Internship+5388+-+Week+2

__**PART 1.1: WEB CONFERENCE**__ In week two I joined the webconference at a different time than my cohort. Dr. Abernathy answered questions in reference to the internship as she will do every week. In today's web conference I did not find too much of the information helpful. At this point I believe I know what I need to get done. The hard part is getting it done. I am a bit overwhelmed with two courses, my job, and taking care of my family. Last summer I was able to handle two courses at one time, but what make this summer a bit different is the fact that one of the courses is my internship. The internship is what determines whether I will graduate or not. SIS: Pasadena Independent School District used to use a mainframe that used Cobalt programming. This began in 1985. The mainframe could do scheduling, attendance, and mid semester grades. The problem with Cobalt programming was the expense to keep the dying program running. Mr. Bobby Blackwell, Dobie High School’s Student Information System Manager (SIS), compared Cobalt to Latin. He stated, “Not many students choose Latin as their major because there’s not much to come from it. It’s a dead language.” Mr. Blackwell described how the maintenance for the districts mainframe would get costly by having to hire men who can program the dying program of Cobalt. It would cost the district a rough million a year to maintain the system by continuing to train men in Cobalt programming. Another factor the district had to take into account was who would want to train in Cobalt programming if the programming was dying. The district felt that if they continued to pay the one million a year in maintenance fees, it would be as though they were renting a house because the school would continue to pay for maintenance without ever having full ownership. As a result, the school decided to seek alternative methods of holding student information. An option that Pasadena took into account was G-Link, a company that specializes in custom programming and Banyan which was denied due to hidden fees. They eventually found a product known as Chancery. Chancery, now owned by Pearson, was a new system that allowed for housing of other programs. The only problem that came with Chancery was that the district ended up spending more than planned due to specifications being incorrect by not showing the considering the amount of data held without the proper upgrade of equipment. The school district had to then consider the reoccurring costs and ballpark the amount for upgrades and proper equipment. According to Bob Daugherty, the MIS-IT for Pasadena Independent School District, he gave the following list of costs:
 * __PART 2.2: COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION [[file:Comprehensive Examination_Revised.docx]]__**
 * __PART 2.3 EDLD 5362 INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT__**

5 year investment summary: As the data above shows, the cost of continuing to maintain the mainframe does not compare to a new data system. The SQL is a web based database that covers all demographics, attendance, scheduling, cumulative history, enrollments, and more for students. Chancery, which is owned by Pearson, holds all of this information along with other programs. Chancery only allows for semester grades leaving the school to implement a new program called Gradespeed. Gradespeed allows teachers to take attendance, enter grades, view a student’s schedule, and guardian information. Mizuni is another program housed off of Chancery. This program allows for the viewing of a student’s past TAKS testing scores. Chancery’s lack of an all-in-one package is what leads to Gradespeed, Mizuni, Eduphoria, and Aware. Eduphoria allows for a teacher to enter and share their daily lesson plan. Aware allows for teachers to view a breakdown of student’s testing data. Overall, Pasadena’s software, Chancery, covered many areas necessary for student information housing, but the programming lacked in areas that had to be supplemented by other programs. Bob Daugherty stated, “Product is compliant with all Texas reporting and responsibility of vendor to keep reporting requirements up to date.” It is his responsibility to make sure the vendors have PEIMS capabilities. He is speaking of the Texas-specific function. When the district was searching for vendors only two companies met the PEIMS requirements. One company had the capabilities of holding grades, but the company was not in education but in business. This only left one more vendor which was Pearson’s Chancery. Chancery was programmed for education considering it had the capabilities of recording attendance, grades, testing records, student information, scheduling and supplying reports. Chancery was also supposed to have a discipline module, but it did not work well leading to other housed programs. Overall, Chancery has all of the capabilities to meet Texas-specific functionality, but other programs enhance the detail of meeting the requirements such as Gradespeed, Aware, and Mizuni and storing the information into Chancery. According to Bob Daugherty , he states that the “ Product is not the most user friendly application, but out of all solutions on the market for large district requirements, it continues to be the best available. We supplement the SIS with a separate data warehouse and portal application where most users can go for inquiry information, reporting, and analysis for student information.” In this, Mizuni is one of the portal applications used. Mizuni is user friendly, fairly quick, and stores student data pertaining to testing scores. Other forms of data can be retrieved from other programs such as Gradespeed. Gradespeed is also user friendly allowing for teachers to input grades (by cycle and semester), print reports, take attendance, view student’s home information and schedule. Another program used is Aware. Aware allows for the viewing of testing data. This information is very user friendly allowing scores to be viewed in a variety of ways, and can easily be imported to excel. Overall, the programs chosen by the district seem to be user friendly from the teacher’s perspective but not as much from the IT’s perspective. Bobby Blackwell described the customer support for Chancery as “mediocre”. He stated that Chancery promised great customer support, but has failed to fulfill their promise to the fullest. He stated that Mizuni and Gradespeed both offer good customer support. According to Bob Daugherty, “Customer support has improved over last 4 years. Initially, customer support was poor as there were numerous problems with the software during go-live year.” The district has been with Chancery since 2005-2006 and Gradespeed since 2007-2008 academic school years. Chancery did train school liaisons. The school then used the liaisons to train at least one teacher in each department as a go to person. Pasadena Independent School District does have properly trained users for their software system. The district’s Student Management System (SMS) users were first trained through the vendor, Pearson on the Chancery system. They then went on to train at least one employee from each department. This allowed for all employees to have access to trained personnel on questions regarding the data system. This then lead to the training of the rest of the district’s employees. At Dobie High School, first year teachers are trained during their off periods during the school day. According to Bobby Blackwell and Bob Daugherty, they both summed up that all users who are required to access and use the SIS are trained. User documentation exists and training is offered on continual basis for new users, update training, etc. Training is handled in-house by SMS applications team. Before taking this course I did not know of any logistics. I find that the more I speak to the technology leaders, I understand more and more of why we do certain things. I know that many times teachers are frustrated with having to go from one software program to another for student information, but what many teachers do not know is that we purchase these softwares, and there just is not a company yet that fulfills all of our district's needs. There is not a perfect software program just as there is not a perfect person. Now that I understand more of what is going on behind the scense I am a bit easier on the school when demanding why we do or do not do something to "fix" our problems. I have found that fixing our problems is not that easy. I find that those with power sometimes make decisions that were not fully thought out or even researched. For example, our district purchased Blackboard rights. No one at the school likes the program, but because of one person's sign off, we are now stuck with a program that no one really wants. The district spent so much money on it that they are not willing to budge in trying a new product. I would like to know how these decisions are made, and how I may be on the board to help in these decisions. This is something that I plan to further research for next year.
 * Software || $608,100.00 ||
 * Services(implementation, training, project management) || $303,650.00 ||
 * Conversion || $76,724.00 ||
 * Annual Maintenance || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$152,334.00 ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">hardware || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$200,000.00 ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Year one totals || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$1,340,808.00 ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Year 2 || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$159,951.00 ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Year 3 || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$167,949.00 ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Year 4 || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$176,346.00 ||
 * <span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Year 5 || <span style="background-color: #ffff00; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; text-align: right;">$185,163.00 ||

Readings: <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">I found the following quote close home, "There is agreement among teens and their parents about the role that the internet plays in teens’ education. Eighty-six percent of teens, and 88% of online teens, believe that the internet helps teenagers to do better in school. Eighty percent of parents and 83% of parents of online teens agreed with that proposition." I completely agree with this quote. I am not a mother of a teen, but I was a college student not too long ago, and am now a college student again. I use the internet for both my educational needs for my schooling and teaching. When I have students who say they need additional help, we find websites through the use of a search engine such as Google. I can then email them the link. There are so many resources available online allowing anyone to educate themselves in a heartbeat on practically anything imagined. Eighty percent seems to statistically show that the internet is very resourceful for educational needs. I believe we can all agree, with the understanding that not all of the resources are legit. Hitlin, P., & Rainie, L. (2005). The internet at school. //Pew Internet and American Life Project//. Retrieved on November 17, 2009, from http://pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2005/PIP_Internet_and_schools_05.pdf.pdf The Five Best Accelerators in School states, "Too often school districts invest in technologies because of their high-tech, 21st century appeal without fully considering their impact on student learning and long-term total cost of ownership.” It seems to me that schools are desperately trying to fit in the Texas Long Term Plan that full consideration is not being made on spent technology products. My school has done a great job in purchasing Promethean Boards. I believe the board is quite useful. The school's goal is to eventually have them in every room. The problem with this is the student's have already become bored with them. The boards cost us so much money for the students to now pay not enough attention to them. We also have the problem with the purchase of websites. Our district has blocked many sites from us. Many of us have built wikis that we nor our students are allowed to access from home. The district is going to provide us with websites. The problem with this...we are limited by the template and color. Once again, the student will see the same thing for all teachers. There has to be a way of providing technology in various ways without spending money on one piece of technology expecting all teachers to use it for engagement. Moore, R.J. (2006, August). The five best accelerators in school. //School Administrator, 63.7//, p. 8. According to Villano (208), "The system goes beyond basic emergency notifications with its Situational Student Messaging. Based on information her child's teachers provide, the TeleParent system tells Nihipali if her daughter got to class on time, whether she participated, and whether she did her homework. The system also informs Nihipali of her daughter's conduct in class- important information, considering the sophomore has a history of behavior problems." Currently, the district I work for uses Parent Connect as a means of communication with a student's parents. This allows parents to receive email notifications when there is a change to their son or daughter's school records. This is taken into account for grades and attendance. It seems that the article, //Meet the Parents//, Nihipali, a single parent is notified for much more. I would really enjoy a system such as their Situational Student Messaging. This would allow for me to input much more data without having to continuously pick up the phone or email a parent. This would really help with matters such as conduct in class. It would be nice to be able to input information such as, "student has decided to talk the entire period and not participate in any classwork". Another scenario in which I would like the messaging system would be for homework. So many parents tell me that their children tell them that they turned in their homework in which they really did not. The messaging system would be a way of communicating this quickly without having to input a grade. I could see this system as being very valuable in the education system. This technology can be used to our advantage. Many people have text messaging and now many have internet access on their phones. With the capabilities of what technology has to offer in education we can go far. I spoke to a parent the other day who’s daughter was kicked off the cheerleading squad because she got into a fight. Well, the mother had no clue her daughter was having problems because teacher’s had not notified her of any school incidents that occurred previous to the fight. She stated that she felt many teachers think that these kids come from broken homes and parents do not care. She stated that they do care, but many teachers just do not take the time to call or email her. She said that she filled out tons of paperwork at the beginning of the school year with her contact information, but did not receive one call from the school in reference to her daughter’s behavior until it was too late. Well, this TeleParent is a great way of communicating these small incidents to parents before a larger incident takes place. Villano, M. (2008, April 1). Meet the parents. //THE Journal//. Retrieved on February 7, 2010 from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2008/04/01/Meet-the-Parents.aspx?Page=1 Total Traffic Control costs approximately $10.00 per workstation. Something I found the most eye catching was that it is in compliance with CIPA and e-Rate rules. According to the article (July 23, 2009), the program is reliable and has easy configuration. The system was built in order to avoid students on computers owned by the school and computers owned by them would not be able to access certain sites. According to the article, the system had some difficulties, but they were fixed in the newest edition along with providing good customer service. 8e6 R3000 Internet Filter costs approximately $2.00 to $20.00 per workstation with the appliance cost of $3000. This filtering system requires a lot less hardware than many other filtering systems. The database is for student ranging from elementary to high school level. This program blocks many sites, but does not overpower teachers by still allowing them access to YouTube. Both of the filter programs get the job done. There is of course a cost difference. It seems that the 8e6 R3000 Internet Filter can cost a school more than Total Traffic Control, but there is also a possibility that it may not. Because the 8e6 R3000 Internet Filter does not require as much hardware, there is less maintenance to maintain. The program is built for large-sized districts. Another pro to the system is that it does not overbear in site blocking. While not much was mentioned about Total Traffic Control, we do know that it is e-Rate and CIPA approved, and good customer service is provided. It also filters every network. This includes when laptops are taken home. I personally think that filtering is a good thing to a certain extent. I will that you that I get very frustrated at school when I cannot access certain sites because they are blocked. Many of which are educational. It can sometimes make my job just a tad bit harder. Legally, filtering is the best way to go. Ullman, E. (2009, July 23). Web filtering that works. //Tech and Learning//. Retrieved on February 14, 2010, from: []

**__PART 2.4 EDLD 5364 Teaching with Technology__** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Before the course began, we were told what books we needed. I ordered my books with great excitement and anticipation to read them and begin the course. I stopped myself from reading the books until the actual course started. In the first week, we were asked to form groups and create means of communication so that we could begin to brainstorm. At this point in the course, I realized that this was going to be a challenge. I first envisioned for this course to be about teaching with technology in the classroom for me. I thought I was going to complete the assignments individually. When I found out the entire course was going to be worked on in a group I knew that I was going to have to put in a lot more effort especially for the means of online communication. I found that giving us a scenario with quite a variety of students with varying learning abilities was quite useful for our teaching with technology career. With the challenge of working five weeks on a given scenario, each building our own lesson plans, online books, and combining our UDLs, this course was a fine way of teaching us various methods of leadership. The course helped us to learn of various ways to communicate online such as Live Chat, Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Site, Wikis, etc. With the various means of communication, I was able to learn how different resources can be used to my advantage. Overall, I would say that the course exceeds my expectations, and much was learned so that I may better myself in the classroom along with leading others in the same activity.

What I have learned from building a UDL through CAST, professional development, and an online communication group I have found to be very resourceful in my work. I work with a group of teachers that are in fear of using new technologies. Instead of embracing new ideas, they deviate to old fashion teaching methods. Students are now built for the 21st century. They are in need of engagement. The best engagement for students today is technology. This course has allowed me to use many online tools that will help teachers ease into the use of technology within the classroom. Teachers can easily provide themselves with professional development by accessing a UDL written, searching TeacherTube, YouTube or for further tutorial if needed. The teachers can also create simple technology products such as Online Books and PhotoStory. These tools are user –friendly and allow the teachers to engage the students. With the collaborative work, readings, and videos, I was able to create many ideas that can be implemented within my school team. I can now build a UDL, share it with the other teachers, provide them with a Teacher Evaluation Rubric, and access how they are doing with teaching with technology in their classroom. Everything I have learned in this course is resourceful, and can be integrated everyday in the classroom to captivate and maintain student engagement for higher learning results.

An outcome that I gained from working with others in this course is the learning of various resources. I would like to further research these resources. In my group, a project a member presented the use of a program titled Snag It. This program allows for an individual to video their computer screen while recording the sound on the computer and voice of the presenter. I find this program very resourceful. I know, this program is one that I can use for the teachers at my school. Many teachers do not know what online resources are free and available to them. I could use this program to video many of the resources that I have come to find in this course through, videos, readings, and group collaboration to inform them of their uses and capabilities. This would allow the teachers to watch the video while access the online sites. They can do this at their own pace as they pause and play the video. The only thing that has prevented me from achieving this outcome is the time constraint to get in my assignments. Other than that, once this course is done I can begin to use the program. I have found nothing else from my course embedded work puzzling.

This course embedded work has taught me various methods for teaching with technology in the classroom. In week three, the course assignments were very difficult to complete, as it seemed we had much to submit. It was a great feeling of accomplishment once submitted completed. I find that only having one week to do a large portion of work is quite difficult, but it makes it that much better for getting work done. Working in a group, was sometimes difficult in the fact that some work slower leaving me in fear of the assignment not being turned in on time. Through the course of the five weeks, my group pulled together and was able to submit all assignments in within the grace period. On a side note, there was a time in which I was exhausted this past week with my three young boys. As I am on maternity leave, I am still bombarded with work from school. I was at a point of exhaustion where I did not feel like doing the readings, videos, and wiki update. I am on a straight A streak for my masters so I was not going to allow myself not to complete an assignment. Overall, I was able to complete all assignments by the deadline. I would say that this class has been my most time-consuming class but well worth it.

From the course embedded work, I have learned various methods of technology use within the classroom. The various methods include but are not limited to the following: online books, UDLs, wikis, blogs, Google Docs, Google Site, YouTube, TeacherTube, SnagIt, and various online sites. I was in fear of changing and editing the group’s page, but I found that if I do not take the risk now, I would never be able to lead others. This class has allowed me to learn how to create, communicate, and advise technology uses. In my recent visit to the school to pick up a laptop given to me, I became intrigued with our technology ideas for the school. I am now definitely going to take a larger role at leading my team and taking part in discussing technology use with school techs. I also plan to speak to students more about what online sources and computer programs they often use at home. Getting involved will allow me to learn more about technology so that I do not become outdated and I stay updated. I am excited to start the new year with online resources and tools to implement in the classroom and teach others.

Readings: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">From "Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools (Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007), it states, "Young people in the developed parts of the globe are very aware of the new tolls at their disposal and many of them spend hours online using these tools. Because these new technologies and new capabilities engage and motivate students, we can use them to educate. If you're reading theses pages, you're among the first wave of people who will move schools and educational technology forward by harnessing these new tools and new models of learning. "This section I found the simplest to understand and relate to. I graduated in 2003 from high school. Last year was my first year as a teacher. I teach at the high school I attended, and there is so much that has changed not only demographically but also technologically. We are now having to incorporate technology into our lesson plans, while when I attended high school we still used the overhead than the smart boards that are now available. I find it amazing how I can tell my students, or my students can tell me, "Just Google it." Extra tutorials, examples, information, etc. can be found and projected to the class in seconds. We have information about anything with the click of a button or the use of a cell phone. I am excited to work on my Masters in Education Technology Leadership so that I can bring as much as possible to the classroom. In this book, I find it interesting how it begins with discussing the fast pace world and how we now all work with the internet no matter where we are located. Just as my students get answers in a heartbeat from their cell phones.

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). //Web 2.0: New tools, New schools//. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 7-44. From //Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning// (2002). The article reads, "In neighboring Concord high school, students with widely varying skills read //The Catcher in the Rye// in English class, The book is available in both traditional paperback form and as digitized text, which the computer can read aloud at varying rates. Prompts embedded in the digital version offer support for reading-comprehension strategies such as predicting, questioning, and summarizing. Some students take advantage of those supports, others use the digital version without supports, and some students opt for the printed text. The reason I like this section is because it relates to situations I have been in, and it is useful in the classroom. Considering I teach math, having something read aloud may not be as useful in my class, but the idea is great. I know in the last course that we took for our masters, we had to look at the different styles of writing from The British Library online. In that program one could opt to listen to the notes being read. I chose to do that for a while, but then I felt the reader was going to slow. If it could have been read at varying rates, I would have listened the entire time. On a side note, I do find that enabling the students a bit. Having something read aloud to them does not allow for them to read it themselves for possibly an expanded vocabulary or just reading practice. I do see it being useful at times though. I do know that for a blind student the digitalized text will be completely beneficial to him. As a side note, I do find the various forms of text as a great way of reaching out to the diversity of learning capabilities. I find that I am finally adjusting to reading articles online because of this Master's program. I used to always prefer a hard copy. I do not like to waste paper so I have now adjusted to reading articles on the computer. Again, as stated above, it is quite beneficial to offer such a variety of methods for reading the book. Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). //Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 1. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/ From Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning, Chapter 6. The quote states, "Different learners aiming for the same goal generate different plans and steps for getting there. Because individuals have their own optimal pathways for learning strategic skills, teaching approaches and tools need to be varied" (Rose and Meyer, 2002). I found this quote the most appealing to me first because it reminded me of my husband. Many of you can probably relate. Have you ever tried going somewhere with someone and you find that each of you have mentally planned a different route to get to the destination? My husband and I often do this. We hardly seem to agree upon which route to take. He believes one way is better because it has less miles, but I choose the route that's the quickest rather than mileage. Which of us is correct? It really doesn't matter because in the end we are still getting to the same place. Well, it seems our students in the classroom do the same thing. I teach mathematics, and there are multiple methods to solve one particular problem. Some find one way easier than another. It depends upon each person. Typically, if there are two ways to solve a problem, I show them both. I have found a pattern though that the students often tend to glue to the first method. I'm thinking the reason being is because it's what I showed first. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Anyway, it is crucial to aim for the Universal Design for Learning in that it will hopefully reach all learners in some way or form that suits those best to learn.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). //Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 6. Retrieved on October 5, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/ "...use the technology to learn how to use the technology, or some might say, not just talk the talk, but truly walk the walk. Many studies of educators' lack of technology implementation have found that the lack of accountability from administrators on their actually accomplishing technological goals has been the most influential in practice (Schrumm, 1999). This quote was from 1999. Much has drastically changed since then. I believe many teachers have a fear of new technologies. Many just do not want to take the time to learn. Learning how to use a new tool can be time consuming and exhausting, but just think of how much easier teaching may be if we use all of the right resources. The quote also mentions administration. I believe they play a huge role in the use of technology. When technology use is not enforced many teachers will not dedicate themselves to using or learning the technology. Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). //Web 2.0: New tools, New schools.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 99 – 116. "Can assessment be authentic and simultaneously prepare students to succeed in the standardized testing that they will face? Absolutely!" I really like this because as I have taken course after course this is continuously emphasized. Not all students are the same. We have to provide assessments that reach out to the diverse learner's capability. Assessing the student is to get an idea of whether he or she understands the material being taught. If we can assess students at a level in which they may respond positively, we then know whether the material was comprehended correctly. Once we know that the material was learned, we can then proceed with higher thinking skills which better prepares them for standardized testing. During this Christmas break I am going to have my hands full. My school just gave me a laptop since I am a floater. I plan on taking many of the resources I have come across in this class and putting them to work. I am extremely excited about using these resources to implement more technology in my classroom. I know my students will definitely be excited too.

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). //Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 168-176.

**__PART 2.5 TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS III - TEACHING, LEARNING, AND THE CURRICULUM__** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">TL-III Educational technology leaders model, design, and disseminate curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. In the courses Information Systems and Teaching with Technology, much of Standard III was used. By creating a wiki for communication, we have followed TL-III.A.2 in that we designed a method for teaching the integration of communication tools. The wiki allows for the teachers to communicate online while learning hands-on. This also falls under TL-III.A.1 where technology productivity tools are being supported. In the course we also built a lesson through an online resource, CAST Lesson Building. This resource allowed for us to cover the following standards: TL-III.A.1, TL-III.A.2, TL-III.A.4, TL-III.A.6, TL-III.A.7, TL-III.B.1, and TL-III.D.1. By designing a lesson plan online, we designed a method and strategy that can be used for teaching. Cast allows for the support of distance learning, Web-based and non-Web based authoring tools in a school environment, and reaching diverse learners. Using CAST also allows for the building of managerial strategies for teaching with technology by guiding the user through a step-by-step process during the creation. From these activities I was able to gain the knowledge of creating lesson plans through an online resource that can be shared rather than only using the software provided to us by the district. I have learned that I am not limited to the use of school software when online resources are available. I must still complete my work through the school’s resources, but at the same time I can still use what Web 2.0 has to offer. Using Web 2.0, in most cases allows for so much more at no cost than what the district has paid thousands of dollars. Without having worked on a Master’s degree, I would have never known of so many free online resources. Now, I am able to use what resources I find suitable for my students outside of what has been provided for me by the district. Now, a teacher is highly encouraged to seek diverse methods for all learners. According to the video, //Diversity of Learners//, in previous years, there was a one size fits all method of teaching. This is no longer the case. Now teachers must find alternative methods of teaching to reach the diverse group of 21st century students. The video, //The Brain Research//, discusses how Neuroscience has discovered that students learn in an assortment of methods. It is the goal of CAST to build lesson plans for the diversity of students. The video states the three methods of networking as strategic, recognition and affective. The video //Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning// from CAST gives the idea of how in reality we have devices and accommodations made to ease the lives of those who are disabled or may have a problem of some sort for any circumstance. The video states how teachers must look at teaching their students in the same perspective. Teachers should build lessons that accommodate various learning styles. Finally, the video, //Principals of Universal Design for Learning//, discusses three principal methods of building a universal design for CAST. CAST first uses representation. This is so the students may learn what is being taught. The second principal is expression. This indicates ways in which the student may express themselves whether through verbally responding or some other alternative method. The final principal is engagement. The third principal should entertain challenge and motivate the students to want to learn more. These are all methods that are used in the construction of lesson planning through CAST. I would like to know if my school has showed this free resource to other departments at my school such as English and History. I will have to check with my school’s department heads to find if this resource has been shared. Out of everything mentioned, I do find one thing puzzling, and that is why would the schools spend so much money on one program and expect us to use that one program if so many are available for free to us.

**__PART 2.6 TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS IV - ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION__** <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">TL-IV Educational technology leaders communicate research on the use of technology to implement effective assessment and evaluation strategies. In the courses Information Systems and Teaching with Technology, Standards TL-IV.A.1, TL-IV.A.2, TL-IV.B.1, and TL-IV.C.2 were covered. The CAST Lesson Builder and analyzing the student information system are covered in Standard IV because of the designing, developing, evaluating, and modeling of products. The CAST Lesson Builder has a breakdown when creating that allows for the creator to build lessons online to reach all learners. CAST is a help resource in that it allows for identifying areas of weakness because of all of the subdivisions during creation. Designing CAST is a strategy that can show others the effectiveness of technology for learning, communication, and productivity. Analyzing the student information system allowed for me to identify the procure technology that we have as a district for further review and analyzation. The interviews helped with understanding the use of each program and why there are so many subprograms. I was able to communicate with other teachers of why we have so many programs, and what each of them is for. I have gained much information from the interviews that have lead me to wonder why a software company has not come up with a program that is user-friendly and does just about everything that a school needs. I do also wonder if it is worth a company coming up with a SIS program if so many other schools have already spent thousands of dollars on other software. I do have one last note. Is it wrong for me to want a program that does everything for us as far as grades, discipline, attendance, TAKS data, student home information, etc.? Am I just being lazy or is this something that should really happen? Reading: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> (1999), gives examples of seven different studies. These studies show that there is a definite change in student achievement whether slightly or largely increasing, it does. It seems that a few can be in agreement that the studies were well over ten years ago meaning there is most likely a difference much more great than the results given in the reading. Other research-based readings show also that there has been improvement in student achievement due to technology integration. Articles were found that more ideas of technology integration in not only lessons but in assessments too. Assessing students through technological methods provides a means for diverse student's to show what they have learned in an alternative method to written testing. Assessments such as online games, clickers that allow for poll type questions, and various computer software’s available. Overall, it has been proven that technology is the way to increase student achievement in the 21st century. After all, this is the main way of communication to others for many in our society. Whether it's through text messaging, email, wikis, second life, web cams, chat rooms and much more. Technology is what our students are used to going home to. This is where we must meet them in order to reach them and their diverse living styles.