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Comprehensive Exam Chandra L. Carroll Lamar University

** Comprehensive Exam  ** Evolution is a concept that ushers in growth and transitions from a point of origin to something more complex and sophisticated. It entails a metamorphosis that is never static but ever changing. As I embark on a new career as an educational technology leader, I, along with the demand for a 21st century education that is expanding into a bustling frontier of multimedia learning, have adjusted my commitment to education to meet the new challenges and demands that encompasses such initiatives. As a leader, I am ready to assume the role of an educational technologist who will assist teachers in making ground breaking strides in teaching by equipping them with the skills and technology tools that will transcend education as we know it. I am proud to say that my preparation to do so has come by way of the Master’s degree program of Educational Technology Leadership at Lamar University that has likewise equipped me to evolve into the competent leader I have become. Through this writing, it is my goal to share my educational experiences in this program as well as my future goals on how I plan to help shape the future of education with a redesigned pedagogy, skills, and expertise that are immersed in technology integration. Through a change that I have made for the better, I, now, embark on a glorious, rewarding, challenging, and promising future. ** __ Position and Leadership Goals __ ** ** __ Position Goals __ ** It is my desire to further my career as an emerging technologist in acquiring a position as a technology facilitator at the elementary school level. In this setting, I will best utilize my skills and background experiences to assist teachers in integrating technologies. Williamson and Redish (2009) stressed, “The work of technology facilitators most likely occurs in one-to-one coaching or small group scenarios” (p.24). Considering that my learner orientation is hands-on, this would be my best fit as I mentor and model the benefits of technology at the campus level. Furthermore, my background experience in using technology in the classroom came during my formative years as a first year teacher at a pilot technology elementary school. Through this experience, I fully understand the importance of getting teachers to embrace and adapt technology implementation in the foundational years of our Digital Natives. ** __ Leadership Goals __ ** I, moreover, seek to be the kind of leader that initiates technology use in a non-threatening way. We understand the impediments of technology use due to teachers’ lack of knowledge, skill, and understanding in integrating it into the learning. I want to lead firmly realizing the urgency of now for its use yet gently remembering how challenging this can be for some teachers to adopt. Prensky (2001) reminds us of this significance with this metaphor, “It’s very serious, because the single biggest problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language” ( p. 3). The need to transform minds of these immigrants to embrace teaching that is engaging and embedded in the curriculum is my driving force. Understanding the need to accommodate such a wide array of diverse digital natives fuels this drive. My personal need to apply my learning in a hands-on way and make a difference in the trenches furthermore propels me. I choose people in my line of work which entails being engaged with them on all fronts. Through directly working with teachers and sometimes students, my initiatives will enhance learning and make a difference ultimately in improving the school I am in. Ultimately, with this experience, I plan to affect change and become a technology leader as a district technology specialist. ** __ My Educational Technology Vision __ ** ** __ Position Goals and Horizon K-12 Report __ ** Forecast: This is a special weather bulletin. On the horizon, ground breaking storms of technology use like never before is coming our way leaving educators no choice but to weather the storm and equip themselves with tools that will engage the learner in unprecedented ways. After reading the Horizon K-12 Report, my excitement for technology integration and the path I have chosen only intensified as I received confirmation that there is really no turning back to education as we once knew it. I told of my desire to work in a campus based setting directly involved with the teachers and students and hands-on integration. The report gave six technologies that I am aware of and have used personally such as ebooks, mobiles, augmented reality, game based learning, gesture based computing, and learner analytics. Because of these trends, I believe my position as a technology facilitator is solidified. Consequently, the demand for use of these tools in education will create positions that require my expertise, skills, and savviness of use as a facilitator for professional development as schools seek to incorporate them. I began with a metaphor for this initiative as a storm because, like a storm, the hands-on opportunities that technology integration is creating are torrential. I referenced the word, torrential through Google and found the definition at Dictionary.com which means “falling rapidly and in copious quantities”. With that in mind, the global community can get ready for the “gusher” as new technologies and opportunities surge. ** __ Leadership Goals and the Horizon K-12 Report __ ** “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” -Old English Proverb People, like horses, will only do what they have a mind to do. And with this consideration, I so inspire to be the kind of leader that will affect the minds or consciousness of educators I’m entrusted with knowing that they may not initially have a mind to embrace these various and new technologies, but I must create one. The Horizon Report informed us of the impact of the six aforementioned technologies and stressed how difficult it is to keep up with them because technology is ever evolving. Because this is happening at an overwhelming rate, users are creating their own guides along with the experts causing an abundance of information to sort through over the internet. Hence, leaders will be needed to assist teachers in sorting through this and staying current with changing trends. The report confirmed, “There is a greater need than ever for effective tools and filters for finding, interpreting, organizing, and retrieving the data that is important to us” (2011 Horizon Report, p.4). As a leader, I would gain more experience in task, TF-IV.A.2, which calls for me to “assist teachers in using technology to improve learning and instruction through evaluation and assessment of artifacts and data” (ISTE Facilitator and Leadership Standards, 2007). Although presenting these tools are not enough, as Williamson and Redish (2009) emphasized, I know I must create “desirable uses or best practices” for these tools. This, in turn, will prepare me to lead with skills that propel me to constructing and designing curriculum models for integration as a technology curriculum specialist. ** References  ** Prensky, M. (2001). // Digital natives, digital immigrants: Part 1 //. //On the Horizon //, //9//(5), 1-6. Williamson, J, & Redish, T. (2009). // ISTE’s technology and leadership standards: what every K- 12 technologist should know and be able to do. // Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. The 2011 Horizon Report http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf 