meet with me for over a week. This being
said, I struggled to get the assignment finished. This opened my eyes to re-evaluate who I have
as a mentor/administrator. This was really hard for me because I look up to my principal but it’s
hard not to stress out when you have to depend on them to finish an assignment. Other than that
obstacle, I feel that I was able to complete these assignments with much success.
This course was very enlightening to me. I am extremely satisfied with all the
information about technology that I learned. Before I began this course, I felt that my technology
skills were pretty up to date and in sinc with the newest innovations but I learned very quickly
that this was not true. One thing that is in my favor is that I am open to learning new things and
when dealing with technology this is a plus. I think that when starting a new course you have to
have an open mind because there is so much information that is going to be given and it’s hard to
absorb it all. I think that the information that I learned is going to be a great benfit for my future
position as an administrator. Administrators must oversee the faculty to ensure that technology is
being implemented.

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EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Ashley Webb

One of the activities from this course was to complete a blog. Blogging is a great way for
all stakeholders to be involved in student’s education. I think that this will become more widely
used in classrooms across the world. This is a great way for students, parents, teachers, and
administrators to keep in touch. Administrators and teachers can use blogs to communicate
important information about school. Then parents could respond using the same blog. This
would save a lot of time meeting face to face. Teachers can also use blogs in their classrooms to
give assignments and communicate with the students about any questions and/or concerns
regarding the assignment. Students will also be able to communicate with each other resulting in
collaborative learning. I think that using blogs in a well structured classroom would be a great
advantage in preparing students to be 21st century learners.
In conclusion, I feel that this course has been a foundation to technology practices that I
will use as both a teacher and an administrator. After completing this course, I believe that I am
much more prepared to gather and consider data to measure my campus’s progress as we attempt
to meet the criteria of Texas’ Long-Range Technology Plan. I feel that this couse has been a
success and I am looking forward to using the information that I learned in the future.

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