6.

1 Continuous Learning

Candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging
technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice.

This artifact, the unstructured field experience for GaETC (Georgia Educational Technology
Conference), describes the process of preparing for the conference. This field experience included
opportunities to learn and experience emerging technologies, as well as an opportunity to share my own
experiences as a presenter. The field experience was completed independently, however, the
presentation was developed in collaboration with other KSU iTeach coaches.

While the presentation at the conference was a great learning opportunity, the opportunity for
continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies was during the
attendance of various keynote speakers and breakout sessions. While attending the conference, I had
many opportunities to connect with other educators and technology leaders and learn of new
technologies and strategies for the 21st century classroom. Preparing for my own presentation allowed
me to apply knowledge and skills to improve personal productivity and professional practice as I
worked to create an engaging, personalized presentation that would impact the classrooms of the
teachers that attended. The changes in the classroom being fueled by instructional technology are not
coming to an end in the neat future. Participating and attending educational conferences is a great way
to stay connected and informed about the changes on the horizon.

This was an excellent experience. It was my first opportunity to attend a large conference and to
present at a large conference. As a classroom teacher I never thought of attending this type of
conference, but in my current role as an instructional coach I find myself encouraging teachers to attend
and present whenever they have the opportunity. Presenting at the conference helped me to complete
the learning cycle! Just like I want students to be able to demonstrate their mastery of certain skills and
concepts, presenting at this conference was my opportunity to demonstrate mastery. If I were to
complete this experience again, I would focus more on my connections with individual teachers. I spent
a lot of my time at this conference focusing on vendors, trying to find new tools and resources. I have
since learned that all of the tools and resources in the world don’t mean anything if we don’t know how
to purposefully and intentionally incorporate them. I learn so much more by speaking and observing
teachers than I do on the phone with a help desk.

This artifact impacts student development and teacher professional development. While the
students and teachers did not attend the conference with me, upon returning the information,
strategies and resources I discovered at the conference were soon shared with the building.