Partner with educators to evaluate the efficacy of digital learning content and tools to inform procurement decisions and adoption.
Fieldwork Assignment
LLT 540
I had to do a fieldwork assignment during LLT 540 Management of Information Centers. The goal was to spend at least eight hours of observation time involving yourself with as many parts of the technology program in your school district as possible. Through this activity, I gained a working knowledge of the 1:1 Modernized Learning Technology Integration initiative my school district was getting ready to adopt.
I was able to get a better grasp of how technology integration took place within the school district. I had always assumed that those in charge were overly cautious and did not think that once one technology integration was that important, that was not the case. There was a lot of research and specific approaches to how they wanted to incorporate technology in the district behind the scenes.
Part of the technology integration involved training staff in different cohorts of teachers who were given different technology types to test out during a school year and report back on what worked and what could be improved upon. During this time, the school was slowly upgrading its Wi-Fi capability to handle the district's technology. The idea was to avoid using technology in your classrooms but not have the Wi-Fi support to make it work. All of these things take time and financial resources.
The biggest piece of the puzzle that was missing for the school district was a learning management system. Google Classroom had been pushed as a place to organize content for teachers. Still, many of the features were not turned on for educators to use. One of the key features was emailing students from inside the Google classroom. In March of 2020, when all of the students were sent home because of Covid, it became evident that the district needed a real learning management system. The decision was made to incorporate Canvas. It was a decision made very close to the new school year's start and came with its own problems. It's a fantastic learning management system, but it is has a huge learning curve. It was unlike the school district to make such a snap decision, but the circumstances certainly warranted it.
The process of doing this fieldwork allowed me to learn a lot more about what goes on in the district yearly in the technology department. Although I don't think my interest would lie in being a part of the technology team that does the background work, such a setting up Wi-Fi or troubleshooting technology issues, I could see myself being a technology integration specialist or a content designer. I know the district has plans to expand a Cyber School Option. I would be interested in helping to make a program like this work.
LLT 540
I had to do a fieldwork assignment during LLT 540 Management of Information Centers. The goal was to spend at least eight hours of observation time involving yourself with as many parts of the technology program in your school district as possible. Through this activity, I gained a working knowledge of the 1:1 Modernized Learning Technology Integration initiative my school district was getting ready to adopt.
I was able to get a better grasp of how technology integration took place within the school district. I had always assumed that those in charge were overly cautious and did not think that once one technology integration was that important, that was not the case. There was a lot of research and specific approaches to how they wanted to incorporate technology in the district behind the scenes.
Part of the technology integration involved training staff in different cohorts of teachers who were given different technology types to test out during a school year and report back on what worked and what could be improved upon. During this time, the school was slowly upgrading its Wi-Fi capability to handle the district's technology. The idea was to avoid using technology in your classrooms but not have the Wi-Fi support to make it work. All of these things take time and financial resources.
The biggest piece of the puzzle that was missing for the school district was a learning management system. Google Classroom had been pushed as a place to organize content for teachers. Still, many of the features were not turned on for educators to use. One of the key features was emailing students from inside the Google classroom. In March of 2020, when all of the students were sent home because of Covid, it became evident that the district needed a real learning management system. The decision was made to incorporate Canvas. It was a decision made very close to the new school year's start and came with its own problems. It's a fantastic learning management system, but it is has a huge learning curve. It was unlike the school district to make such a snap decision, but the circumstances certainly warranted it.
The process of doing this fieldwork allowed me to learn a lot more about what goes on in the district yearly in the technology department. Although I don't think my interest would lie in being a part of the technology team that does the background work, such a setting up Wi-Fi or troubleshooting technology issues, I could see myself being a technology integration specialist or a content designer. I know the district has plans to expand a Cyber School Option. I would be interested in helping to make a program like this work.