EDTC 6342 Technology Orientation                                        Module 0

Course Overview

Welcome to EDTC 6342. This course is considered the third course in the sequence for the Teacher Leadership in Education certificate and is quite a popular elective in the Educational Technology program. A strong emphasis in this course is developing resources for the campus, district or other work environment.  In addition many of the current Web 2.0/Social Media tools that are currently used in education and training today will be utilized. More important than learning to use them, is learning how to integrate them into your teaching to create an engaging and interactive environment for your students. We will have many discussions throughout the course about how they can be used effectively to increase the likelihood that the 21st century learner will actively participate in their learning.

The main emphasis of this course is to develop needs assessment experience through the use of existing data, determining the need for further information and designing the appropriate tool.  This data will be used to develop campus technology staff development plans as well as determine the immediate needs of the staff.

Finally, this course will provide experience in developing and implementing technology innovations.  Often, technology is a "spur of the moment" decision without seeking buy-in of the stakeholders and providing the proper pedagogical foundation and training.  We will discuss tools that provide productivity for students, staff and faculty; they are not necessarily the same!

The First Week

Technology Leadership will provide experience in analyzing available data in order to make informed decisions and plan effectively for the use of technology in the classroom.

This module will provide the learner with experience in answering discussion questions, creating and posting a wiki page and practice providing peer feedback.

You will find that during this course and in the program, you will have two tasks - one is to learn the content, and the other is to learn the tools that are used to deliver content. This is a bit different than someone in, say, a business program who typically needs to learn business subjects, but does not have to learn how to use a wiki (such as this) or other Web 2.0/Social Media tools, Collaborate, and BlackBoard itself. What does this mean? It means that you are going to be exposed to many new tools and many new ways of doing things. It may seem intimidating at first - since you have to learn to use wikis, develop your own wikis, navigate the course and all components, learn a whole host of Web 2.0 tools that are new and perhaps foreign to you, and more. As an online learner in this program, you will be expected not just to absorb understanding of the topic, but also to be aware of how the topic is presented. Thus, I have found it to be extremely helpful to conduct Orientation - in which you really just focus on getting set up to begin work.

Orientation activities will prepare you to use all the "back end" tools that will be required during your course. Some of you may already know how to complete the activities - or you may have already done some of the activities in this orientation in another class. If that is the case, you can probably fly through these activities. If so, you can always get a jump start on other activities you will need for this course.

The activities are listed in the approximate order you will need them. In addition, you may want to make a mental note about this orientation in case you get "stumped" somewhere along the way in the course. In addition to tutorials needed to complete each activity, you will also find links to resources and important contact information.

One STRONG suggestion is to read ALL the materials that are provided. This week the reading materials are rather extensive. They will not be this detailed each week - but this lengthy week's assignment is necessary to orient you to the course tools.  Before asking any questions, read through the materials and attempt to do everything. Part of the "challenge" in learning anything new is the struggle through until you reach understanding.  This is especially true in graduate school.  So, read, once, read twice, read three times, try it out - and only then ask questions.  A very general email saying that you don't understand anything tells me simply that you have not read it through. A very detailed message, such as, "On the third step, I tried to click on the link provided and instead of going to Diigo it went to DishNetwork,"  tells me that you have read it and tried to resolve the problem before asking.  Please note - none of the links really go to DishNetwork! Unless the gremlins have been active. (And you will find out about those gremlins later on in your reading).

Good luck and look forward to hearing from you soon!

iNacol Standards Addressed

A4 Knows and understands the need for continuing to update academic knowledge, pedagogy, and skills.

• Is able to meet the state’s professional teaching standards or has academic credentials in the field in which he or she is teaching.

A5 Knows and understands the subject area and age group they are teaching. 

• *Is able to provide evidence of credentials in the field of study to be taught.

B1 Knows and understands the use of an array of grade-appropriate online tools for communication, productivity, collaboration, analysis, presentation, research, and content delivery.

• Is able to select and use a variety of online tools for communication, productivity, collaboration, analysis, presentation, research, and online content delivery as appropriate to the content area and student needs.

B2 Knows and understands the use of emerging technologies in a variety of mediums for teaching and learning, based on student needs.

• Is able to effectively use and incorporate subject-specific and developmentally appropriate technologies, tools, and resources.

B3 Knows and understands the importance of interaction in an online course and the role of varied communication tools in supporting interaction.

• Is able to use communication technologies in a variety of mediums and contexts for teaching and learning.

B4 Knows and understands basic troubleshooting skills and the responsibility to address basic technical issues online students may have.

• Is able to apply troubleshooting skills (e.g., change passwords; download plug-ins, etc.).

B5 Knows and understands the need to continuously update their knowledge and skills for using the evolving technology tools that support online learning.

• Is able to identify and explore new tools and test their applicability to their content areas and students.

• Is able to apply effective facilitation skills by creating a relationship of trust; establish consistent and reliable expectations; and support and encourage independence and creativity that promotes the development of a sense of community among the participants.

* Above photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin

Objectives

Upon completion of this project, you will be able to use the technology tools necessary for success in your coursework in the Educational Technology program. Please complete all activities except for meeting in Collaborate by the end of week 1.  

Review Course Organization

This course is arranged a bit differently than other courses you may have taken which used primarily a course management system such as BlackBoard. Most of the content for this course is presented in this wiki.  There is a strong rationale for arranging this course in this manner.  One of the most important reasons is that as an educator or in industry, it is highly  unlikely that you will have access to BlackBoard to teach your courses and present materials.  However, very few districts do not allow teachers to use PBWorks (or other wikis) and some forward thinking districts even provide premium accounts to their teachers.  Thus, PB is a tool that you can use very effectively in your own teaching and/or training - and the more you use something, the more proficient you become.

Further, regardless of how hard they are trying to emulate the world of social media/Web 2.0 that we all live in, BlackBoard continues to fall short of the strong collaboration components that are such a part of PBWorks and other social media. Because PBWorks provide robust features for educators (teachers and students), you simply cannot go wrong learning how to use it.  However, for those used to the strong linear presentation of BlackBoard, the relatively non-linear structure of PBWorks can be confusing.  So, I am providing a flowchart that describes where the important tools and information will reside in this course. 

The points for  this are a relative freeby since I really can't tell whether you studied the flowchart.  However, if I receive  a rogue email from you asking where to find grades posted - it will give you away, since that information and much more can be found on the flowchart.  Please study it carefully before moving forward. You you may want to keep a copy handy the duration of the course.  Course FlowChart.

Emails from Bb listserv

In an online course, extensive communication occurs via email. For this online course and others in the program, you will receive important email communication from me and hopefully from your peers. Thus, it is critical that you have an email account that can receive emails through UTB.  As compared to the past, you will not receive all email from UTB via an Outlook account. If you do not know how to access your UTB email, you can find out information at the following locations:

• Locating your UTB email address
• Activating your Email Account
• Obtain a Student Email Account
• Viewing an Email Header

I also HIGHLY recommend that you create an email account that is external to your work address so that I can contact you directly if needed.  Please post this email address and your UTB email address on the course portal page.

Although I have some reservations about the all-intrusive nature of Google in our lives, I cautiously recommend getting a gmail account because it allows you to easily open accounts in many Web 2.0 applications. Google offers free, virtually unlimited space and is quite easy to use. Others such as Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc. are quite acceptable.

FORMATTING FOR ALL CLASS EMAILS:  Please include the course number, your name, and then the subject of your email in the subject line as seen below:

edtc6342 (your name) Subject

If you do not include the course number and your name, it may be inadvertently overlooked and thus take a longer time to receive a response. In plain English, that means that I have several different  courses and multiple students and I don't understand vague questions - especially when I don't have the context of the course you are inquiring about. Having the course number in your subject line also allows me to put the context of your question in the appropriate project.  It allows me to answer immediately rather than put it aside to investigate later - and then inadvertently forget.

Accessing the Course Wiki Page

• Go to the wiki and request access from your instructor by clicking on the Request Access button (as shown below) and entering your email address. This request access account link can be found in the upper right corner when you first go the wiki page.  If you cannot figure out how to do this, the PBworks blog provides additional instructions.) Some of you may already be members of this wiki as it has been used in several of the Ed Tech courses.  If you are already a member (from a previous class), you do not need to request access again unless you cannot edit the wiki.  Once classes start, I check the wiki as frequently as possible to give you access, but sometimes it takes a while for me to see it.  If you have not received access within 24 hours, shoot me an email.

• Log in to the course wiki page to ensure you have access. Several activities must be completed on the opening page of the course wiki as detailed below. You can get to the course wiki portal page through the main page:  http://www.butleratutb.com and select your course in upper left column of the page (as shown below).

• Alternately, you can find the link to the course portal page in the left menu bar in BlackBoard.

Post  biography - beginning of Professional Learning Communities

According to Hord (1997), professional learning communities (PLC) are a critical component that positively impacts change in education. Indeed, she argues that these professional learning communities in which educators mentor educators is one of only a very few strategies that do impact reform.   PLCs provide a platform in which a collegial group is united in the commitment to an outcome. In the case of education, the commitment would be to student learning. Regarding technology in education, the community engages in ongoing and often online activities that include a shared vision, working and learning collaboratively, visiting and observing other classrooms and sharing in decisions.  Benefits include reduced  isolation of teachers, better informed and committed teachers, and academic gains for students. These are especially important for the online educator and students who can often feel alone in the virtual world. 

The State of Texas recognized the importance of PLCs to educational reform and in the new standards (in force in 2014), a heavy emphasis has been placed on PLCs for teachers and administrators. Thus, developing and maintaining a learning community throughout the Technology Leadership in Education courses (EDTC 6340, 6341, and 6342) will be an important part of the coursework. It is hoped that you will continue your relationship wit your colleagues even after you complete the courses.

• Make sure that your photo is the correct size for adding to the wiki. If you have a large photo, you will need to resize it and possibly crop it (we want to see your face - not the scenery around you) before adding it to the wiki. If you do not know how to crop or resize your photo, please review the tutorial in the box below:

Once you have your photo ready, enter Blackboard and select "DISCUSSION QUESTIONS"  next, select "COURSE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS," and then select Discussion Question 0, you will see my post.  In order to post your information, click on REPLY and post your response.

To upload your picture to the Discussion Board, click on 

On this page, you will be posting your name, your photograph and some information about you, including your Name, where you work, and career goals.

To post a reply to another student, click on REPLY at the end of their post and type in your response.

REFERENCE
1. Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: What are they and why are they important? [Online]. Available: http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues61.html .

Go to Part 2 of the Technology Orientation