EDLD 5364 Wk. 1-Assignment

What I Learned this Week-EDLD 5364 This week’s videos and readings focused on three different learning theories related to teaching with technology.  While reading and watching videos about the theories, I was able to reflect on how I used technology in the classroom.  Sharing these theories would be a great way to convince the reluctant teachers to use technology in the classroom. The Constructivism Theory is the one I can relate to the most because it is based on a learner-centered classroom.  I tried to relate each lesson to the students’ personal experiences by providing opportunities to learn from a variety of sources. The Connectivism Theory focuses on the “changing nature of knowledge.” (Siemens, G.)  It talks about how “we rely more and more on a network model of learning.  The connections the learners make themselves, with others and with database is the primary point of learning.”  (Siemens, G.).  This theory says the connections are internal and external.  The learners can control the external connections because they make their own choices.  Because knowledge is rapidly evolving, the learner needs to stay current with learning in order to keep up. The Cyborg Theory was pretty weird to me.  I guess I’m not quite ready to accept that a chip can be implanted in my brain and I function somewhat like a robot.  This theory wants us to move away from being just regular humans into being more robotic.  This theory is waiting on the day that we “link ourselves to technology.” (Warwirk, K.).  They believe cyborg evolution will lead to a completely different type of education.  They hope that one day, for example, we won’t have to go on vacation.  We can have the image of that in our mind and have the experiences as if we were there. All three theories were interesting to read about and have one very important thing in common in my opinion, and that is the integration of technology as a tool to enhance learning. Resources: Citation: Abbott, J. (nd). Building Knowledge: Constructivism in Learning. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F00R3pOXzuk Citation: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html Citation: Siemens, G. (nd). The Changing Nature of Knowledge  [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg Citation: Warwirk, K. (nd). Cyborg Life [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_l7SY_ngI

EDLD 5301 Week 5 Final Reflections

I learned valuable information in this course that will help me in my quest in becoming an administrator.  I began in week one learning the difference between action research and traditional educational research.  Now that I know what action research is, I like it because it allows the administrator to identify a problem on his/her own campus, ask questions about the problem, analyze data relating to the problem, and implementing an action research plan to address the problem.  The steps in conducting the action research helps the administrator reflect on his/her own practices. Blogging is something I was never interested in doing, mainly because I thought it was just about people telling their business like twitter and facebook.  After taking this course, I found that blogging is a great help tool.  Blogging, along with the blackboard helped me with every assignment.  I was able to get ideas, comment on others’ posts and receive input from my classmates about each assignment.  Seeing others plans or comments helped me reflect on my ideas and action plan.  I was able to go back and change, add or delete items to create a plan that I feel will benefit the stakeholders on my campus.  I see how much collaboration worked in this course and feel I will get the same results with collaborating with the stakeholders on my campus. Learning how to conduct an action research got easier each week with the videos from scholar practitioners, readings from two main books in the course,  Leading with Passion and Knowledge: the Principal as an Action Researcher by Nancy Dana Fichman and Examining What we do to Improve our Schools: 8 Steps to Improve our Schools by S. Harris, S. Edmondson, and J. Combs.  The videos of the scholars helped me with my inquiry. Dr. Briseno emphasized the importance of obtaining data even before you begin the other steps in your action plan. When a teacher came to him about a problem, he immediately wanted to know about the data.  This helps me know that I must back up my research with data.  Dr.  Lewis emphasized data as well and he helped me understand that I must understand all aspects of the problem before I can come up with a plan to address the problem.  Both of them taught me that it is important to include staff in the action plan.  The books helped me with all of the steps of the action research plan.  Each week’s lessons had a reading that would help me with a particular step in the plan.  Breaking the action research down in parts is really helpful.  I found the book by Harris the most helpful in planning out my action research because it had diagrams and templates along with explanations. The course, EDLD 5301 seemed overwhelming in the beginning, but I found the assignments, readings, videos, blackboard posts and blogs made each week easier than the previous week.  The course is set up perfectly to build on understanding.  The knowledge I gained from this course is invaluable.

Action Research Revisions

I copied and pasted my newly revised action research plan.  I met with my site supervisor who helped me with the type of data I should be collecting which was very helpful.  She went over the interventions for the different tier groups with me.  She also informed me that we will switch to Success Maker 6 from Success Maker 5 this school year and that I will attend a training on it next week.  I also, spoke to her about some of my classmates' concerns and comments on the blog and in blackboard.  I realized that they may not have had those particular concerns if I had informed them that I am an instructional specialist so the tasks on my action research are really part of my job description making it easier for me to carry out the plan. Finally, I went to a meeting today about the legalities of the RTI process which will help me greatly with my action research.