Six+Courses+That+Helped+Me+The+Most


 * Please refer to below attachment for APA formatted document**

**Six Courses That Helped Me Most** I found it quite difficult to choose between all of the courses in this program and decide which ones helped me the most. Each course covers different content and each portion of that content is important to the creation of technology leaders as a whole. However, after much consideration and deliberation I chose to single out the following courses as the ones that I feel contributed the most to making me a well rounded technology facilitator and in general a better leader on my campus: Fundamentals of Educational Technology, Multimedia and Video Technology, School Law, Digital Graphics, Animation, and Desktop Publishing, Curriculum Management, and Information Systems Management.

The Fundamentals of Educational Technology course is the introduction course to this program and rightfully so. This course begins your basic training for the rest of the courses to build upon. Before beginning the program, I was reviewing my Lamar transcripts and realized I had taken this course back in 2001and thought to myself how much could have really changed in the course. After the course began, I realized that comparing the class from 2001 and the class now was like comparing Spanish and French; they are nothing alike. Technology has changed immensely since 2001 and continues to change every day. The fundamentals course is extremely important to begin with. In this course I was introduced to so much information that I had never heard of it was at first overwhelming and exciting. I had been out of the teaching field for several years and had never heard of the Texas Long-Range Plan and did not know there were Technology Application Standards. I had never heard of the STaR Chart and had no idea really what a blog or wiki was. I must admit it was like a kid being set loose in a candy store. Every article was fascinating and full of rich content that furthered my knowledge of how far technology has come. The Texas Education Agency (2006) in the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 outlines the states mission to produce teachers who are technologically proficient, the support they need to do this, how this positively affects student learning, the importance of curriculum integration of technology and how planning is so important to this process (p.2). I feel that this document is one of the most important pieces of information for every person who wants to work in this field in Texas to know and understand. It should correspond to the vision and mission of every technology leader.
 * Fundamentals of Educational Technology**

Out of all of the courses I think that Multimedia and Video Technology was the course I enjoyed the most. In the creation of our group PSA project I was able to connect with an extraordinary group of individuals and we continue to keep in touch to this day. I learned in this course that everyone has a story to tell and technology is one of the easiest ways to tell it. A Hollywood studio is not required. One article that inspired me and that I was able to use in the classroom immediately was by Jennifer New called “How to Use Digital Storytelling in your Classroom”. In this article New (2005) states “Storytelling is a vital skill with seemingly unlimited applications. Done well, it can have a magical effect…” (para.1). I created a project for my students based on information from this article and it was one of the most successful projects I had done to date in my teaching career. My students were engaged, excited, and learning was not the chore that they all tend to think it can be. This course also showed me how achievable and uncomplicated it is to work with people around the globe to collaborate on projects. Although my group members are all located in Texas, the technology that we used to communicate and create our project can be used by anyone around the world. This part of the course was exciting and fascinating for me. Being the group leader of the project also allowed me to hone my delegation skills and not be so controlling when it comes to working with groups of people. The knowledge and skills I gained form the course is important, but the connections I have made with colleagues is invaluable.
 * Multimedia and Video Technology**

I must admit that initially I was very apathetic to the course School Law. I was not concerned with the law; I wanted to learn more about technology. However, my mind was changed for me quickly once I began to learn how important it is for my students that I know and understand the laws that apply to the public school system. Understanding exactly how No Child Left Behind, IDEA, the Constitutional Amendments, etc. affect me as an educator and my students as well is information that all educators should know and be able to apply. The intricacies involved in special education astounded me. The most helpful document we reviewed was the Guide to the Admission, Review and Dismissal Process. In this document the Statewide Leadership for the Legal Framework Project Team (2010) defines the term special education as “…specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability” (p.i). I think that this definition is very powerful and concise in delineating what special education should actually be. I know from my experiences that this is not always what educators think special education should be. Because of this course, I have a new respect for educators in special education and administration.
 * School Law**

If I was ranking my courses in order of enjoyment Digital Graphics would rank number two. Again I have to reiterate, the information I learned in this class is important to understand if you want to work in technology as an educator. I had never really thought of how things that I see are designed based on the basic design principles of contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. Once learning these I began to look at web pages, posters, advertisements, newspapers and etc. in a whole new way. It is more than just figuring out what color to use or the size of the font. Creating my own logo and using that in a newsletter was exciting for me because I was doing things I had never done before. After looking at and reviewing my newsletter, my site mentor decided to use it at one of our campus technology day in-services which was also thrilling for me. I think that the one thing I have used the most from this class was the article and chart created by Andrew Churches called “Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy”. I have shared this resource with my colleagues and other educators over and over again. Churches (2009) states “This taxonomy is not about the tools and technologies, these are just the medium, instead it is about using these tools to achieve, recall, understanding, application, analysis, evaluation and creativity” (p.3). To reach our digital native population we must use the tools that they understand and this resource helps me do that.
 * Digital Graphics, Animation, and Desktop Publishing**

I have always understood that it is important to have data to make decisions and that curriculum is an important part of education, but until taking Curriculum Management I did not realize that data must drive your curriculum. The wealth of data that we have available to us as educators can often times be overwhelming. Boudett, City, and Murnane (2006) assert that by having a process that has specific and manageable steps when implementing school improvement educators can build skill and confidence in using data (p.53). I now understand the need for a step-by-step process after having to sift through the massive amounts of data that we were required to review throughout the program. This course also taught me that curriculum management is not just following the TEKS; it is organizing what is taught, making sure that curriculum is aligned, that instruction fits the curriculum, and that assessment of the curriculum is valid. Without these things the best curriculum will never be successful.
 * Curriculum Management**

The history of the Internet that was presented in this course was very interesting to me as was the information regarding basic hardware setup in various types of systems, cable types, and wireless networks. I have been using computers and the Internet since I was very young but never really understood how it all worked. Now that I have this knowledge I can share it with others who do not. I think that this in itself helps make me a better technology leader. Evaluating our districts SIS was a very informative and useful assignment for me. I learned new features about our student information system that I never knew existed until completing this assignment such as the discipline tracking, state testing score availability, ability to create online tests and more. The plethora of information within this system and how it can be used to assist our students is a valuable resource.
 * Information Systems Management**