August+2010

No activity
 * Week 1: 8/1/2010 - 8/7/2010**

It has been tradition for me as the campus technology coordinator to assist all brand new educators with technology training right before the start of every new school year. I have been fortunate to be allotted an entire afternoon devoted to teacher training. In my opinion, it's still not enough time however I should not complain since other campuses do not allow for this type of training and it is a nightmare from what I have heard. I started with the most basic topic first, network log on and email. I was surprised to see that many of teachers being recent college graduates did not have much computer training. By the way, the training took place in the tech dome technology lab which is also my classroom. Teachers were able to log on to our windows network and update their default password. I stressed the importance of having a strong password and avoid keeping the default password for security reasons. Next, we covered our Microsoft Outlook web exchange including the basics of how to access email, send, receive, compose, edit, signatures, and contacts. As a technology aficionado, I also assisted teachers with the email setup on their smartphones. I have noticed that teachers seem to access and read their emails in a timely manner when the email has been set up on their mobile devices. In addition to email, I also assisted my new colleagues with the procedures and format for filling out technology work orders. I explained how they are required to fill out a technology request in order to comply with district technology compliance. I pride myself as a technology coordinator to try to complete all work orders in a timely manner and explained all the types of requests that I can accomplish within a 24 hour period and which will take days if not weeks to complete. The next portion of the training was on how to use projector and document camera for effective teaching. Our campus has been fortunate to have a 100% media setup in every classroom. Many of our teachers take full advantage of these technologies and use it heavily. As a result, I provided procedures training and troubleshooting procedures for these expensive types of equipment. Last but not least I covered very briefly our Skyward student information system. I say briefly because it was only on how to log on the system and some quick browsing. I didn't cover too much because we offer trainings on Skyward SIS in detail throughout the year. This training was one of the most basic trainings I have covered however it is a very critical training especially for the new teachers because they are faced with many overwhelming challenges as beginners. My role is to reduce technology problems and let new teachers have one less thing to worry about throughout the year. Since the group of teachers are new to education most of the training was lead by me with very few questions by the participants. I tried to cover and answer most of the FAQ I have been asked in the past. In the future I think it is beneficial to have this training for all new educators to the district rather than it being campus specific. I believe that this activity was related to and helped me master the following standards/indicators: TF-I.A.1. / TF-I.A.2. / TF-I.B.1. / TF-VII.B.3. The most important indicators and standards met here in this activity were (TF-I.A.1. / TF-I.A.2.) because the training helped teachers develop new knowledge, skills, and understanding of technology systems and tools, resources and services that help them become more productive in their role as educators. I assisted them in located resources and services to meet specific technology and learning needs.
 * Week 2: 8/8/2010 - 8/14/2010 : New Teacher Technology Training**

Sources: Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

August staff developments usually mean one thing; summer is over and its time for yet another school year. As educational reform asks for more meaningful lessons its only natural for educators to turn to rich media websites like TeacherTube, SchoolTube and YouTube. The problems with TeacherTube and SchoolTube is the lack of content available compared to media giant YouTube. Well, our technology has listened to teachers request and has granted certain access to YouTube videos using Lightspeed Educational Library that will house educational approved videos. As the campus technology coordinator I have been granted special access to YouTube and the ability to build up the Educational Video Library. In this staff development session, I trained all campus teachers in our library the protocols for requesting videos to be added to our educational library. Although teachers were a bit disappointment because they did not have their own YouTube access, it was the next best step and most teachers were content with having the ability to request videos for their classroom. Teachers were already making requests while I was explaining the process. I knew at that moment that this service was going to be heavily used. In addition to training teachers on how to request for videos, I also trained the educators on how to use other media websites of which they had full access including dotSub, Khan Academy, TeacherTube and SchoolTube. Teachers were also educated on how quickly evaluate videos effectiveness, quality and relatedness based on the user reviews, number of views and comments left by subscribers. Since all teachers are given a teacher workday to construct their classroom, I had to get hard at work to make sure that all media setup were up and running as well. On this day I had to visit every single classroom and verify that the projector, PC, email, document camera, Smartboard, scanners and tablets were in working condition for the first day of school. I also take the opportunity to train teachers one-on-one on how to use these devices for classroom use. I believe that this activity was related and helped me master the following standards/indicators: TF-II.C.1. / TF-II.F.1. / TF-III.A.5. / TF-II.D.1. / TF-VII.B.3. / TF-VIII.C.1. The most important indicators and standards met in this activity were (TF-II.C.1. / TF-III.A.5.) because I was able to provide media options and resources available that could significantly impact and enhance learning activities in the classroom. Also, I was able to effectively push the need for using media that engages learners to move away from traditional textbook data.
 * Week 3: 8/15/2010 - 8/21/2010: Rich Media Websites & New School Year Media Setups**

Sources: Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

I pride myself on our campus website and I truly believe that we have the latest and greatest webpage of all of the schools in my district. At the start of every school year there is so much essential data and documents needed to be made public for parents and students alike. One of the most crucial and most frequently downloaded document is our student handbook/code of conduct. As technology becomes more ubiquitous and readily available, I had to make sure that our documents and forms were available to be opened across multiple computer platforms including mobile devices. I have learned that the best document format to use for all devices and computers is a portable document format or PDF. Coaches have also asked me to update our website to include various athletic forms and waivers. Administrators and campus leaders have requested dates to be added to our calendar for staff and parent awareness. Without a doubt the most requested piece of information that most parents request is the old mighty school supply list. I learned that it is imperative to include school supply lists in big bold font and with quick access. Last, at the start of every school year there is sure to be staff and administrative changes. For example, our campus has seen its share of administrative changes and teacher turnover. My job is to remove and update our campus webpage with the latest data. Although much of the information sent by teachers, coaches and administrators sometimes is rather late, our web page seems to attract many visitors. I wish there was a protocol that teachers and administrators can follow to submit data to me. Currently all information is simply emailed to via attachment and it takes a lot of work for me to either convert and review the data before being placed on the campus webpage. I always try to differentiate our webpage for the other campuses and I have already been told that we have the most innovative page. I believe that this activity was related and helped me master the following standard/indicators: TF-V.D.4. Simply put, I am in constantly in charge of designing, developing and maintaining the campus web page/site to help communicate valuable data between our school organization and the community.
 * Week 4: 8/22/2010 - 8/28/2010: First Week of School CTC Duties**

Sources: Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

In addition to being a teacher and campus technology coordinator, I am also in the CTE department leader. As CTE teachers we are extremely privileged to have computer labs. We have to be very cautious with what our students stumble upon or try to access on school computers. The best tool and line of defense for us lab teachers is classroom management software. I have evaluated a line of products including Netop Vision 6, SmartSync, and Netsupport however the best product for our use is LanSchool. We have renewed this product now for a few years and we are extremely satisfied with the product and the support the company provides. During this week, I had a refresher training with my CTE teachers. Although we have already had the product I had noticed that the teachers were not using the product to the full potential. Most teachers were simply using it to monitor student use and block programs and websites. Although the product is quite inexpensive ($199 per year for campus license), there is so much to the product that has gone unexplored. One of my favorite ways to use Lanschool is for formative assessment and other types of testing. I trained teachers on how to create their own exams on Lanschool with the inclusion of pictures and various forms of media. They learned to how to interpret results by class or individual user. In addition to monitoring student use, teachers were taught how to use find student history in an effort to hold students accountable for their individual learning. In a technology lab, you are going to have many technical difficulties and some may require minimal attention therefore of the best tools LanSchool offers is the ability to assist students via remote. Last, we have seen a rise in viruses and other malware on school computers brought in thru student USB flash drives while administrators have complained about the heavy amount of unnecessary printing. I trained to on how to limit printer use and block USB flash drive use when needed. Teachers were fascinated to learn that what they had been using was great but not as impressive with what they could do with this vital tool. I believe that these tools truly give teacher the management needed to be effective and very productive. If every single classroom had their own small lab, I think teachers lessons and activities would be more meaningful and exciting for the students and overall student achievement would rise. Although the training was on a small scale, I believe this training helped me master TF-III.D.1. for teaching technology skills to teachers in the small group and lab setting. I believe this activity helped me master this standard/indicator because I had the opportunity to teach knowledgeable educators about emerging lab tools in a measurable way. Perhaps I don't know much about traditional classroom management but I do know a thing or two about computer based classroom management and I have passed on my knowledge so that other excellent educators can teach important technology concepts and skills to their students.
 * Week 5: 8/29/2010 - 8/31/2010: LanSchool Training Refresher**

Sources:

LanSchool | LanSchool v7.6. (n.d.). //LanSchool | Classroom Management, Monitoring, and Corporate Training Software//. Retrieved August 31, 2010, from http://www.lanschool.com/lanschool

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.