Access EDUC639

Access Intro

Hello everyone

The word that I chose is Access.  While not everyone has the same device or Internet access, we are growing faster and moving toward providing access for everyone especially here in the U.S.

I'm LeRhonda Greats and I teach middle school computer classes and provide tech support for faculty at a private boarding school in Princeton New Jersey. I have 2 children, a son who is a Liberty University student and lives there in Lynchburg working on his undergraduate degree in Pastoral Leadership and a daughter who will start her senior year in the fall!  I have been living on campus with my daughter since 2007 when my son first ventured off to college at Tuskegee University. I have taught at my school since 1998.

I look forward to working with you all
LeRhonda

Week 6 blog EDUC 638 June 23 Distance Learning

In 2013, the technology within educational institutions has become almost mandatory.  Schools are grappling with the different ways that they growing technical needs are and different ways to both use the technology and how it can be paid for.  The ultimate goal is to be sure that students have access to education.

In chapter 9, Picciano writes about distance learning and defines it as an educational process in which the teacher and students are physically separated (Picciano, 2011).  The challenge of connecting the student and teacher is a big problem in cases where the student doesn't have the financial ability to access the Internet or the equipment to connect to their teacher.  There are various ways that the lessons can be disseminated include broadcast television, two-way videoconferencing and asynchronous learning networks.

While many higher education institutions have embraced distance learning the k-12 schools are facing a more difficult task of integrating technology and also determining how distance education can be used with the younger students. (www.k12.com) There are some schools that have developed distance learning programs and students who may be interested in an accelerated learning experience also enjoy learning at home. There are students who have been bullied as well who find that they need to take time away from school or students who have trouble in other social ways interacting with students or teachers who can benefit from online education.

Distance learning can allow students to have access to teachers and experiences that they would not be able to see from their schools.  Schools who decide to enter into the realm of providing distance education to students should be sure to plan for the different hardware and software needs.

References

Picciano, A. (2011). Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

http://www.k12.com/schools-programs/online-public-schools#.UcfDCz5gbFw

EDUC 638 June 8, 2013 Week 4 Interview with School Technology Leader

This week's assignment was exciting to work on. Since I work in the technology field at my school and I work very closely with our Director of Technology having the opportunity to reflect on the work that we do together was very helpful.  Especially as we close out another school year.

When I was developing my questions for our school's Director of Technology I was thinking about the various changes that we have gone through over the past 2 years.  While I have been at our school for the past 15 years working in the computer science area, teaching classes and offering tech support for faculty and staff our Director of Technology was hired 2 years ago.

Jim H. came to our school from another independent school in Pennsylvania where he had worked as the Assistant Director of Technology.  When he was hired he quickly realized that there were many areas that needed his immediate attention in order to resolve many of the 'customer' complaints. The students complained about the slow wifi connection and since our school is a boarding school and many of our boarders come from outside of the US having a solid Internet connection is very important. With the advance of technology and more and more users becoming involved in purchasing their own devices to allow them Internet access, Jim knew that this was a problem that needed to be resolved very quickly.

Our technology team was somewhat disjointed and not meeting the support needs of our school either, we were spread very thin and had too many complaints for our small staff to handle so Jim quickly put a plan in motion to change our computer platform from PC to Mac.  We switched our email from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail and when our division heads wanted to move our students to iPads Jim made the decision to have the students purchase them and have the parents be responsible for their repairs.  His other important improvement was to hire a consultant to evaluate our wifi network and move quickly to add additional access points throughout campus. During this time we also introduced Schoology, a learning management system, to improve communication between students, teachers and parents. This is an online system that works and looks similar to Facebook.

These changes improved our service on campus tremendously because now email worked, wifi is now stable and our computers don't have virus problems as they had in the past.  Jim is a manager who understands the challenges of working with technology in an educational environment and what good technical support looks like.

The Hall textbook speaks to a Technology Directors measurements of success and how using technology can improve teaching and learning.  Teachers and students need to have technology that works first then they have to learn to use it properly.  Under the guidance of our Director of Technology, our school is certainly on the right track.

References

Hall, D. (2008). The Technology Director’s Guide to Leadership . Eugene: ISTE.

Picciano, A. (2011). Educational Leadership and Planning for Technology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.