Field+Based+Activities+Reflection+VI.E

Standard VI.E is about facilitating equitable access to technology resources for all students. The preparation for this activitiy took place over several months, as I became familiar with the unique situations of a performing arts magnet school. My prinicipal recruited me to help bring this school to the next level with regards to technology integration. Being brand new to the job and the school, I had a monumental task to decide the best way to invest the technology funds allocated in a way that supported sudent learning in all areas of the building.

One area that was lacking in technology was our music department. Whenever I think of music technology, I am reminded of the quote by the character Bruno in the movie //Fame// (DeSilva, 1980): "Mozart wouldn't do this today...This bowing business. He'd plug his keyboard into an amp and he'd have string quartets coming out of his fingers…He'd overdub and mix, of course. He wouldn't make the same old noise…He'd sound electric. He'd have spacier strings and horns and computerized bassoons…Who needs orchestras? You can do it all with a keyboard, an amp and enough power.". My goal was to bring technology to the music department so that our students would be more prepared for the new musical world.

My recommendation was to replacing the Visual Arts Mac lab, since those computers were no longer powerful enough for the video editing software they used. Those computers, which had been well maintained and recently updated would be moved to the music department. Future plans include replacing thoes hand-me-down Mac's. But for a start, they will work beautifully.

Professional development had to be included, of course. While it is a major component, and teachers complain about getting new stuff and not knowing how or where to use it, they are very protective of their time. Knowing that p rofessional development is most eﬀective when it occurs in the context of educators’ daily work (Mizell, 2010), I considered ways for teachers to get the meaningful training they needed.

One of the problems with developing the budget was not knowing where the district was going. Were we to be part of the one to one inititive? If so, there would be no need to budget for wireless access points, as the district would be providing those. Nor, would there be a need to purchase more student computers for the library, since students would have their own.

And, what direction is the district going with the one to one initiative? If students receive laptops, will they be PC's or Mac's? Or will they get tablets? Or hybrids? Those were questions tht remain unaswered. The only part that I know is that my school is not participating in the one to one initiative for the coming year.

References:

DeSilva, D. (Producer), & Parker, A. (Director). (1980). // Fame //. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Mizell, H. (2010). Why profesional development matters. Learning Forward. Retrieved on May 10, 2014 at[]

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). I // STE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do //. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education.