EDLD+5370+Comprehensive+Examination+5


 * EDLD 5370 Comprehensive Examination 5. Final Version.**



Examination of Masters in Educational Technology Leadership Acquiring Knowledge by Using Educational Technology J. Andres Gallardo-Virgen Lamar University

**Examination of Masters of Educational Technology Leadership ** My first contact with computers was fascinating. I had the opportunity to use one of the big 16-bit computers PDP-11 sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and those Apple IIe. Since those days, early 80’s, I have never being //disconnected// from them. For this reason, I studied engineering in computer systems and masters in information technologies that allowed me to get experience in diverse areas such as geographic information systems, database management systems and networking. In most of specialized jobs that I had, I barely interacted with people. Reflecting in how I had being utilizing my knowledge and experience, I decided to switch my activity to the most rewarding field: education. **Position Goals **  In the professional life, my goal is to produce some material that could help students to succeed academically. There are some steps that I need to complete in order to pursue my goals. My vision is to promote access to technology to all students of my district, regardless of the economic household income. With my new role of administrator, I think that my voice is louder to advocate for this children to be aware of the technology since early childhood. Being in the position as technology director would allow me to research, promote and propose the cutting edge tools applied to the education and give access to all students in my district. **Leadership Goals **  In my position as educational technology leader, I would like my district to be recognized for the community as a good center of education where students could meet all the educational needs to succeed in middle school. I recognize in every student as a future lawyer, doctor, educator and even one possible president of the United States. To accomplish this dream we need to motivate our student to learn and to create the same opportunities that other schools with more resources provide. Technology is a mean to optimize resources both students and teachers. In my district, that has more than 90% of students economically disadvantaged and knowing that this is a factor that determines the academic performance and the existence of technology gap between our population and the rest of the students that has access to technology (Barry, 2005). I understand the social background or most the students and the need of attend this population that does not have equal opportunities for the lack of support of their parent caused for the language barrier, in addition to their economic position. After finishing my program and holding my credentials as principal I will be able to negotiate better with all stakeholders and probably could have a higher position in the administration in order to allocate the resources that our students need. **Vision of Educational Technology ** The Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition, allows me to have a more documented vision of the educational technology, because it examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment applicable to our schools, since I work a district that has EC-8. Even though, this report suggests the latest technology applied to schools, it could not be applied extensively worldwide, because there are some countries that spend small amounts or their budget in education, or others developing countries that cannot afford the state of the art devices and applications in their classrooms. However, the abundance of recourses throughout the use of internet opens a window of possibilities that we could explore, in order to make more accessible to all students. One important aspect is that digital literacy is less about tools or applications and more about thinking. We are in the same situation when the Television started to be accessible to the world: people believed that another <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Renaissance would take place all around Earth, illiteracy would be extinguished and music, history and science would be available in every household. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Now, that cloud computing and the use of mobiles is a trend to be extensively used within the next 12 months, educators has the dilemma if this personal devices that are almost always connected to internet are going to be allowed on campuses. Indeed, some districts consider them distracters and are prohibited in schools. Leaders should promote them for being able to create ubiquitous environments to access valuable information to promote productivity and learning and discourage the abuse of social networking. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">The vision of educational technology in a term of two to three years is the use of games in the classrooms. In my opinion, gaming approach is one best ways to introduce the use of technology, especially to early childhood students but is not limited to introduce content for PK-8 students whose ages range from 4 to 13 years old. The open content is another concept that must be evaluated for schools to share resources and curricula. Even though, many organizations open their contents to be used for others, this trend should be more remarkable in the next two years in order to create the profound shift in the way students study and learn and make the knowledge more accessible to schools with small budgets. The content should be translated to other languages. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Within a period of four to five years learning analytics and personal learning environments could be used in the classroom; however we know that technology changes every day. With the use of learning analytics, teachers could adequate the lessons, activities, homework and assessment to practically all the students according to their individual needs. It could be beneficial to enhance differentiated instruction in the classrooms. Theoretically, this approach will address the specific student needs but the role of the teacher must be revised to be more a facilitator of these resources to guide the students how to navigate in this ocean of information. The personal learning environment will allow teachers to engage students more actively in order to meet the class expectations, and students will explore ways that best suit their individual learning needs. However, it suggests better teaching supervision or a good design on the learning environment in order to prevent students to divagate or get lost. As technology leaders and educators, it constitutes a good opportunity to contribute in creating better educational resources. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">I have learned that I have capabilities for being administrator. After several reflections during the program, I described myself using the words tenacious, persistent, cooperative, smart, honest, likes to learn; I can add some trait such more related to the leadership role. Visionary and guide are some adjectives that can help to describe me that were absent when I started my program. I also learned about the National Educational Technology Standards for Students, Teachers and Administrators and I have the opportunity to apply the standards in my school, as stated by Williamson and Redish (2009). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Some of my skills that I noticed are my capability to work properly in the evaluation of students, personnel, and program performance. I have been conducting a series of research on the personnel background in order to meet our commitment to have highly qualified teachers. Schools must make sure that they have the credentials they are supposed to earn to occupy each position, and the experience. For those who don’t meet the criteria are encouraged to make and pass the necessary tests. Teachers who did not perform well, based on the Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS) were positioned as Teachers In Need of Assistance (TINA) and they must attend some training and they must show some improvement throughout the next school year. Administration has been going it this is for the sake of the quality in the education that students receive in our classrooms. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">I develop my leadership skills, while I monitored third grade teachers. I evaluated teachers’ performance and made some notes during observations and walkthroughs. I conducted evaluations in the students’ performance that were utilized by teachers, administrators and the students themselves leading to support some decisions that we made. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Some attitude that I think that I have reinforces is related to my self-esteem. Starting my professional carrier as teacher and growing through the administration staff in short term, put me in a position where I need to supervise people with more years in the school and inevitably, we have a different relationship that was not easy to admit the first day in my administrative position. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">The courses that have helped more during this program, not necessarily in order of importance includes EDLD 5306 Fundamentals of Educational Technology because I learned the how the technology can enhance the technology based in the latest research and also learned the Long Range Technology Plan that rules many of our everyday activities in schools. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">When I started this course, I was very excited about what I would learn and how challenging this program would be. I thought that it was going to be a long way to walk. As computer system engineer I realized that I knew the new trends of technology and I had experience in the technology field. However, I knew my lack of knowledge and practice in the leadership area. When I had the opportunity to analyze the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, I understood the importance of the integration of technology in the education (Texas Education Agency, 2006). After this assignment, my idea was that technology was only a resource to help in delivering the instruction, but not that they should be fully integrated. I think it allowed me to grow professional and serve better the school in different areas such as budgeting and integration of technology. All the information that I gained allowed me to focus my attention in the education by transferring my knowledge from the technical area to the educational field. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">In EDLD 5366 Digital Graphics, Animation and Desktop Publishing <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">I gained another perspective in how important are some elements of design are in the teaching field, the communication with the community that people should start creating their self-brand since their early years and all they do in social networks could impact positively or negatively in their lives (Utech, 2010). The new information that I get in this course helped me to expand my knowledge and go deeper in my understanding. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">I think that my personal experiences were a good asset in my understanding and affected positively in how I developed my assignments, but definitely I leaned not just to say that something is looking good at a glance, because we need to open our eyes to see the Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and the Proximity (Yearwood, 2010). As a learner, my strategies for doing my assignments are first read what we need to complete the assignment and see what information is in the readings. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">EDLD 5363 Multimedia Video Technology was important because I use the video editing to produce a tangible product that included video and audio. It opened a window of possibilities to use these materials for training and in the classroom. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">In general, I learned too much about the whole process of production and the different applications that could be used to make products for our students and our teachers. I know that as learned, I am novice. However, I had the vision in what software could be used in order to come up with a good product. Basically, I think that we can use this experience to incorporate the multimedia presentation to activate the sensory memory and working memory to impact the long term memory and make the knowledge more permanent as stated by Doolittle (2002). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology allowed to use and practice a variety of applications that teachers can use to improve the teaching. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">This course was very interesting because we revised some approaches in how learning takes place in the classroom, from the one in the traditional way and the newest proposals that are more student-centered. I had the opportunity to work in a collaborative team to create a unit plan to solve a classroom scenario. This activity allowed me to share my experience with other four colleagues and I also learned from all the contributions that they made. Our team completed the assignment applying the technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of the students and we included authentic assessment, sample technology-based activities, and suggested teacher staff development. I learned that the teamwork enriched the assignment because each team member have different point of views depending on their grade level, students’ background, and students’ needs that each one has experience with. One of my reflections was that each student is unique and for this reason, they have a special way to learn. They individual way to learn is like a fingerprint of the DNA and is shaped the diversity of learning introduced by Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">During the course EDLD 5326 School-Community Relations <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">I learned the importance of networking with parents and social organizations to find people that belong to the students’ minorities to participate in the school events. As administrator, I can use some information from this course to develop an appropriate parent compact to bring together a team to talk about your school’s needs and the shared responsibilities of the school community and is a requirement for our school. This course was important because I know that engaging parents and community members has grown just as critical to a school’s success as lesson planning, classroom instruction and testing, as stated by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (2000). In general, I noticed that learning at home is one of the needs that some students have and are not supported properly. This is not for parents’ negligence. We need to understand that some parents don’t speak English and they cannot provide a good support to the children at home. Many students spend too much time with other relatives because both parents work. We can make a community to help students after school hours with the participation of teachers and volunteer parents. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Finally, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">allowed me the opportunity to know more about the role of the administrators and how important is their duties in making sure that the school complies with state and federal requirements. Administrators are the mainly accountable figure for the students’ academic performance and to achieve the district and campus goals. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">During this course I conducted the evaluation of my campus and researched about the school testing system. I found that our school has some weaknesses and I recognized the strengths that we have built throughout the years. I found than the school has been rated as academically unacceptable (AU) twice during the eleven years of existence; in my role as leader, it allowed me to reflect in the importance of closing the academic gap that was created during non-scored grades, specially first and second grade and the need of increase the academic rigor in early childhood. As learner of this important matter, I found that the administrator need to have enough information to make the better decisions to create a clear school vision with specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/results-oriented/research-based, and time-bound goals (Learning Point Associates, Inc., 2004). It understood the importance of align all the stakeholders this vision in order to achieve that goals. I learned how NCLB outlines the process that the state of Texas follows to develop the system that measure the progress of students. This process includes: setting challenging academic standards, developing annual state-level assessments that address the states’ learning standards, setting an initial starting point, specifying successive targets for AYP, and providing increased support to schools that consistently do not meet AYP (Haycock & Wiener, 2003). **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Reflection of Educational Technology Leadership Program ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> This program has been offered to the school staff members as part of the professional growth. However, few colleagues have taken this advantage. Foremost, this constitutes a personal and ultimately and most important is that I will be able to provide the school and students a better service. The online format offered by Lamar University is convenient for educators that have extended work schedule and the content of the courses are updated continuously. Instructional associates and professors guided us throughout this journey giving their advice. I also learned from other students about how other districts and schools work and I know that all educators share the same challenges. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Three-Year Professional Development Plan ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> This last course constitutes the accomplishment of one step that I set eighteen months ago. With this new knowledge I would like to expand my technical and administrative skill in my schools. Beyond any document, I have a personal commitment with the board members and the school superintendent because they provided the funding that I required. For reason, my professional development plan is to continue working in my district taking some leadership role in any of the four campuses that we have. In the immediate term, I want to complete the Instructional Leadership Development training from Region 10 ESC and pursue the certification as school principal.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">References: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Barry, J. (2005). The Effect of Socio-economic Status on Academic Achievement. Wichita State University. Retrieved from http://soar.wichita.edu/dspace /bitstream/handle/10057/616/Barry_Jennifer.pdf?sequence=1 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Doolittle, P. (2002). Multimedia Learning: Empirical Results and Practical Applications. Retrieved from http://scr.csc.noctrl.edu/courses/edn509/resources/readings/ <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">multimediaLearningEmpericalResults.pdf

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Haycock, K., & Weiner, R. (2003, April). Adequate yearly progress under NCLB. Paper prepared for the National Center on Education and the Economy Policy Forum. Washington, DC: The Education Trust. Retrieved fromhttp:www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/F7F160C3-DE70-4F63-BF0C-2DC47911DA66/0/AYPUnderNCLB.pdf ====

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Learning Point Associates, Inc., (2004). Improving Adequate Yearly Progress for English Language Learners. Retrieved from http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/aypell.pdf.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Lessonbuilder.cast.org (nd). Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/window.php?src=videos

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (2000). Family and Community Involvement. Reaching Out to Diverse Population. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/family29/family_involvement.pdf

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Texas Education Agency, (2006). Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. Retrieved from http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tea.state.tx.us%2Findex2.aspx%3Fid%3D5082%26menu_id%3D2147483665&ei=c-HJTo3pB6eIsgLWso0e&usg=AFQjCNGpihYY9CJX3nGyKd57cTAPYA3zAA&sig2=3jWJ4sebS1P6gkWdOoZCvQ

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Utech, J. (2010). Creating your personal brand. Retrieved from http://www.thethinkingstick.com/creating-your-personal-brand

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Williamson, J & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE’s technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

<span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;">Yearwood, J. (2010). Design Principles. Lamar University.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">1531 Duncanville Rd, 75211 <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Dallas, Texas. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">jgallardovir@my.lamar.edu

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Academic Background **

<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2010 - 2011 **Master of Education in Educational Technology Leadership** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Lamar University

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2009 **Bilingual Teacher Certification** EC-4 <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Region 4

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2007 **Master’s** **Degree in Information Technologies**

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> University of Colima, Mex.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1991 **Bachelor’s** **Degree in Computer Systems Engineering**

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Colima Institute of Technology, Mex.

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">IT Certification **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1994 **Certified Novell NetWare Administrator** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Novell, Inc.

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Employment History **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2009 – Current **Golden Rule Schools, Inc.** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bilingual Teacher

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2000 – 2008 **University of Colima** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Institute of Fine Arts <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Professor of Information Technologies and Head of the computer center

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2006 – 2008 **Kennesaw State University** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Center for Hispanic Studies <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> International Fellow and Web designer

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1992-1997 **Institute of Statistics, Geography and Computing** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Chief of the Network Department <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> In charge of hardware support, systems of cartographic edition, and as administrator of the network and the database.

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Leadership Experience **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1992-1997 Chief of the Network Department in the Institute of Statistics, <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Geography and Computing

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Technical Skills **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Networking, UNIX, Linux, SQL, PHP, C++, Java, Geographic Information Systems (ArcInfo), XML.