Unit 10 - Technology and the Superintendent

• Give a brief review of the information you found on these sites.
    I found this information to very helpful as I further my Administration duties.  It was very nice to have current issues that that schools can relate with and that are not found amongst a ton of other perhaps useless information.   I felt both website took the web 2.0 technology and branched out even further to how they are being used by student and schools.  The you tube videos were awesome and helped put just how powerful and widespread technology is in the world.

• What information will be most useful to you as a school leader?
I think the most useful parts will be being able to always find the most latest and current things going on that will help other schools when it come to technology.  Not only are there ideas of how to prevent issues from arising, but there is also a great deal of resources to enhance the classroom setting to better education our students.  These two website are going straight into my favorites.

CoSN

Assignment 1: After having looked over this website, go to your blog and respond to the following questions:
* Did you find the CoSN website useful?
I thought there was a great deal of information that could help a person for a just about any topic dealing with technology.  I thought the information was easy to understand and would serve to be useful for many.  As with many things on the Internet, this is a unknown resource to many that could use this to better their technology purchases in the future to better address their school's needs.

* What information on the website was most useful to you?
I liked the total cost feature.  Everything adds up in order to make technology effective and worthwhile.  If one does not invest the money, then they will only be able to go so far.  So knowing what costs and what equipment is necessary is crucial to the whole scheme of technology in education.

* How will information from this website help your Technology Committee?
I think the committee first needs to find our what their goals are and where the school wants to end up.  Then, this website will help form a direction of how to get there coupled with the cost involved.  Too often school just buy technology and do not have a plan of how to implement them.  The truth of the matter is that many schools have no clue what is out there for their use and exactly how much cost is involved.

* What implications does this information have for technology planning in your school?
This website gives reality and hard facts of the many unknown areas of technology.  It also makes tech committees go crazy with ideas and not having the money to do so.  It would be similar to a little kid going into a toy store for an hour and now being able to walk out of there with at least one toy.  The several ideas and equipment are merely a wish list for many school districts who are continually battle funding problems.

Quiz #2

1.       We have policies that cover the acceptable use, the publishing and several other areas to ensure the technology is used appropriately and for educational use.  I feel that these policies are adequate, but we are not a school that uses technology on a regular basis.  Therefore, I feel that there are areas that need to be addressed in policy that we have not seen the need for and that will be needed in the future as technology is ever changing.   In detail, the policies regarding plagiarism, copyright and taking care of the technology are areas that need to be updated or added.

2.       I believe at the beginning of each year it would take a short period of time to inform staff and students about the copyright do’s and do not’s.   An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Sometimes we have copyright’s being violated, but the persons doing so may not even realize it.  With regards to technology, I feel copyright gets overlooked as many things are copied and pasted for use and people don’t think twice about the ramifications.  If we educate those that use technology on copyright, it will benefit the school district in the future.

3.       Yes, I truly believe that the Internet has far more benefit for education than dangers.  The secret comes in the education of how to properly use the Internet.  If students, staff and everyone involved know what to look for and how to look for it, then there are not many issues to deal with.  If nothing is said, then users do not know their limitations and guidelines of what the technology is to be used for in the educational setting.  Firewalls and security setting are good and necessary, but to a limit.   Otherwise it is like in old school terminology- having a set of encyclopedias and only being able to look at the A, E, I, O and U…and sometime Y.

4.       The research could be very beneficial in making sure that schools purchase technology equipment that will be at a reasonable cost and will be practical for the educational setting.  No one likes to spend money on something that they use once or may not use at all.  The same goes for purchasing technology for a school district.  The research shows that the school dropout rate has decreased and that school attendance has increased.  It also show that student are engaged and applying themselves like never before.  Students are connected and have a craving to have more technology to help them learn.  It is truly a tool for education and the research is showing that.

5.       Schools continue to block web 2.0 tools because they fear that it does not benefit the learning process. Students are not educated not trusted to be on a computer, let alone be able to use web 2.0 tools.  It comes down to educating the staff and student of how to use the web 2.0 tools , Internet and everything with technology so as to use these resources to the maximum capability to enhance the teaching and learning process for years to come.   I think leaders have to constantly remind and review with students the proper use of these tools.  Students are very smart and will try to find ways around the rules and guidelines provided for them.  Common sense goes a long way, but if you keep students busy enough and help them see the benefit, I feel  they will have a great understanding how using these tools inappropriately has a negative impact and could lead to problems or consequences.