I feel it's important to provide a little background before I get into my initial thoughts about this program. I have been a computer teacher in K-8 Catholic grade schools for 12 years now and I've always known that I would need to stay on top of my subject area more than other classroom teachers. The next few years, however, will be the most pivotal years that I've ever been through regarding the transformation of my role as an educator and facilitator of technology in my school. In the very near future there will no longer be a "stand alone" Technology Class (or teacher) as there is now. No longer will classroom teachers drop their students off in the Tech Lab to learn about Excel, Inspiration, or Kid Pix from another teacher. No longer will a separate computer teacher give those students grades based upon their skills in technology. I've already witnessed these changes in the New Berlin Public schools. A quick glance at the school staff rosters of these schools will provide insight into the direction that schools are headed when integrating technology into their school curriculum. There are Coordinators of Instructional Technology and Technology & Library Media Specialists but no "Computer Teachers." Various other schools have followed suit and we will be hot on their tails in order to stay competitive and follow the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Information and Technology Literacy. In my opinion, within 2-4 years I will need to have the necessary knowledge and skills to be an onsite trainer/facilitator to the other teachers as technology is fully integrated into their classroom curriculum.
That's where I'm hoping this MEIT Masters program will help me. I am already dabbling in a lot of Web 2.0 tools and applications trying to help teachers but I'm hoping this class helps me become the resident expert that is needed when our school makes the changeover. Even after this very first session I felt excited to get down and dirty with Google Docs because I have been talking about possibly using them for awhile and just never found the time to learn enough to become more than a beginning user. Looking ahead at the course titles scheduled for this MEIT program gets me excited when I see things like "Enhancing Learning Materials Through Technology", "Facilitating Collaboration using Web 2.0", and "Facilitating Online Learning" to name a few. I'm hoping this program helps advance my knowledge and skills as an educator of technology in this pivotal time of change.
