Week 7

Last day already???

I am very glad that I took this class. I have found many more resources that will improve use of technology in my classroom. I have also learned about use of those tools to improve learning in the classroom. The transition ahead of us is scary. The volume of material, the instruments to use that technology and the infrastructure are mind blowing. Especially since I can't even install chrome on my computer and keep it! The IT department here is very helpful and will certainly grow in size to deal with the increase in technology use. Faculty will need training and guidelines for technology use. Goals need to verbalized and benchmarks established. The goals also need to be reasonable, customized to each discipline and flexible.

I feel this transition is necessary and important. It needs to be well thought out and implementation needs a very concrete yet flexible plan. The transition should not be so fast as to lose students and faculty learning needs. It should also not be too slow where some classes are no different than before the use of technology. Classes will also need to maintain high academic standards.

I guess that my final thought is:

Dream big, plan small, be flexible, and make sure to laugh along the way!

Week 6

This week was tough! A new LCMS will be a big challenge. We still have teachers that miss the old paper absentee list and rebel against sending in attendance. What will happen with a LCMS? I'm not even sure if that is what we are talking about. The abbreviations are driving me batty. All the letters are so similar. I am very excited about combining our FAWeb system with Faculty Applications. That will make everything easier. The choice of system is finished but I didn't see much input from the users as one of the blogs suggested. In fact, it seems that we are letting our IT department pick the system.

In terms of the assignment, I did not do as good a job as I wanted. I will have to spend more time and arrange components to achieve the goals I have. I have needed to spend more time on organizing materials since attending the AP conference in Chicago last summer. I am not sure there are enough hours in the day or days of summer to get this done to my standards. I know that I can change it later but I am uncomfortable with how little time and effort I can put into this and still do my current job. (This might be a reflection of my current situation and end of quarter issues.)

This too shall pass!