Web Conference Reflection

The web conference that I attended was Sunday February 12^th. For the most part, during the conference, we waited for people to arrive and then as people arrived, we introduced ourselves and told everyone what district we taught at and what subject we teach. Throughout the web conference, I learned through discussion with the people there, what the difference between web 1.0 and web 2.0 was. Web 1.0 is more like a pdf. Just read what I’ve posted. There is no interaction. With web 2.0, you bring in the interactive element and the collaboration element. I also learned from Dr. Abernathy that web 3.0 is in the works of being developed. Another thing I learned from the web conference was that I had to be ILD trained. I had never heard of ILD training before, nor did I know that it cost money. Therefore, I put this on my to-do list to complete during my graduate study. Aside from what I learned, the rest of the time was spent helping other classmates out with questions that they had. I was able to help someone with their TK20 portfolio in regards to the transition between EPIC and TK20. Overall, the web conference was shorter than I expected and less formal. I thought it would have been more organized than it was. Nonetheless, I learned something from it and I was able to help others, which I’m sure is the primary goal of the web conference.

Technology Action Plan

Executive Director of Technology – Main person in charge of all technology for the school district. The Director of Technology ensures that the director of operations, librarian, and the instructional directors have everything they need. She also sets the vision and mission of the department.

Director of Technology Operations – This person is in charge of making sure that the schools have everything the need to have internet and wireless internet capabilities. Everything from fiber optics to WAN to telephones.

Lead Librarian – This role is primarily in charge of the library and media services. Video conferencing, podcasting, blogging, sites, and devices are just some of the things this person is in charge of.

Coordinator of Elementary/Secondary Instructional Technology – This role is responsible for supporting the district application managers with information and training so that the district application managers can supply the facilitator and specialist with information to pass on to the campuses.

Split Campus Facilitator – The person is split between two campuses. They provide technology training to the staff and they are responsible for administering the STaR Chart survey to the teachers. They also are there to come into your classroom to help the teacher use technology in their classroom.

The Campus Specialist – This person answers to the campus’ administration and could possibly film faculty meetings or set up mobile labs in a classroom. This person also makes sure the printer toner and copier tone is full and does other computer maintenance.

Principal – Ultimately the principal is responsible for the outcomes of the campus. It’s important that with the millions of other responsibilities that the principal has that he/she remembers to ensure that the technology learning and implantation is happening within the school. Principals are usually data driven and if the data today is showing that technology is increasing student learning, then the principal should look for evidence that her school is using technology to increase student learning. The principal can rest assured that this is happening in the school if he/she observes this in walkthroughs and allows plenty of time for the staff to be trained and to practice what they’ve been trained.

Chris Jackson’s Technology Integration Professional Development Action Plan

Goal: The goal is to equip teachers with the appropriate technology training to integrate technology to our 21^st century learners so that student learning increases.

Purpose: To increase the overall awareness to the staff of how technology is impacting our students’ learning and to meet that challenge head on by embracing the change and learning how we can use technology to reach our students.

The action plan below outlines several professional development activities that meet the needs of my campus. It will outline who is responsible, timeline, resources, and how we plan on evaluating the activity.

Professional Development Activity	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline	Resources	Evaluation
Go over STaR Chart data as a campus to see where our needs are.	Sharon Eckert – Campus Technology Supervisor Bara Warner – Principal	March 2012 – Briefly done at a March Faculty Meeting	STaR Chart Data	Verbal feedback from teachers to see if they agree with the results from the STaR Chart.
Software Training – Interactive Workspace, Google Docs, Video Editing Software, and Google Sites	Sharon Eckert – Campus Technology Supervisor Andrew Wietner – Campus Technology Specialist Chris Jackson – Technology Teacher	Aug 2012 – Before school starts	Internet, computers, specific software required	Seen more frequently used through principal and assistant principal walkthroughs, conversations at Professional Learning Community meetings, student feedback – which is important because we want to know if this software is affecting their learning, such as student use of the teacher Google sites.
Device Training – iPads, iTouches, Mobi’s, CPS clickers	Sharon Eckert – Campus Technology Supervisor Andrew Wietner – Campus Technology Specialist	Aug 2012 – Before school starts	Internet, computers, and devices	Devices seen more frequently used through principal and assistant principal walkthroughs, conversations at Professional Learning Community meetings, teacher feedback as to if they are actually impacting student learning. Observe student grades that you have used the technology to teach the content.
Review of the updated Technology TEKS that came out this year	Chris Jackson – Technology Teacher Bara Warner – Principal	Aug 2012 – Before school starts Come by team leader meetings	Updated Technology TEKS handouts, PowerPoint, Computer	Check for understanding that the teachers understand the TEKS and how to implement them in their class. Be available to answer questions they have and to offer any help I can give.
Provide technology trainings once a month	Sharon Eckert – Campus Technology Supervisor Andrew Wietner – Campus Technology Specialist Chris Jackson – Technology Teacher	Aug 2012 – Before school starts	Internet, computers, software, and devices	Teacher feedback to determine if what they taught was what they wanted. Also provide surveys as to what teachers want to learn about.
Allow time for teachers to practice what they have learned from technology trainings.	Bara Warner – Principal	ASAP – At least once a week during teachers teaming time for core teachers. Allow at least once a month for elective teachers during PLC time.	Time	Technology seen more frequently used through principal and assistant principal walkthroughs and that it’s increasing student learning.

The action plan clearly describes how the professional development activities will be evaluated. Data we will use to evaluate are STaR chart results, AEIS data, student grades, teacher feedback regarding once a month technology trainings, student feedback regarding the technology used in the classroom, and observations seen by technology staff and administration. In addition, the Campus Action Plan will also be used to assess how we are progressing to meet the technology and academic goals of the plan.