Week 1 Assignment Part 1 A and B

The assessments this week helped me to realize the importance of technology these days. It is my job as a leader to constantly keep abreast of the ever changing tools, strategies, and uses that technology can provide. Out of the 18 Foundation questions, 15 were scored as a Yes, and three were a No. Information Acquisition had 10 with seven being Yes and three No. Solving Problems had 18 with 17 Yes and one No. Last, Communication had 12 questions and all 12 were a Yes for me. I had a hard time on some of the questions because of the wording. My terminology for technology is an area of growth that I can work on. Operating systems, primary memory and secondary storage, and determining the appropriate secondary storage device were items I was puzzled on. These are items I hope to further my learning on throughout the course. Another area of concern for me is what a directory is, I know what search engines are. Also, using Boolean for search strategies is a tool I don't use very often. Vector graphic files and bit-mapped graphic files are more items I'm not knowledgeable on. Doing that survey has made me realize the importance of becoming more familiar with technological terms, their meanings, and appropriate uses.
The other assessment I did was the State Educational Technology Directors Association Teacher Survey. This was a very complex survey that covered many topics related to technology and the use of it in the classroom. One question that stands out to me is, "How much time per week does a typical student in your class use technology while at school?" I chose 1 to 2 hours per week. There are so many time constraints, and other variables that make this hard to do at times. I would like to see this time with technology improve. Also, students do spend some time making presentations, doing research, etc. - but they might not always print them out. We'll usually just save them on the computer. At school, the students in class don't really use email or other data analysis and spreadsheets too often. This could be another area of growth that could improve. After taking the surveys, I agree with them and I find that I have some tasks to work on and improve for myself. I thought I was pretty tech savvy, however, I have some improvements to make on myself as well. As a leader, I am pretty open to trying new technology, attending professional development and returning to campus to train staff members. I do know to make technology as appealing as possible in order to get buy in from all staff members regardless of their level with using technology. We have to meet the needs of the students and if technology helps, then I'm on board with it all.