OUTLINE:
I currently work as an elementary school teacher (currently grade 4) in an all-girls school. I have worked in independent schools for most of my career, but also spent two years in the public school system. I have also worked as a principal of a small independent school. I have always been a technologically-minded educator and administrator, who has taken the effort and initiative to utilize technology; however, it has been haphazard vs. systematic and without a strong framework or overview of the process.
My goals for this course is two-fold:
- to become a more effective classroom teacher.
- Teaching & Learning (T) from the Sections framework is ultimately my goal here. All three areas (Epistemology & Selection, Content & Skills, Assessment). In particular, in the area of assessment, I have significant experience with traditional, non-tech methods of assessment, but am lacking experience in the tech sphere, so I am looking to apply what I know to tech education and also to evaluate the effectiveness and the differences.
- to become an instructional leader in the area of technology and an effective manager of technological resources.
- I hope to research and become more familiar with resources pertaining particularly to managing tech in elementary school settings.
- Learning Management Systems (LMS): I have never worked with an LMS, and so I look forward to learning the fundamentals in this area.
- Social software: Having used these both free resources in haphazard ways as an individual, and also in a more systematic and intentional way within an organization, I hope to use established frameworks to set policies with regard to safety and effective use.
- Multimedia: Due to resources that I know have access to, I am delving into this sphere and look forward to using it increasingly with my students and learning more about its’ effective use.