EDTECH 501 Reflection

I have just completed my first course for the Master's of Educational Technology program at Boise State University.  Over the past several weeks I have refined my academic skills and created artifacts that will prove useful in my work and throughout the program.  While there were some challenges that I faced, I was able to overcome them and I feel proud of the work that I completed and I am looking forward to my next course.

As I worked my way through the assignments, I noticed that I had difficulty mastering APA formatting.  In the past I had used MLA format and APA required a significant change in how I approach citation.  The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association quickly become my best friend.  When it was time to create Google Presentations, and I was unsure of citation methods for images, I found help in my Google+ stream as well as other online resources.

EDTECH 501 required the creation of several different artifacts.  Overall, I feel that my best one would have to be the RSS tutorial video that I created. I had created tutorial videos in the past but this was the first time I included subtitles, had a script, and used slides to illustrate my point instead of a screen-cast.  I was pleased with the final result and was happy to get suggestions for refining my skills.

Over the course has helped provide me with a starting point at my school.  We are currently in the process of revising policies and budgeting procedures.  The information from this course will be useful as I work on developing these documents and as I work with the school community on improving technology integration.

School Evaluation Summary

For EDTECH 501 this week we were asked to research as school and evaluate it using the Maturity Model Benchmarks developed by H. R. Sibely and Chip Kimball.  The process has helped me gain a better understanding of how to evaluate a school and to flag areas for improvement.  Currently I am working on revising the curricula at my current school and modifying policies to ensure that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of technology at the school.  I am also working on creating a guiding document that will help determine purchase requests and guidance for IT Facilitation.

As useful as this assignment was, I also found it limiting.  According to the copyright information, the Maturity Model Benchmarks was created in 1998.  As I completed the survey, I noticed several areas that needed revising to include the technology that has developed of the past 16 years.  In particular, Communication Systems place the emphasis on E-mail.  While E-mail is an integral part of communication, it fails to take into account instant messaging, video conferencing, and other tools for online communication.

In the next academic year, I plan on conducting a similar survey with input from teachers.  I feel that this process will help everyone develop a better understanding of where we are.

My survey and summary are below:
Survey
Summary