Course information most applicable to my professional situation

As a central office administrator, I am feeling extremely pressured into figuring out how to move our district towards 1 to 1 technology. Accordingly, in order for that to be successful, we have to make sure our teachers are technology savy - have the initiative to dive in and try new things. With the vast array of resources available, this course has introduced me to many, many tools/resources and provided me some much needed knowledge on which could be the most useful for us. Yesterday I was adding an app to my Symbaloo page, and one of the principals dropped by, saw the screen, and asked about it. I explained what Symbaloo does, and that principal was anxious to get back to the office to set up a Symbaloo page. That's how this course is going to be applicable to my situation. If I expect teachers and administrators to be effective users of technology, then I must be a role model for them. This course has introduced me to more than enough quality resources, and having to use them - not just read about them - has given me the knowledge (and very, very basic skills) necessary to collaborate with our teachers and principals on using them.  While some of the information targeting the classroom specifically might not be as valuable to me, I have tried to think outside the box and about how they might be used in my position.

Where do I fall on the technology integration matrix?

Could we add a slot called 'good intentions'?  Several times I have started using a technology in order to be a role model for our district's administrators, but then, often because the old way 'seems' faster, abandoned the google docs, or the LiveBinders, or the ..... and reverted back to emails and paper handouts and ...  I say 'seems' faster because it is faster at first -- learning to use a new technology isn't easy. I can remember how difficult and slow it was to type (on the old typewriters -- remember those?) until I practiced it, used it, and got to 100 wpm... I need to move past the 'good intentions' and take the extra time now to learn, and practice, and conquer those new technologies...

Removing traditional classroom barriers via eLearning

In too many schools, especially in this time of declining education funding, it is often not possible to offer a large number of courses.  Online learning is a means to expand the range of courses and better meet the educational needs of all students. The built-in capability for individual pacing of the course can remove the barriers of students getting behind in courses that move too quickly, or getting bored in classes that move too slowly.  It also removes the barrier of not having licensed teachers for a given course; and opens up the possibility of giving students access to outstanding teachers in a given content. It removes the number of classes one can take in a 6 period school day barrier.  Finally, it removes the limited/restricted time and day a course can be taken -- gotta love the anytime, anywhere learning.  So much barrier-breaking potential in eLearning.

My First Blog

Well color me happy and mark this off my bucket list - I have now officially 'blogged.'