Hensley’s Ed Tech Talk

Over the course of this semester, I have learned a great deal about how to be an educational technology leader. The biggest takeaway I gained from the course is the importance of creating a strategic plan, while having a missional mindset guide the planning process. In order for strategic plans t be successful, leaders have to be willing to take the time to know their colleagues and team members and work to gain their buy-in. It is necessary to establish a common mission to ground teachers and students in the school to work towards a common overarching goal. Teachers will more likely see the relevance and importance of technology when learning and facilitation are demonstrated in a way that visibly helps the team reach the objectives and goals outlined in their mission. Before all this though,, it necessary for the leader to take the time to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of all team members to be sure the necessary supports are put in place to aid their educational technolog...

This week we learned about the importance of school culture when it comes to integrating educational technology. Some are more comfortable with the use of technology, while others are more reserved. Regardless, as technology leaders our job is subtly mold the or enhance the school culture to be comfortable with the use of technology. As I have mentioned in my discussion post, I truly feel that this goes back to the tech leader's strategic plan. A technology leader must set reasonable goals and objectives that they envision the teachers and students in their district achieving. Once setting these goals, emphasis should be built on building camaraderie and support from all involved in the school to reach the goals and objectives. Technology integration should be viewed as an instrument that is necessary to reach the grander goals and objectives. In this way, the process of learning technology may not be viewed as simply "learning new technology for the sake of learning new techn...

This week's material on professional development was salient. Teacher professional development is very peculiar on its own, and becomes increasingly more complex when it involves educational technology. Unfortunately, it is sometimes communicated to teachers ineffectively because presenters show what the technology can do, but often not really getting to the core of "how" to effectively and efficiently facilitate its use in diverse school contexts. Teachers that attend professional development beyond their school districts may learn innovative strategies for using technology, but may be on their own when it comes to execution in their classrooms. Professional development should take into account diverse school contexts and skill levels. Technology integration can be overwhelming and unfamiliar territory and the goal is not to turn individuals off from using/learning to use technology, but  rather to inspire and encourage its use and learning. I have learned that leadershi...

The assignment and discussion for this module were very relevant and insightful. I find it very interesting that we have found ourselves in a situation where we have become completely dependent on technology. While I am not happy with the way that it has come about, I almost feel that a situation similar to what we are facing) was necessary to exhibit the value and importance of technology, especially in education. I remember when I was in the classroom, I received a lot of push back from my colleagues because I always wanted to take the technology route to solving problems. For example, I thought that we should seize the opportunity to integrate mobile phones in our pedagogy (rather than constantly fighting their presence). If they are going to be there, find a creative way to integrate them. Another example is testing. I thought it was important to prepare students for the transition to online state testing by putting all my course assessments online. This way students would have the...

I think that distance learning and virtual learning are innovative  options to offer students. Not only can the experience offer a unique shift in the learning process, but it offers opportunity for more classes that students  can take that other face-to-face schools do not offer. To this end,  I feel that it is important to keep the individual student in mind every step of the way when deliberating the idea of transitioning to virtual learning. Some students are going to be able to readily take on the responsibility and other may need more supports in order to adjust and become successful, and in some cases virtual learning is just not the answer for some students.  Something new that I learned this week is that Tennessee offers a couple of options for virtual schooling and learning. However, when checking their website to learn more, they seemed very standardized and formulaic. The biggest turn off for me was that the websites advertise that students demonstrate...

As an educational technology leader, being able to identify both the benefits and barriers of technology integration in various school contexts is salient. This practice fosters a conscious recognition that will aid in deliberating mobile technology integration and management.   Successful integration and management of mobile technology involves identifying the benefits and barriers early on to become knowledgeable and know what will and will not work in a specific school’s context. The substantial benefits of mobile device integration as a contrivance for student engagement and learning and can be universally manipulated and adapted to fit the confines of most classroom atmospheres. However, the teacher is responsible for knowing the barriers that may have potential to impede the benefits.  In the end, i t is up to the individual teacher to determine if the benefits outweigh the barriers for a specific area and how they plan to overcome barriers and become comfortable wi...

This week's material focused heavily on the importance of data-driven decision making. As a middle and high school social studies teacher and team leader, I had the opportunity to work with a team of administrators and educators to gather and interpret various types of student data including TVASS data, iReady data, and general data for all course assessments.  Not only do assessment data points allow me to best understand what prior knowledge my students have, whether or not I am effectively teaching students, at what rate students are growing over time, and what needs each individual student has, but also data analyses from all areas of study coupled with regular communication with other team teachers allowed me to implement cross-curricular lessons into my curriculum.  In particular, I worked with the science teachers extensively to creatively bring science concepts into the social studies classroom. In addition to individual data analyses, I worked with colleague...

This week's material was very enlightening, especially because it emphasized the importance of being missional, rather than instrumental as an educational technology leader. As I mentioned in my module 7 assignment, when it comes to technology integration, it is important to strive towards a much grander objective/goal to ensure that technology use goes beyond simple substitution practices, but rather demonstrates  (to students and teachers) an impact on learning that would not otherwise  be possible without technology. By drafting the questions to be more missional, they were inductive to solicit ideas for what solid professional development looks like for social studies teachers. I think this will end up being much more productive in the end because decisions to implement technology would stem directly from the expressed needs and wants of the teachers. This module and the assignments included therein reminded me that part of my role as a technology leader is to st...

Module 6 Reflection The biggest takeaway from this week's material is that technology integration and the processes and procedures associated therein may look very different between districts and sometimes between schools within districts. Some technology leaders in certain districts have well-developed plans for how they see technology being integrated and used in their district and strive to get all teachers on the same page. Others, as was the case with my former school district, technology integration and use is at the will of the teachers. In this system,  the technology leader for the district stays up to date with the latest emerging technologies and is willing to offer supports to teachers only if they seek support. Where I do not necessarily agree with this model of technology integration and facilitation, I understand that due to first and second order barriers, technology leaders have to be flexible and work within the confines of their school context. However, I feel ...

The biggest takeaway from this week's material were the readings regarding effective communication techniques and behaviors. I think that some of the time communication seems very instinctive; however, leaders can slip into ineffective communication practices due to being busy or making efforts to be more efficient. The most useful strategies from the readings were the intrinsic practices to keep in mind when communicating with others. For example, recognizing when you are getting frustrated in a conversation and taking the time to internalize what is being said before responding. This is important to ensure that communication remains respectful and open and that nothing is said on a whim without being thought through carefully. This week I learned that my results for the interpersonal skills self-assessment were as follows:  Listening Skills (52%), Emotional Intelligence (68%), Verbal Communication (77%), and  Communicating in Groups (83%). I also learned from colleagues th...

The biggest takeaway from this week's material would be that it is to the leader's benefit to take the time to develop and professional growth plan to frame their leadership. Leaders are expected to guide their colleagues and teammates towards their vision, and without careful thought, the risk of not attaining the goal becomes a reality due to unforeseen circumstances. The professional growth plan should be comprehensive and include all the small details that, if accounted for, will lead to the grander objective. I liken this to a mosaic. From a distance, a mosaic appears as one solid image, but as you look closer it can be seen that many smaller pieces make up the bigger picture. In regard to the educational technology goals. If a technology leader sets the goal for all teachers in the district to be proficient at using a certain Learning Management System, such as Canvas, that is the big picture (mosaic). However, the hosting of trainings and professional development for tea...

My biggest takeaway from this week's material is that being a transformational leader in educational technology is crucial for buy in from colleagues, and sustainability. As with any other leadership position, the designated leader should establish a mission with clear expectations for how they envision the facilitation and use of educational technology. A leader must take the time to establish constructive relationships with colleagues and team members in order to receive and give feedback. Taking the time establish the constructive relationships not only allows the leader to become more knowledgeable of team members' individual needs regarding their technology use, but more importantly, allows the leader to build a rapport with colleagues to help the team work towards the overall mission collectively. Something that I have learned about others this week is that motivation and inspiration can look very different depending on the district and by the school. Someone tasked wit...

Module 2 Reflection The biggest takeaway from this week's module is that it it is important to constantly check-in with yourself and conduct self-awareness checks. This is important to make sure emotions are under control, strengths are being utilized to fullest extent possible, and weakness are being challenged. Reflexive practices not only gives us the opportunity to evaluate individual situations, but also grow as a leader. Another beneficial takeaway from this module was identifying my VIA Character Strengths Assessment. I had a pretty good idea of what these strengths were; however, it was nice to conduct an inventory to see what else is present. This gives me a nice benchmark to know where I stand, as well as which elements I can work on building up. This week I learned from others in class that they too find controlling emotions to be salient and sometimes challenging. This makes me feel better that I am not the only one who is challenged by this. Due to multiple variabl...

Module 1 Reflection  My biggest takeaway from this week was to focus on the "why" I do what I do rather than the "how" so much. When I first began this Ph.D. program, my main purpose was to be able to provide future social studies teachers with a cache of strategies, skills, and best practices related to content.  Moreover, I wanted to motivate them to seek alternative methods and think outside the box to make social studies more rewarding and engaging for students. While, I still want to do this, I find that my professional objectives as a future Ph.D., teacher educator, and researcher is much deeper. This week's material, in tandem with the reflective assignments have given me the opportunity to explore my "why" a little more purposefully. I believe that I do what I do because I hope to  champion kindness in education so that people, in all their future endeavors, are willing to be disturbed and challenged to engage in civil discourse with other...