EDLD 5301 - Week 2 Reflection
Last week I was feeling lost and unsure of the direction for my action research project to follow. Truthfully, I was still unsure about action research! This week the readings and the interviews opened my eyes and I felt more prepared to move forward. Dr. Lewis' video interview stated that the topic must be relatable to the person doing the research. This statement had an impact and directed my thinking when I was working on the areas of 9 passions part of this weeks assignment. As my supervisor and I discussed topics for my research, they were all relatable to me and my current assignment. However, the topic that I chose, OverDrive Media, I have a passion for. That passion will drive my rigor with this action research project.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
What I have learned about action research….
Action research is responsive to the needs of the educational leader “in the trenches”. It is more flexible than other methods of research and the process is gradual. The questions and interpretations at the beginning of action research can later be challenged or refined so the research does not need to be abandoned if the data leads in a different direction. The researcher is an active participant. They cyclic process allows the participant(s) to learn from experiences along with allowing a continual reflection process. What impresses me most is that action research allows the educator to explore concerns in his applicable situation and through reflection and action practical solutions as well as improvements are discovered.
I have a small bit of experience with action research through being on a campus leadership team where our topic of inquiry was improvement of student discipline in common areas of the school. As discussed earlier, action research is a gradual process and we are continuing to reflect and refine a year later. I am excited about using action research to help me in the area of collection development in my libraries. I have chosen eBooks for my topic of inquiry in this class. I plan on taking action research to my group of district librarians which is a small group of six. I plan to facilitate our group forming our own professional learning community (PLC) and use action research to improve practices in our libraries.
How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs
Educational blogs can be used as professional journals where feedback from colleagues could be useful along with insightful. Blogs can reach your inner group; being those educators you know, as well as, far away by a more diverse group. This can serve as a springboard for further discussion as well as for collaboration. Blogging can also be beneficial to update teachers/staff within a professional learning community. The readers of blogs can insert themselves and share by commenting on blog posts. Blogs can also serve as a reflective tool to observe how similar concerns or situations have been solved and these strategies can be revisited. Blogging encompasses 21st century learning and provides a resource for experiences, reflections and even actions to be shared with a larger professional community.
Action research is responsive to the needs of the educational leader “in the trenches”. It is more flexible than other methods of research and the process is gradual. The questions and interpretations at the beginning of action research can later be challenged or refined so the research does not need to be abandoned if the data leads in a different direction. The researcher is an active participant. They cyclic process allows the participant(s) to learn from experiences along with allowing a continual reflection process. What impresses me most is that action research allows the educator to explore concerns in his applicable situation and through reflection and action practical solutions as well as improvements are discovered.
I have a small bit of experience with action research through being on a campus leadership team where our topic of inquiry was improvement of student discipline in common areas of the school. As discussed earlier, action research is a gradual process and we are continuing to reflect and refine a year later. I am excited about using action research to help me in the area of collection development in my libraries. I have chosen eBooks for my topic of inquiry in this class. I plan on taking action research to my group of district librarians which is a small group of six. I plan to facilitate our group forming our own professional learning community (PLC) and use action research to improve practices in our libraries.
How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs
Educational blogs can be used as professional journals where feedback from colleagues could be useful along with insightful. Blogs can reach your inner group; being those educators you know, as well as, far away by a more diverse group. This can serve as a springboard for further discussion as well as for collaboration. Blogging can also be beneficial to update teachers/staff within a professional learning community. The readers of blogs can insert themselves and share by commenting on blog posts. Blogs can also serve as a reflective tool to observe how similar concerns or situations have been solved and these strategies can be revisited. Blogging encompasses 21st century learning and provides a resource for experiences, reflections and even actions to be shared with a larger professional community.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 Teaching and Learning
The Teaching and Learning area of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology has a broad vision that impacts learners of the 21st century. The No Child Left Behind legislation required that all students be technology literate by the 8th grade. Curriculum alignment and opportunities for educators to visit and observe effective classroom technology is essential for educators to be prepared for 21st century learners and classrooms.
Students must must have 24/7 technology tools and resources to be global learners. The learners must also be given real world problems and the opportunity to solve those problems collaboratively. Educators must follow research based plans and goals to increase student achievement.
Analyzing four elementary campuses in my district, I discovered that 50% of the elementary schools were at the Developing Technology standard. In looking at the 07-08 statewide standard summary the majority of campuses show to be in the Developing Technology level of progress. Therefore I believe the trend In the area of Teaching and Learning is at the Developing Technology level, but making strides of quickly moving to the Advanced Technology level.
To reach the Target Technology level it will take work and commitment by not only school districts, but from teachers along with funding by the state. It is my opinion that the state and local district must provide laptops for each student to have on demand access in order for the Target Technology level to be reached. It is also of my opinion that teachers will need more training and /or experience to reach the technology comfort level to have the ability to seamlessly integrate technology into all core areas of education. This goal of reaching the Target Technology level is achievable and in sight with the cooperation of all stakeholders.
Students must must have 24/7 technology tools and resources to be global learners. The learners must also be given real world problems and the opportunity to solve those problems collaboratively. Educators must follow research based plans and goals to increase student achievement.
Analyzing four elementary campuses in my district, I discovered that 50% of the elementary schools were at the Developing Technology standard. In looking at the 07-08 statewide standard summary the majority of campuses show to be in the Developing Technology level of progress. Therefore I believe the trend In the area of Teaching and Learning is at the Developing Technology level, but making strides of quickly moving to the Advanced Technology level.
To reach the Target Technology level it will take work and commitment by not only school districts, but from teachers along with funding by the state. It is my opinion that the state and local district must provide laptops for each student to have on demand access in order for the Target Technology level to be reached. It is also of my opinion that teachers will need more training and /or experience to reach the technology comfort level to have the ability to seamlessly integrate technology into all core areas of education. This goal of reaching the Target Technology level is achievable and in sight with the cooperation of all stakeholders.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Thing 23 - The End
The ending of this course it only the beginning for what I will be able to do this school year!
I am so excited about everything that I have learned and have had the opportunity to play with this summer. From my summer experience I will be able to continue to "play" and share these wonderful experiences with both fellow professionals and students.
1. My favorite discoveries have been photostory and rollyo. I had heard people say how easy photostory was but I was skeptical...not any more! Being a librarian on multiple campuses and working on research units for different grade levels and school I find rollyo to be user friendly and very practical. I am very excited about including these two discoveries into my school year. Personally I have really enjoyed the rss feeds. I don't know that I will use this as much professionally as I will on a personal level.
2. This class has provided me the opportunity to stretch my wings with technology in a very practical and comfortable setting. I found being able to work on my own time frame to be very helpful and non -intimidating which is very comforting in learning new things. As a life long learning goals continue, I can see that I will look back on this program and recognize how instrumental it was on my growth in technology.
3. I was unexpectedly surprised when rollyo was my choice over delicious. I had used delicious before and was familiar with it. Therefore I went into rollyo thinking I would never really use it. However once I started playing and exploring rollyo I quickly discovered this was my choice! I was amazed that I switched my way of thinking and will only be using rollyo this year.
4. Library2play was a very pleasant educational experience. When I did have trouble with uploading my photostory a comment was quickly posted to help me. I never found myself in a panic that I couldn't make something work. I knew that the support I needed was available.
5. I would LOVE to take part in another discovery program like this. I especially enjoyed it being over the summer where I actually had time and didn't feel rushed. This has been a wonderful opportunity.
6. This learning experience has been like the heartbeat of technology.
I am so excited about everything that I have learned and have had the opportunity to play with this summer. From my summer experience I will be able to continue to "play" and share these wonderful experiences with both fellow professionals and students.
1. My favorite discoveries have been photostory and rollyo. I had heard people say how easy photostory was but I was skeptical...not any more! Being a librarian on multiple campuses and working on research units for different grade levels and school I find rollyo to be user friendly and very practical. I am very excited about including these two discoveries into my school year. Personally I have really enjoyed the rss feeds. I don't know that I will use this as much professionally as I will on a personal level.
2. This class has provided me the opportunity to stretch my wings with technology in a very practical and comfortable setting. I found being able to work on my own time frame to be very helpful and non -intimidating which is very comforting in learning new things. As a life long learning goals continue, I can see that I will look back on this program and recognize how instrumental it was on my growth in technology.
3. I was unexpectedly surprised when rollyo was my choice over delicious. I had used delicious before and was familiar with it. Therefore I went into rollyo thinking I would never really use it. However once I started playing and exploring rollyo I quickly discovered this was my choice! I was amazed that I switched my way of thinking and will only be using rollyo this year.
4. Library2play was a very pleasant educational experience. When I did have trouble with uploading my photostory a comment was quickly posted to help me. I never found myself in a panic that I couldn't make something work. I knew that the support I needed was available.
5. I would LOVE to take part in another discovery program like this. I especially enjoyed it being over the summer where I actually had time and didn't feel rushed. This has been a wonderful opportunity.
6. This learning experience has been like the heartbeat of technology.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thing 22 - Nings
Maybe I am on technology overload and everyone just needs to find their own niche. I found Nings to be very similar to wikis and blogs which today seem to be easier for my mind to grasp. I think for students who are open to more technology and ways to communicate with others Nings would be good. I do like the idea of trying to tie them into educational formats, but then again that could be done with Blogs or Wikis. As an elementary librarian I really see Nings being used more in the middle to upper grades. I can see myself exposing Nings to fellow teachers and students and let them run with it if they chose to. I think as librarians it is our job to expose students and teachers to many different formats. Just like books of different genres and we all have our favorites technology is the same way. But just because we don't care for a certain format doesn't mean we shouldn't try it and even share it. Who knows, maybe it is like your taste buds and some technology can be an acquired taste!
Thing 21 Podcasts and Vidcasts
I have heard about photostory and had never used it. NOW I am so excited and my mind is racing with all the things I can do with it. I'm also thinking about how the students will enjoy using this for book report and or various projects. Photostory is very user friendly even for the novice!
I have a friend who lives in California who went and took pictures of all the Michael Jackson tributes after he died. I asked if I could share these photos with everyone and of course the answer was yes. I hope that everyone will enjoy this.
I have tried for 2 hours to post my photostory. I keep getting a message that I've listed below. The only customer support I have found is to post a question which I have done. I think my brain is fried today so I am going to move on and try this tomorrow. I am going to go ahead and post this to keep things in order and will come back and edit...hopefully getting my photostory uploaded! Aarrrrggg
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