I found the instructional technology leadership course to be one of the more effective ones that I have taken in my process of working towards my specialist. I currently work as an instructional technology specialist with KSU ITeach which puts me in a different position then the rest of my classmates as I am doing much of the work that the program is preparing us for already. That includes work in helping students plan their futures through personalized learning planning. The issue with it though is that at almost all times these situations are just situations where I can give situations. They are not situations where I actually get to shape the process. This course also gave me an opportunity to add experience in one of the aspects of instructional technology that I have the least experience in.
To complete many of the assignments I had to just pick one of the schools I worked with and do the best I could with what I thought their instructional technology action plan should look like. It made the written artifacts less about actually making change at that school and more about what I would do to improve the school in an ideal world. To me this "exercise of thought" was incredibly valuable because I might have that opportunity in the near future to do that at a district level. It also gives me practice in crafting action plans for the districts and schools that ask for our assistant with Iteach.
While the class required an RSS feed in Feedly, I will continue to use the avenues of learning that have worked for me rather then continuing to use Feedly. The biggest avenue is my PLN and conference attendance. I can truly say that my PLN which is compiled on Twitter and I see at conferences are the ones who clue me in on trends and tools that I may have not seen. I also use Flipboard for new readings because it allows me to follow technology publications like the Verge to truly stay ahead of the curve. I know some may not have the same opportunities that I do, but it's what has worked for me.
To complete many of the assignments I had to just pick one of the schools I worked with and do the best I could with what I thought their instructional technology action plan should look like. It made the written artifacts less about actually making change at that school and more about what I would do to improve the school in an ideal world. To me this "exercise of thought" was incredibly valuable because I might have that opportunity in the near future to do that at a district level. It also gives me practice in crafting action plans for the districts and schools that ask for our assistant with Iteach.
While the class required an RSS feed in Feedly, I will continue to use the avenues of learning that have worked for me rather then continuing to use Feedly. The biggest avenue is my PLN and conference attendance. I can truly say that my PLN which is compiled on Twitter and I see at conferences are the ones who clue me in on trends and tools that I may have not seen. I also use Flipboard for new readings because it allows me to follow technology publications like the Verge to truly stay ahead of the curve. I know some may not have the same opportunities that I do, but it's what has worked for me.