EDUC 638

Reflective Blog

Multimedia as a term name implies, multimedia is the integration of multiple forms of media. This includes text, graphics, audio, video, etc. For example, a presentation involving audio and video clips would be considered a "multimedia presentation." Educational software that involves animations, sound, and text is called "multimedia software." CDs and DVDs are often considered to be "multimedia formats" since they can store a lot of data and most forms of multimedia require a lot of disk space. When using multimedia technology it is very importance to make sure that all software is working correctly. When planning for multimedia applications require consideration of specialized hardware and software components (Picciano, 2011).

 However this is no longer the case and except for higher-end video and audio production, most microcomputers (including laptops) now provide basic video and audio capture components.
These components are value to teachers in using different multimedia presentation for teaching. Computers and educational multimedia and software in the classroom may be more convenient, but it is quite an expensive proposition. In addition, having educational multimedia and software in individual classrooms can be troublesome and high maintenance. Computers in the actual classroom itself may very well be a more convenient and ideal setup for both the teacher and students. However, it is only slightly less of a hassle to use your educational multimedia and software in a computer lab. Another advantage to having your educational multimedia and software located in one place is that you can hire one instructor who is well-educated on educational multimedia and software as the instructor for every group as the students take turns using the educational multimedia and software.

However Hall reminds us that one of the greatest dangers technologists face in the area of communications is the lure of the technology. Because we generally are not afraid of it, we like to explore the new and innovative. As technology leaders, we are tasks with managing one or more complex and costly areas of school operations. Schools and districts are grappling with diminishing resources while trying to respond to increased demands for public accountability. This increased public scrutiny causes educational executives to be more sensitive to all expenditures. When resources are not used for technology it makes it hard for superintendents and other executives to articulate the value of technology to their boards and other constituents (Hall, 2008).

Reference

Hall, D. (2008). The technology director's guide to leadership. Eugene, OR: ISTE

            Picciano, A. G. (2011). Educational leadership and planning for technology. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

 EDUC 638 Christopher Interview

Upon the completion of the interview process, the school that was chosen for this assignment was a school in my school district by the name of Williams Sullivan High School. This school is located in a rural town name Durant, MS which is located in the Holmes County School District. This school is located on 14494 Hwy 51 South, Durant, MS  39063.  Williams Sullivan enrolls students from 9-12 grades.

Although school is of course is out for the summer break and through extensive research, I was able to locate a teacher by the name of Ms. Erica Clayton. Ms. Clayton is an educator that teaches computer technology at Williams Sullivan High School. The interview process was very informative because Ms. Clayton was friendly and made the atmosphere of the interview very pleasant. When conducting an interview, the atmosphere must be pleasant thus creating the right questions to be asked and the right questions to be answered.  The questions that was asked was in the area of funding for computers, the effects of social networking, effective training on the integration of new technology and the current application of the computer technology class.

In the area of funding, due to the financial effects of the economy, education is not receiving the full funding that is really needed to advance or to promote the advancement of education. Holmes County is one of the low income counties that are located in the state of Mississippi. “Holmes County School district is trying their best to advance with the advancement of technology to better prepare their students for the real world” this was a direct quote from Ms. Clayton.  Ms. Clayton stated that “due to the advancement of technology that is constant on the rise, it has become difficult to try to keep the computers, software and applications up to date.” The funding for computers are limited but the school try it best to make sure the software are current to date such as Microsoft Word 2010. The use of Microsoft word prepares students for college such as assisting the student to become familiar with Microsoft word, PowerPoint and excel spreadsheet.

Another area that was up for discussion during the interview process was the effect of social networking. According to our book the technology director’s guide to leadership the power of great questions state that implement monitoring and management tools to determine whether your network bandwidth is sufficient for organizational needs. Teachers will not spend valuable class time waiting for long Internet downloads or slow network response time. You must know what your peak time loads are and what types of traffic is actually moving across those lines (Hall, 2008). Ms. Clayton says that for one solid week in her computer technology class, the students are educating on the pro and cons of social networking sites.  Ms. Clayton stated, “My students are prepared for the pro and cons of social networking sites. The pro of social networking such as Twitter and Facebook is maintaining a clean image with NO profanity. The reason for this is to educate my students on how colleges and possible employers may browse their social network page to sum up there profile. The cons of social networking sites, is profanity, nudity, and a bad self-poor image. If their profile is not clean or does not contain morals, this will interfere with their chances for colleges and possible employment opportunities. I educate my children to be mindful of how they carry themselves which will reflect how they are received in this world.”

Another area that was up for discussion during the interview process was the vitality of effective training for the integration of new technology in the classroom. Ms. Clayton discusses the importance of effective training on new technology that the teacher must receive before presenting it to her students. Ms. Clayton stated, “Effective training in any subject produces effective results in any given classroom.” She further stated that the integration of new technology is both vital for the teacher and for the students. If the teacher is not familiar or does not receive the proper training of new technology how can a teacher effusively teach the students the new technology that is present in the classroom? New roles for teachers and administrators have become evident as more and more school districts employ full-time technology coordinators. In districts with many schools geographically dispersed, it is common to have build-level-coordinators in additions to district-level coordinators (Picciano, 2011).  As Ms. Clayton stated, effective training is so vital in the learning process of the new technology in the classroom that will become beneficial to both the teacher and the students. Overall, the interview process was a great process. Thanks to Ms. Clayton and the Holmes County School District.

Reference

Hall.  D. (2008). The technology director’s guide to leadership: the power of great questions. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

Picciano, A. G. (2011). Educational leadership and planning for technology (5th ed.).  Hunter College, 

NY: Allyn & Bacon.

 EDUC 638 Christopher Interview

Upon the completion of the interview process, the school that was chosen for this assignment was a school in my school district by the name of Williams Sullivan High School. This school is located in a rural town name Durant, MS which is located in the Holmes County School District. This school is located on 14494 Hwy 51 South, Durant, MS  39063.  Williams Sullivan enrolls students from 9-12 grades.

Although school is of course is out for the summer break and through extensive research, I was able to locate a teacher by the name of Ms. Erica Clayton. Ms. Clayton is an educator that teaches computer technology at Williams Sullivan High School. The interview process was very informative because Ms. Clayton was friendly and made the atmosphere of the interview very pleasant. When conducting an interview, the atmosphere must be pleasant thus creating the right questions to be asked and the right questions to be answered.  The questions that was asked was in the area of funding for computers, the effects of social networking, effective training on the integration of new technology and the current application of the computer technology class.

In the area of funding, due to the financial effects of the economy, education is not receiving the full funding that is really needed to advance or to promote the advancement of education. Holmes County is one of the low income counties that are located in the state of Mississippi. “Holmes County School district is trying their best to advance with the advancement of technology to better prepare their students for the real world” this was a direct quote from Ms. Clayton.  Ms. Clayton stated that “due to the advancement of technology that is constant on the rise, it has become difficult to try to keep the computers, software and applications up to date.” The funding for computers are limited but the school try it best to make sure the software are current to date such as Microsoft Word 2010. The use of Microsoft word prepares students for college such as assisting the student to become familiar with Microsoft word, PowerPoint and excel spreadsheet.

Another area that was up for discussion during the interview process was the effect of social networking. Ms. Clayton says that for one solid week in her computer technology class, the students are educating on the pro and cons of social networking sites.  Ms. Clayton stated, “My students are prepared for the pro and cons of social networking sites. The pro of social networking such as Twitter and Facebook is maintaining a clean image with NO profanity. The reason for this is to educate my students on how colleges and possible employers may browse their social network page to sum up there profile. The cons of social networking sites, is profanity, nudity, and a bad self-poor image. If their profile is not clean or does not contain morals, this will interfere with their chances for colleges and possible employment opportunities. I educate my children to be mindful of how they carry themselves which will reflect how they are received in this world.”

Another area that was up for discussion during the interview process was the vitality of effective training for the integration of new technology in the classroom. Ms. Clayton discusses the importance of effective training on new technology that the teacher must receive before presenting it to her students. Ms. Clayton stated, “Effective training in any subject produces effective results in any given classroom.” She further stated that the integration of new technology is both vital for the teacher and for the students. If the teacher is not familiar or does not receive the proper training of new technology how can a teacher effusively teach the students the new technology that is present in the classroom? As Ms. Clayton stated, effective training is so vital in the learning process of the new technology in the classroom that will become beneficial to both the teacher and the students. Overall, the interview process was a great process. Thanks to Ms. Clayton and the Holmes County School District.

EDUC 638 May 23, 2013 Reflective Blog

This week assignment go to the very core of your soul and heart pulling deep seated question about using technology to really provide effective leadership. According to The Director’s guide to Leadership, by Don Hall, Max begin question his leadership role in his position that he eagerly accepted. However we all at some point struggled with some weakness in being a great leader. At some point we display some great quality than also we display some weakness in trying to be an effective leader. We must understand that leadership comes in all forms throughout the world. We have educators in the school system, in the University, Pastors, and parents that take on being the best leader in our society. However I learned in the second chapter that Max had taken on all-important first step in his personal journey into improving his leadership abilities. We must realize that in our every day journey we take part in these vital steps every day.

No doubt in my mind we have all ask the question what kind of leader am I. Being an effective leader it comes with a high price. We must sacrificed things in our life, in order to climb to the next step to produces quality skills. In the Technology Director’s Guide to Leadership, by Don Hall, he states that “Success is not usually achieved through accident or trails and error. True, you can learn lessons through those methods, but they are slow and costly. It’s better to have a plan”. (Hall, 2008).

Nevertheless hall focuses upon the Leadership Continuum Model (LCM) which portrayed a particular aspect of the archetypes. Now these three leadership types are Sage, Sensei, and Oracle. The stage represents the authoritarian type of leadership, the sensei represents the dual role of mentor and the facilitator, and the oracle leadership type lives primarily in the global and abstract ideas. We learn in Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology, by Picciano, he focus on the importance of planning fundamentals. He highly recommends that the educational administration must plan. As we learn before we must have goals and plan which is a key factor in this chapter. (Picciano, 2011) When using technology for promoting and planning educational needs it can set the motion of an excellent leader skill.

Reference

Hall, D. (2008). The Technology Director’s Guide to Leadership. Eugene: ISTE.

Picciano, A. (2011). Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology (5^th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

Best Practices

         

       Some wonder what the best practices for distance education learner is it more effective than the traditional classroom setting. Perhaps years ago people would say that the best practices would be the classroom setting. Best practice pedagogy is becoming more of an important issue as initial implementation technological problems and challenges are solved and online education becomes a more prevalent method of instruction. Whether it is professional development, training, or content courses, high school, undergraduate or graduate, electronic courses have saturated the education and training markets.  However there are question we must ask to understand the importance of technology for best practice in online education. I do understand that distance education being taught in a manner that allows for students to learn and understand material, or is it presented in a largely text-based format? Does the present format of lesson presentation increase student achievement or are there better methods? Does the presentation of material affect student achievement or dropout rates? Can students understand complex materials via a text-only format? Do best practice online methods increase student satisfaction? Are there methods for addressing and reducing the incidence of online cheating and plagiarism? There is growing concern among online instructors that the methods used to instruct students may not be working at addressing the questions above. So, what does the ITDE manager look for when deciding to improve or initiate online instruction? The answer focuses on four areas of concern: higher level thinking, assessment, dropout or abandonment rates, and plagiarism or cheating and a best practice measure that, if implemented, will make a huge positive difference (Smith, 2006).

          
           Plagiarism or outright cheating has arisen as a grave concern for online educators due to unlimited student access to material. One method of reducing the likelihood of students copying someone else's work is the use of visual representations, which produces a unique product that cannot be copied from others, facilitating original work and thoughts. The reported dropout rates from distance education courses are very high. A recent study by Wang, Foucar-Szocki, and Griffin (2003) has indicated that the current dropout rate from distance education courses is 26%. The analysis of reasons why students choose to drop out of distance courses indicates lack of motivation, poor instructional design, and lack of interactivity. Given these factors, instructional design again becomes a key issue for online courses. High-quality assessments go hand in hand with deeper thinking. Assessment in an online environment is becoming a crucial issue to understand and employ because of the free access to the Internet. This phenomenon has drastically increased the incidence of plagiarism among students in the online environment (Mason, 2002). For this reason, the use of quality and deep assessments must be adopted. The attributes of quality assessments, according to Mason, are: they are authentic and holistic; they are the vehicles for improvement; and they are reliable, valid, and cater to a variety of learning styles and needs. Visual representations meet each of these criteria as assessment tools. I believe like Wang that the dropout rate is still high and this is still case in society.

Reference

 Carr, S. (2000). As distance education comes of age, the challenge is keeping the students. The        Chronicle of Higher Education, 46(23), 39-41.

Mason, R. (2002). Rethinking assessment for the online environment. In C. Vrasidas & G. V. Glass (Eds.), Distance education and distributed learning (pp. 57-74). Greenwich, CT: Information Ages.

Smith, L. M. (2006). Best practices in distance education. Distance Learning, 3(3), 59-66. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230695897?accountid=12085.

Wang, G., Foucar-Szocki, D., & Griffin, O. (2003). Departure, abandonment, and dropout of e-learning: Dilemma and solutions: Saratoga Springs, NY: Maisie Center e-Learning Consortium.