Julie Howe's Final Reflection for Summer 2010: Looking Forward
Looking forward, the main focus of my career will be online learning. This would include researching accredited online programs, feasibility studies for presentation to the district, sourcing of online programs and mentoring of students in online enrichment, remediation and credit recovery courses. With some foresight, I would hope that my career includes designing online learning programs and researching their effectiveness. This is a personal goal which I feel very passionate about.
I have been our high school’s online coordinator and mentor for the past two years. Thanks to a great team effort, our online program has been extremely successful and is growing at an astonishing rate. I want Three Rivers High School to become an outstanding leader in Southwest Michigan in providing quality online educational opportunities for our students.
The future of my career appears to also be headed in the direction of educational technology integration and creating school specific online professional development. For next school year, I have been asked to design online professional development courses and resources for our high school teachers relating to classroom technology use and the creation of individual online classes using Moodle.
As the new data/assessment coach for our high school, I will be responsible for creating professional development for designing assessments and developing, supporting and coaching professional learning communities. I will begin with a week of data/assessment coach training with Deb Wahlstrom this August and continue through next year as part of the Regional Data Initiatives (RDI) grant.
With budget constraints, our school is considering implementing Google Apps for Education as well as several other cloud computing applications. As a member of our district’s technology team, I want to be an active participant in this implementation over the next several years. It is also in my future plans to become a "Google Teacher."
Reflecting on what I consider to be important to my career in the next five years, I have come to the realization that my professional development is looking more like a “mash up” of topics than a map or course of action. This is not a random selection on my part, but more of an application of talents and skill sets required to meet the needs of our students with the constant change in technology. Creativity, flexibility, and an open mind will be the keys to my success. If I could see the future, I would like to believe that my career aspirations are headed towards convergence and a position of leadership in education.
I have been our high school’s online coordinator and mentor for the past two years. Thanks to a great team effort, our online program has been extremely successful and is growing at an astonishing rate. I want Three Rivers High School to become an outstanding leader in Southwest Michigan in providing quality online educational opportunities for our students.
The future of my career appears to also be headed in the direction of educational technology integration and creating school specific online professional development. For next school year, I have been asked to design online professional development courses and resources for our high school teachers relating to classroom technology use and the creation of individual online classes using Moodle.
As the new data/assessment coach for our high school, I will be responsible for creating professional development for designing assessments and developing, supporting and coaching professional learning communities. I will begin with a week of data/assessment coach training with Deb Wahlstrom this August and continue through next year as part of the Regional Data Initiatives (RDI) grant.
With budget constraints, our school is considering implementing Google Apps for Education as well as several other cloud computing applications. As a member of our district’s technology team, I want to be an active participant in this implementation over the next several years. It is also in my future plans to become a "Google Teacher."
Reflecting on what I consider to be important to my career in the next five years, I have come to the realization that my professional development is looking more like a “mash up” of topics than a map or course of action. This is not a random selection on my part, but more of an application of talents and skill sets required to meet the needs of our students with the constant change in technology. Creativity, flexibility, and an open mind will be the keys to my success. If I could see the future, I would like to believe that my career aspirations are headed towards convergence and a position of leadership in education.
Key Topics: Online Learning, Technology for Teachers, and Educational Leadership
ISTE: International Society for Technology in Education
As a technology teacher, I value the the resources ISTE offers for my classroom and my career.
ISTE is a professional association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and higher education. I have maintained a membership for several years.
ISTE is a professional association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and higher education. I have maintained a membership for several years.
MACUL Space
I am a member of MACUL and use the MACUL Space Ning as a resource for professional development. The MACUL Space Ning is a useful Web 2.0 tool that I use for information relating to MAET, Moodle, professional development and online learning. "MACUL Space is a place for past, present, and future MACUL members to stay connected, learn from one another, and gain first hand experience with powerful Web 2.0 tools."
Twitter
Twitter is a valuable tool for professional development as it allows me to create my own personal learning network focused on topics relevant to my career. I use it as a way keep up with the buzz of technology.
Horizon Report for K-12
The Horizon Report for K-12 is my guiding source for technology integration in my classroom. It provides a view of how my students use and will use technology after high school and which technologies business has identified as valuable.
Educational Leadership
Educational Leadership is an educational journal published 8 times a year and is for anyone interested in curriculum, instruction, supervision, and leadership in education. Each issue features theme-related articles by leading educators and reports of effective programs and practices. I find the articles are useful and directional when planning for the integration of technology.
Edutopia
I subscribe to RSS feeds from Edutopia for information on online learning, and educational leadership,and technology integration. Edutopia is "the vision for this new world of learning but also the leading-edge interactive tools and resources to help make it a reality." An in-depth and interactive resource, Edutopia.org offers practical, hands-on advice, real-world examples, lively contributions from practitioners, and invaluable tips and tools.
Research Reports
The research behind this report found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. However, this finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media (video). An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K-12 students.
I continually look for reliable research regarding the effectiveness of online learning.
Michigan Virtual High School
The Michigan Virtual High School offers high school courses taught by highly-qualified, Michigan-certified teachers. High school courses are offered in several different styles: Flex courses are self-paced with a flexible enrollment date, and AP® courses, which are challenging, semester-paced courses that prepare students for the College Board exams. There are over 30 courses specifically designed for the Michigan Merit Curriculum. We use MVHS for courses that are not normally offered in our school as well as credit recovery. The annual symposium offers many opportunities for professional development and networking.
GenNet
GenNet is Genesee County's online virtual learning network. It provides seat-time waivers to districts enrolled and offering courses from their seven teacher-led online course providers. They also offer several online self-directed courses.
It has been interesting to watch the development of GenNet over the last few years. It is a model that has the potential to be used as a framework for development of an online international high school curriculum.
It has been interesting to watch the development of GenNet over the last few years. It is a model that has the potential to be used as a framework for development of an online international high school curriculum.
RSS Web Sites, Podcasts & Blog Feeds
Teachers Teaching Teachers- a weekly webcast on teaching teachers which is affiliated with EdTechTalk. It was created with the focus of developing teacher knowledge and leadership in schools and districts and putting this knowledge and leadership to work to improve student online reading and writing through the use of blogs, wikis, podcasts and webcasts.
Weblogg-ed-Learning With the Read/Write Web- Wil Richardson's blog on the uses of Web 2.0 in the classroom.
Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne- This blog offer free resources and lesson plans for teaching with technology. It is timely, relevant and useful for teachers.
iLearn Technology by Kelly Tenkely is an edublog about integrating technology into the classroom.
Tech&Learning-this website provides resources and expert strategies for transforming education through integration of digital technologies.It is useful for up to date information on tech equipment and integration.
NPR for Education-podcasts related to various aspects of education.