What+I+Learned+About+Myself,+Technology,+and+My+Attitudes


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**What I Learned About Myself, Technology, and My Attitudes** Throughout this program I learned two very important things about myself (a) I knew more about technology than I thought, and (b) I didn’t know as much about technology as I thought. When beginning this program I knew how to do software and hardware installations, peripheral installations, troubleshooting, and basic productivity software functions. After assisting many of my colleagues with these types of technology issues I realized a few things about this knowledge I had (a) not everyone has this basic set of skills, (b) these skills were not as basic as I thought, and (c) I could use this to help others on my campus. What I did not know about all of this wonderful technology, and what this program showed me, is how to integrate it effectively in the classroom.

The Maters of Education in Educational Technology Leadership program has opened my eyes to a most wondrous concept, how to truly use technology in the classroom and get my students to use it for their educational benefit. I was able to acquire knowledge about so many different types of technology resources that to be honest I am still processing all of the information. In reviewing a few articles in preparation for this final course I stumbled upon ideas I had forgotten about or did not have time to implement yet and have already begun planning to use them in this school year.

I learned that collaboration can happen through Web 2.0 tools and through this collaboration projects can be planned, created, edited and refined as well as published with people from all over the state as well as the world. Technology in itself is fluid and ever changing and it is important as a technology facilitator/leader to stay current on the new changes. This program has given me a great starting knowledge base from which I can build upon in the years to come.

I have always been a perfectionist in whatever it is that I do. Throughout the courses I have come to realize that when it comes to technology, that really is not an option. There is always an update to software, new and improved hardware and no one can ever know everything about everything in regards to technology. I have come to accept that and I think that makes me a better leader. I have learned so much from my students during this program by using what I learned in the content of the courses and having them teach me how to use it. Being a science teacher it was often times difficult for me in the beginning to understand how I would be able to incorporate some of the technologies I learned about into a lab based classroom. Then the next week in the course would come around and there would be an article, idea, post on the discussion board, or assignment itself that would turn the light bulb on for me.

When looking at the line up of classes I soured at the prospect of having to take School Law, School Community Relations and Leadership for Accountability; I wanted to learn about technology not the law. It became clear to me during these classes that the information provided is essential to have in your knowledge base in order to be an effective technology leader. It is important to understand the inner workings of the school system in order to make it a more receptive place to technology integration. To integrate technology you must have the backing and support of all the stakeholders involved in the school and these courses focused on just how to do that successfully.