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Reflection for Improved Crisis Learning

 Reflection      Reflection is one of the most valuable practices effective teachers can do. When I say reflect, I mean real and honest reflection about both negatives and positives. It is easy to identify negatives, but I think we all too often forget to celebrate the successes. No matter what you are reflecting on, when we can identify both areas of strength and areas for improvement, we can build on what went well and make adjustments to make it even better.  Crisis Schooling      What happened with education during the pandemic is no different. In fact, many school districts from across the country took time to systematically reflect and assess what happened in the spring of 2020 before developing a plan for the subsequent school year. ClassLink, a well known name in the education technology field, partnered with other big names such as the Consortium for School Network (CoSN),  and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) to develop a tool for school district
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Pandemic Learning vs Distance Learning: What's the Difference?

  Pandemic Learning vs Distance Learning: What’s the Difference?      I had no idea what we were in for when I got the phone call on the evening of Friday, March 13, 2020. Not only was it Friday the 13th, it was also a full moon, and we had a fun run at school that day. It had been a crazy day that was about to get even crazier! The first phone call I received said that we would have 3 days to prepare for the schools to close due to the rapidly spreading Covid virus. Shortly after that I received another call that said students could opt to stay home. Moments later, I received a third call that said schools were closed effective immediately. That escalated quickly!      As it became clear that “social distancing” and “sheltering in place” were not going anywhere, our school district quickly went to work to develop a plan to continue to educate our students and provide special education services to our students. Teachers had to move quickly to find ways to communicate with and provide t
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First Things First

This past weekend, my husband decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and wash our camper. This is quite a process and took ALL day. When he stopped to have lunch, I asked him if he was going to put on some sunscreen. He thought about it, but decided he would probably be alright. Boy did he regret that decision! You see, because it wasn't very hot, he didn't realize how much sun he was actually getting. By the end of a full day of sun exposure, he had a terrible sunburn! That evening, he said, "I should have worn sunscreen". When the weather is nice, you don't think about all the dangerous UV rays that you are being exposed to. I shared this story about my poor husband's sunburn as an analogy as to why we must intentionally protect our students when they are using the internet and creating their digital footprints. If we don't, someone could get burned! I think CoSN Standard 3D aligns with this. It states that educational leaders should model an
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The Power of a PLN

Which field experience had the most significant positive impact on my growth as a technology leader? Hands down, it was the use of Twitter to develop a PLN! The CoSN standard that I felt aligned with this was Standard 4D - Promote standards for innovative teaching and learning that develop student proficiency in 21st century skills. By developing a PLN with Twitter, I was able to connect with experts in the field of educational technology. I learned about some fantastic tools and lesson ideas that I was able to implement in my classroom immediately. Here's a little more to my story... I used to think that social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, were just a way to connect with family and friends. Honestly, I can say that scrolling through Facebook had become one of those mindless things I did while waiting at the doctor's office or watching TV. I thought it was fun to see everyone's vacation pictures or to see what kinds of fancy food people were eating on their d
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Is It Really a Good Deal?

Picure it. You are the technology coordinator for your school district. An administrator from one of the schools in your district has raised money for "technology" and would like to purchase student devices that are not on the approved list. The administrator is very excited about the purchase because by choosing this particular device, he feels that he is going to be getting a good deal.  There are some very difficult realities. The devices in question  are not part of the district's technology plan will not stay connected to the current wifi are not compatible with the mobile device manager would require a significant amount of time to set up and manage What do you do? Qualities of a successful technology coordinator include "being an effective communicator, successfully managing personnel, solving problems, seeing the big picture and effective time management" (Frazier and Hearrington, 2017, p. 148). Effective communication will be crucial in this particular
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Now What?

 Now What? One of the most important roles of the technology coordinator is "to serve as the technology leader for the school or district" (Frazier & Hearrington, 2017, 166). Planning and budgeting for technology wants and needs is a big part of that. Before any new technology is purchased, the technology coordinator must carefully consider how it will be used to directly impact student learning. The technology coordinator must have and share a district technology vision create an attainable plan for the vision to come to fruition find resources to support the vision   (Frazier & Hearrington, 2017) We cannot simply purchase new technology and put it in the hands of students and teachers and expect miracles to happen. How many times have we been given a new device or program to use and thought..."What am I supposed to do with this?" The solution to this problem is professional development. I'm not talking about the one-and-done PD we've all had before
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Vision - Do You See What I See?

  Do You See What I See?      It is imperative that the educational technology coordinator has a vision for the types of technology and how that technology will be used in their school system. It is also imperative that their vision is shared with all applicable stakeholders (Frazier and Hearington, 2017). Without an established and shared vision, technology cannot positively impact teaching and learning. Isn’t student learning the ultimate goal in education? “Technology coordinators are key players in fostering, supporting, and sustaining the use of technology for teaching and learning” (Frazier and Hearington, 2017, p. 32). Technology coordinators understand that technology provides both teachers and students with great resources, new opportunities for learning, as well as ways to collaborate and create (Jain, 2021). How Can Technology Improve Instruction?      Delivery of instruction can take place in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting, completely online, or a blend of the
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