I am very privileged to have the opportunity to
participate in this course about integrating technology. While this is the field that I feel most “at
home” in, it is also the field that I know there is so much more that I can
learn. Technology is changing so
quickly, that some days it feels overwhelming just trying to keep your head
above water. But the reward is so great
when you know that you’ve done it right, that it’s worth all the hard work that
it takes to get there.
I have been
blessed to work for two districts now as they began their implementation of a
1:1 program with MacBooks. I was teaching
business courses at Wabash City Schools as well as serving as their Technology
Integration Specialist during their first year of having the devices in a pilot
middle school. This gave me the dual
perspective as a teacher and also technology leader in the district to really
get a good grasp on what the challenges are and how to overcome them to make
the process a success. The next year I
was offered a position with MSD of Wabash County as an eLearning Coach as they
began their 1:1 implementation. I was
able to help them navigate the process as well as provide much of their
professional development during their first year. So this is where I see my strength today. I am comfortable with sharing what we have
done right, as well as some of the mistakes that have been made in order to
help others be successful with their implementations.
I am hoping
that throughout this course I can dig a little deeper into some curricular
resources and also integrations techniques that have been proven to work with
upper high school students. While these
kids are pretty comfortable on their devices, they aren’t always comfortable
learning all the tools that I would like for them to use. And because I’m not teaching in a face to
face setting, this is presenting me with some challenges that I don’t always
have a good solution for.
