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Reflection on Technology Facilitator/Leader Standard #5
Productivity and Professional Practice Standard Five: Educational technology facilitators apply technology to enhance and improve personal productivity and professional practice (Williamson & Redish, 2009, p. 112). There are numerous productivity and telecommunications tools available to schools. When I looked over the list I realized that I have used or shown others how to use all but three of the tools. Helping the teachers learn how to use the different software programs and telecommunication tools is one of the tasks I have done most often and is one the reasons I chose to pursue this particular degree. We often provide “just in case” training rather than “just in time” training, which provides educators with information they need just as they need it (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 103). If I had the full day to work with teachers in the classroom I could provide “just in time” training. In alignment with Standard Five-C, apply technology to increase productivity, I have offered after school lessons periodically through the year, but they have not been well attended as our small staff is stretched too thin already. Their response has been the same as that reported by Williamson and Redish (2009), educators complain that they do not have time to learn how to apply the tools (p. 103). Standard Five-A addresses ongoing professional development and lifelong learning. Lifelong learner would definitely be how I would describe myself. I love learning and have attended so much professional development that one day the Superintendent’s Secretary called for me to come to the office; she had cleaned out my professional folder because there were too much in it. I attended three days this summer and just since this school year started I have attended two days of Professional Development. As I study Standard Five-D, use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning, I am reminded of the Student Information System we used from early 2009 through early 2011. Teachers in the district were already communicating with email, and the teachers and Administrative Office in the middle school communicated with Skype, as there is no direct communication between the classroom and office. When the district purchased the new Student Information System software, I became the ‘expert’ on the system, and one feature of the system that was beautiful was being able to send an email to an entire class of students’ parents with one click. As a teacher I did not have to enter all of the email addresses, they were already in the system. This made communicating with and getting feedback from parents quick and easy as well as saving paper and ink. As Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) put it, using e-mail to provide feedback has the additional benefits of being efficient, timely, and specific (p. 57). Another unit of the same software was that each teacher could maintain a webpage for their class; training for the software was one of my responsibilities. I believe the knowledge I have obtained through working with other teachers and supporting them in professional development relating to productivity and professional practice will be a benefit for me in my next job whatever that may be.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). //web 2.0 new tools, new schools.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. William J., & Redish T. (2009).//ISTE’s Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards; What every k-12 leader should know and be able to do.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.