UNSTRUCTURED Field Experience LogReflection
Instructional Technology Department – Updated Summer 2015
Candidate:Lydia Hordges / Mentor/Title:
Mindy Ramon
Inst. Tech. Coordinator / School/District:
Fulton County
Course:
ITEC 7482 Facilitating Online Learning / Professor/Semester:
Justin Castile
Spring 2016
(This log contains space for up to 5 different field experiences for your 5 hours. It might be that you completeone field
experience totaling 5 hours!If you have fewer fieldexperiences, just delete the extra pages. Thank you!)
2/1/16 / Moodle Learning Management System
Total Hours: [5 Hours] / PSC 3.5 / ISTE 3e
First Name/Last Name/Title of an individual who can verify this experience:
Justin Castile / Signature of the individual who can verify this experience:
DIVERSITY
(Place an X in the box representing the race/ethnicityand subgroups involved in this field experience.)
Ethnicity / P-12 Faculty/Staff / P-12 Students
P-2 / 3-5 / 6-8 / 9-12 / P-2 / 3-5 / 6-8 / 9-12
Race/Ethnicity:
Asian
Black / X
Hispanic
Native American/Alaskan Native
White
Multiracial
Subgroups:
Students with Disabilities
Limited English Proficiency
Eligible for Free/Reduced Meals
Reflection
(Minimum of 3-4 sentences per question)
1. Briefly describe the field experience. What did you learn about technology coaching and technology leadership from completing this field experience? I’m creating a learning management system for my online learning course ITEC7482. The LMS I’m using is Moodle. Moodle is a self-supporting system. There is no technical help-desk or anyone I can talk with or text or email to get technical support. There are blog groups which are dated and documents I can access online to help myself. I was really struggling trying to register my students on my site. I had to find how to do this. I searched high and low for someone to help me with this but I could not find any help. It took me hours to stumble upon the Moodle help-documents. Once there I had to read through several documents to find out how to register my students. Some of the methods were not updated to the latest software version I was using and that was very frustrating. I had to play around with different methods, some to no avail, but I finally found out how to register my students. I learned that some things involving using technology and working out the bugs aren’t apparent and help isn’t always available. I have to know where to look for the support I need and help myself. As a technology leader, people are going to come to me for help with software and hardware issues. I have to be able to know how to solve the problems or know where to find the information whether it be an online document, a technical support person or site, or speaking to an experienced person familiar with the product.
2. How did this learning relate to the knowledge (what must you know), skills (what must you be able to do) and dispositions (attitudes, beliefs, enthusiasm) required of a technology facilitator or technology leader? (Refer to the standards you selected above. Use the language of the PSC standards in your answer and reflect on all 3—knowledge, skills, and dispositions.)
Knowledge – A technology coach must have the knowledge to help others. I must constantly seek knowledge through professional development opportunities or professional groups where we can exchange ideas.Technology is ever-changing and I have to know what tools to use how to use them and how to troubleshoot problems that arise with it.
Skills – I must be able to respond to the needs of faculty concerning their technology concerns. I have to be well versed in a variety of web 2.0 tools to meet the needs of integrating technology in interdisciplinary lessons. I must be able know where to get support and answers to facilitate the use of technology for students and faculty. I must be willing to vet new software and hardware and pilot new technology programs. I must continue to deepen my knowledge and expertise to demonstrate professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to content, pedagogical, and technological areas along with adult learning and leadership.
Dispositions -It is crucial that my disposition evokes a sense of equal partners among everyone that I encounter so that I am viewed as a team player and not a dictator or evaluator. I must help teachers teach more effectively so that students can learn better to improve their performance and increase their success.
3. Describe how this field experience impacted school improvement, faculty development or student learning at your school. How can the impact be assessed?As a technology coach, it is imperative to continually seek out the trends in education including instructional strategies that work and be able to share the most current data with colleagues.I have gained useful insight about blended and online learning through this field experiences. I plan to incorporate the blended learning model through use of my LMS to better prepare my students for college and other online courses. I hope to inspire other educators, at my school and in the district, to consider blended and/or online learning to engage students in active learning while teaching them the skills to compete in the 21st Century. This experience can be assessed by observing my students work through the learning module from the LMS.