Week 9

Reflection of Chapter 5 and 6

Chapter 5 focused on having a vision for your technology plan, and Chapter 6 focused on how to implement a technology plan.   I think it is important to have a vision of what technology will look like in the future for your school.  Years ago at my school, we had a technology team.  The computer teacher at that time helped to develop this team to help solve IT problems at the school and develop a plan for the future.  I remember visiting with her several times about her frustration with the administration to devote time and resources towards technology and create a plan for the future.  After a while, the tech team dissolved due to a lack of leadership and frustration.  Around that same time, teachers were asked what do you want to see technology-wise for our future.  Now, looking back I think that was wise to include the teachers' thoughts-but it did bring more issues as teachers then were excited about improving our technology.  Smartboards were purchased from this, but training was not provided.  This caused technology to be used as a whiteboard only in some classrooms.  In the book, it talked about supporting teachers and including professional development for technology and how it can be used properly in the classroom.  These are things that are necessary to create change.  Dr. Smith mentioned that prior to the year 2015, each school had to have its technology plan posted with the state to receive e-rate.  It's unfortunate that that was no longer required.  The information in Chapters 5 and 6 cause me to want to create a Vision for our school and create a technology plan to move forward.  

Week 8

Reflection on one of the Frameworks/Models of Education Transformation

This week we focused on Chapters 3 and 4 in the book, "The Edtech Advocate's Guide to Leading Change in Schools" by Mark Gura. The focus of these chapters is on the digital transformation of schools through frameworks and tools. Several frameworks were briefly discussed such as Microsoft's Education Transformation Framework, Intel's Education Transformation Technology Adoption Blueprint, SAMR Model, and the TPACK Framework.

The Model that resonates with me is the SAMR Model because it moves up from the bottom layer increasing the technology transformation as it goes. Dr. Ruben Puentedura created this model and categorizes four types of technology integration in the classroom; substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition.

The first or lowest area of technology integration is Substitution. With substitution, you are just replacing a tool with another one. An example of this would have students write on paper and then have them write in Microsoft Word. You are just substituting the task with a different tool.

The next area above substitution is Augmentation. This is taking the substitution part and adding extra services like having students use the Microsoft Word document and importing it into a Google Doc and then using Spell Check or the thesaurus with their document. The first 2 areas involve the process of transforming education. The next 2 areas branch into enhancements.

The third area of technology integration is Modification. Modification allows technology to be used more effectively with redesigning tasks. An example would use the Google Document and incorporate the comment feature for students to collaborate on the assignment.

The final step of technology integration is Redefinition. Redefinition uses the highest order of thinking skills to create new tasks or a new experience for the student. An example of this would take the google document and have students create a presentation with their document.

I like that the SAMR model is easy to identify where my technology integration falls into. For me-the hardest part is coming up with the ideas for the redefinition phase. I can easily work the first 3 areas into technology integration, but the fourth area-I need ideas. I just can't envision what or how to make the technology integration move to a higher-order thinking level. I need to continue to investigate further ideas that support the fourth area of the SAMR model.