So here we are..the final post. It really doesn't seem like 2 years has passed by, which I guess is a good sign because that means that it was perhaps enjoyable. Looking back on the blog posts over these last 2 years was pretty amazing but before I rattle off some of the great things that I have been exposed to in this program I will rewind to the "Laurence of Technology Past". The main reason I stumbled across this program was because my school district (the Archdiocese) was making all of their Computer/Technology teachers that didn't have the Computer Science 405 license go back and get it. My degree in computer programming and the 14 years teaching computer skills weren't good enough - teachers HAD to have this license or they were forcing schools to take action to potentially replace these employees. After many hours of calling and internet research I was finding out that no institutions were offering programs for students to even achieve this license anymore. This fact, coupled with the whole idea of paying for classes to obtain a license that I considered as "backtracking" in my career motivated me to look elsewhere. And then I talked to someone at Stritch and the light bulb went on when they recommended looking into the Master's programs instead of backtracking. Long story, short - I enrolled in this online cohort and it counted as satisfying the licensing requirement of the Arch. So the journey began.
"Laurence of Technology Past" had several goals at this time in his career. Up until now, I hadn't thought very much about the future...Yes, I teach technology skills etc., but I hadn't given any thought to where things were going with the future of my position or my role in my school. I was teaching a stand-alone class (called Technology) where classroom teachers would drop of their kids to my classroom, leave, and then come back. Over the last several years I had tried to collaborate as much as possible but it was often times clumsy and mistimed. I still felt that technology was removed from the whole educational experience of the students but didn't know what to do about it. Then I started noticing some of the changes in other schools and how they started treating technology. New Berlin Public Schools got rid of the Tech teacher all together and put the technology education burden on the shoulders of their Library Media Specialist. In other schools, the technology class was becoming a thing of the past. Technology was not being taught during one class period but being integrated into every subject area throughout the course of the day. This was the future of my position. I started seeing job postings for such titles as "Technology Integrator", "Technology Coach", and "Integration Specialists". So it was clear that times were a changin'. My goals quickly became:
- To transform my role and responsibilities at my current school from classroom teacher to Technology Integrator - part of this transformation would need to include a shift from the stand-alone technology class to a more unstructured, free lance style when it comes to my teaching responsibilities
- To achieve at least 90% integration where I would be teaching 90% of the technology-related skills while incorporating it into a core content area project/assignment. There are still a few topics that need to stay in the Technology-only curriculum like common language/vocabulary and Digital Citizenship so that is why I left the 10% flex range.
- To take on more of an administrative role when it came to technology and it's use in the school. Additionally, I wanted to be involved in the decision-making process concerning future initiatives concerning technology.
With the help of this program, I have achieved or nearly achieved all of these goals. I think the biggest thing for me was that this program forced me to explore things that had been on my to-do list for years. Lots of times I would run across great ideas and see fascinating technology tools and think to myself "I should really try that out" and then I would just make excuses for myself and keep doing what I was comfortable with. When these things are part of a class that I'm paying lots of money for however...that's a different story. I also think of all of the new tools and concepts that I was introduced to. I've never heard of a Pecha Kucha. I never thought about placing pictures strategically on slides to create a powerful presentation experience for the viewer. I barely knew what the CIPA was and what it covered. There are many more examples. So like I said, this has been a great opportunity for me to experiment with those things that I had always intended on checking out (Edmodo, Moodle, Google Sites) and being exposed to things that I never knew about (Google Alerts). Last, but certainly not least, has been the collaborative nature of this class. Even though I may not have all of the faces to go with my classmates' names, I felt a growing camaraderie with them as we explored many different topics in many different ways. I learned so many wonderful ideas from my fellow cohorts that I'd really like to stay in touch with my colleagues in some way, shape, or form.
