Week+4+Assignment+Part+4.5.+Reading+Reflection+on+ISTE+Chapter+7

This ISTE standard covers procedures, policies, planning, and budgeting. This is exactly where my school site is right now. We are in stages 3 and 4 of "Common Duties Related to Provide Access to Technology" (Williamson & Redish, 2009. p.149). The school purchased laptops for all the teachers at the end of last year. But the laptops were not given to the teachers until the beginning of this school year. So right now the issues are implementation and maintenance/monitoring. I have become the default tech person, as quite literally, there is no one else. The staff at my new school is very senior and most of them are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with technology.

This brings to light for me all the issues that this chapter brings up. Specifically, the importance of having enough resources to properly train and maintain the technology. The book has it exactly right, that lots of effort and thought goes into the analysis and procurement of technology. But there is often not enough resources to properly train the teachers. Then over time as the equipment begins to develop problems, there are not enough resources to properly maintain them. This leads to frustration and often a lack of use by the teachers and students.

This lack of attention to the back end is particularly troubling in these days of dwindling resources. The idea of perfectly serviceable technology gathering dust because no one is doing normal maintenance on it makes me mad. I have seen this exact case at every school I have ever been apart of. As the (unofficial) technology facilitator, I am doing what I can to prevent this cycle from repeating itself with these new laptops. Somebody needs to be overseeing the technology at the school site (Price, 2005).


 * Self-Assessment**

I don't if I learned anything new from this chapter as much as it crystallized and gave words to what I already knew. The chapter did give me guidelines and a road map to follow the process.I feel like I am in the middle of a cycle of technology and as the default tech person, it is my job to make sure everything goes okay. My personal experience, though, is overwhelmed as I am not a dedicated tech person. I have my own classroom and students to teach along with all the other responsibilities that go with it.


 * Learn as a Learner**

I an striving to avoid the pitfalls the book points out. I now have more of a guideline as to what to expect next in this technology adoption cycle. The chapter has lots of practical ways to be proactive. I will be doing well if I take those to heart. My interactions with the other teachers have been overwhelmingly positive. They know I am busy with my other responsibilities and are very gracious. I want to continue to have a great working relationship with them.


 * Lifelong Learning Skills**

Knowing what to expect with the addition of the new technology is invaluable. I will need to revisit the information to avoid making common mistakes. I will continue to work with and learn from my colleagues how to facilitate technology use at my school. I want to keep learning about how to apply web 2.0 technology to student learning ( Solomon & Shrum, 2007) in a way that is user-friendly to all the senior teachers I work with.


 * References**

Price, B. (2005). Who's in control of the technologically-integrated school? //Principal Leadership.6//(10) 51-56 Solomon. G. & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: //New tools, new schools//. Eugene, OR: Collingwood, Vic:SitePoint Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). I//STE's technological facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene,OR: International Society for Technology in Education.