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.
Candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice.
The unstructured field experience I completed for my ITEC 7410, Instructional Technology Leadership serves as my artifact for this standard. For this field experience, I attended four days of the ISTE 2014 Convention in Atlanta, June 28 – July 1, taking the opportunity to gain knowledge about what is new in instructional technology and the innovative ways teachers are using technology to create authentic, project-based instruction.
This artifact demonstrates my desire to continually grow professionally. I gained knowledge and skills in current and emerging technology and have applied what I learned in my current job. For instance, as a media specialist, I am responsible for maintaining and circulating a mobile lab. There are many issues with these carts, one of which is power management. The computer power cords are secured in the back of each slot which makes it impossible to see if a computer is plugged in and charging unless you pull the computer out of the slot to visually inspect it. This means computers are frequently left in the cart unplugged, with dead batteries. I saw many wonderful carts at ISTE with superior wire management and security to the ones my school owns. Not having the budget to purchase one of these amazing carts, I instead adapted the carts we own to better manage the cables. My solution was to zip tie a power cord to the front of each slot. This allows teachers to visually check the power cables with ease before returning the cart to the media center. This innovation has led to greater satisfaction with mobile cart performance at my school this year. Because of ISTE 2014, I created a simple solution to a big problem.
Another innovation I saw at ISTE and have spearheaded at my school is to purchase licenses for Geometer’s Sketchpad for my math teachers and computer lab. This mathematics software allows students to visualize and manipulate complex math problems three-dimensionally to facilitate learning. Through this experience, I became an agent of change in the way my mathematics department utilizes technology to enhance student learning and achievement.
Over the course of this conference, I attended many programs and poster sessions and visited many exhibits. From this experience, I learned of resources I need to become an agent of change in my school. ISTE 2014 was an opportunity to grow, reflect, synthesize, and apply what I learned to become a better instructional technology coach. If I had it to do over again, I would be more careful in selecting my programs. Many of the programs I thought I was attending turned out to be poster sessions instead of the more in-depth kind of program I had thought they would be. Some of the poster sessions were quite interesting, just not what I had anticipated they would be.
Completion of this artifact has impacted faculty development by leading to the acquisition and implementation of tools to enhance instruction and by adding to my own knowledge and skills. It has also impacted student learning as students have access to digital tools that allow them to grasp concepts more easily and utilize better performing hardware. As instruction and learning improve, school improvement will be impacted as well. The impact will be measured in observation of classroom and computer lab practices and by improved achievement scores.
This artifact demonstrates my desire to continually grow professionally. I gained knowledge and skills in current and emerging technology and have applied what I learned in my current job. For instance, as a media specialist, I am responsible for maintaining and circulating a mobile lab. There are many issues with these carts, one of which is power management. The computer power cords are secured in the back of each slot which makes it impossible to see if a computer is plugged in and charging unless you pull the computer out of the slot to visually inspect it. This means computers are frequently left in the cart unplugged, with dead batteries. I saw many wonderful carts at ISTE with superior wire management and security to the ones my school owns. Not having the budget to purchase one of these amazing carts, I instead adapted the carts we own to better manage the cables. My solution was to zip tie a power cord to the front of each slot. This allows teachers to visually check the power cables with ease before returning the cart to the media center. This innovation has led to greater satisfaction with mobile cart performance at my school this year. Because of ISTE 2014, I created a simple solution to a big problem.
Another innovation I saw at ISTE and have spearheaded at my school is to purchase licenses for Geometer’s Sketchpad for my math teachers and computer lab. This mathematics software allows students to visualize and manipulate complex math problems three-dimensionally to facilitate learning. Through this experience, I became an agent of change in the way my mathematics department utilizes technology to enhance student learning and achievement.
Over the course of this conference, I attended many programs and poster sessions and visited many exhibits. From this experience, I learned of resources I need to become an agent of change in my school. ISTE 2014 was an opportunity to grow, reflect, synthesize, and apply what I learned to become a better instructional technology coach. If I had it to do over again, I would be more careful in selecting my programs. Many of the programs I thought I was attending turned out to be poster sessions instead of the more in-depth kind of program I had thought they would be. Some of the poster sessions were quite interesting, just not what I had anticipated they would be.
Completion of this artifact has impacted faculty development by leading to the acquisition and implementation of tools to enhance instruction and by adding to my own knowledge and skills. It has also impacted student learning as students have access to digital tools that allow them to grasp concepts more easily and utilize better performing hardware. As instruction and learning improve, school improvement will be impacted as well. The impact will be measured in observation of classroom and computer lab practices and by improved achievement scores.