Reflection of my Learning Experience in Educational Leadership 755

Web 2.0 Tools

            I was very happy with the Web 2.0 tools that were taught throughout this course.  I was amazed at the different uses that Google alone offers.  I find that the most useful tools I wish to incorporate into my daily work are Google Docs and Google Sites.  I work with a team of people and we use email everyday to send documents to one another for proofreading and editing.  I also find Google Sites to be useful when talking with prospective students about the university.  I plan to continue adding to the site I have created with more information about our different majors.  When a student comes in that is interested in a specific major, I can bring up the site and use it as a visual aid.  I can also incorporate links that are beneficial for them to check out when they are at home.

            Although I would not consider it a Web 2.0 tool, I do wish that a section of the course on smart boards would have been useful.  Even though I am not an educator in K-12, I am a student myself and have never been taught the benefits that a smart board has given to the classroom.  I also believe that a smart board could be brought into other areas than just a classroom such as a conference room for team meetings and presentations. 

Readings of Educational Leadership 755

            I enjoyed the way Thomas Misa’s Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance to the Present was set up with each group reading and creating an online presentation for their chapter. It allowed for each of us to put the tools into use and by using the online format, it forced me to use the tools that I would not typically use.  However, I feel that the way it broke down left many of us with a section of a chapter that went into greater detail than was necessary. In my instance, I spend study time reading about the development of steel and glass. It was hard to understand how it all wrapped together until everyone had completed their online presentation.  Although it was beneficial to learn about the development of technology throughout the years, it may be better to incorporate it more into educational leadership. 

            The readings of Carr and Shirky were easy to follow and in many cases entertaining.  It also brought in two contrasting perspectives that I found to be interesting.  However, I would have liked to spend more time reading about technology in education.  In addition, since the course is titles Technology, Culture and Learning, it would be interesting to learning about technology in different cultures and how it may differ depending on where you live.  I found the last class to be very interesting when Dr. Kim spoke about the advances that are being made in Japan and how it differs from what we are doing in America.  I feel that having a day devoted to talking more about this topic would have wrapped together what I expected from this course.

Reflection Paper

            The reflection papers were a great way for us to think deeper about the readings.  It is easy to read words, set down the book and walk away but to sit down and write your thoughts help you absorb the information you are reading and sort out what you truly think. Although it is great to read others thoughts on their blogs, I did find it hard to read many of my classmate’s reflection papers and to make comments.  Many times I felt that I was re-reading the book all over again.  Perhaps a list of questions for us to address in these reflection papers would help give direction. 

Final Team Papers in Wikispaces

            The final team paper was much more intimidating in theory than it ended up being in reality.  At the start of the project, it was difficult to take a direction without knowing how other team members felt.  It was also something we weren’t able to start until after the last class since I was a bit confused about the specifics of what the project was about. When doing a project on your own, you know at all times where you stand in the process and what needs to be done.  With the online team paper, it was hard to know what your team members were working on or if everything was being covered. You have to put a lot of trust into your teammates.   

            I found the wikispace to be a great place to put together this team project.  We all worked at separate times of the day which alleviated the fear of erasing your teammates work by mistake.  It is however a bit nerve-racking to know there is a possibility to do that.   We had put together a calendar of due dates which told each team member what area to work on and when to have it done by.  We also incorporated times to meet as a group and go over our work to ensure that we all on the same page. 

This was the first class that I have had the task of putting together multiple group projects using online tools.  I feel that the course does a great job teaching you about the tools needed to be successful putting together projects online and also in a team format.  Many of us will be able to find these tools useful in our personal lives as well. 

Overall Experience in Educational Leadership 755

            Overall, I am very satisfied with the information I have received in this course.  With the hands-on experience using these tools, I feel more comfortable taking what I have learned and continue working with them and incorporating them where they may be the most useful.  I would not say I am completely comfortable with the tools at this point however having the basic knowledge will allow me to challenge myself to learn more.  The best experience in the course was learning to use VoiceThread.  It is a tool that I had never known about before and can see this tool being useful in more ways than just in education or in my work.  I find it to be a great tool to interact with one another and to be able to receive feedback in many different ways.  The one thing that has always limited me in blogging and commenting is that typed words can oftentimes be misinterpreted.  The ability to vocalize your thoughts and listen to others comments is just another step towards the best outcome. 

            A suggestion I have for future classes is to move to a teaching lab.  It was difficult at times to follow along with the online instruction while the computer you are working on is facing in the opposite direction.  There are steps along the way that I feel I had missed while trying to view both screens.  Another suggestion is to clarify the optional assignments.  I wasn’t sure if these assignments were completely optional or if we were to choose a few of them to complete and it was up to the individual as to which ones to choose.  I would have liked to have a better understanding of what the optional assignments were in place for. 

            In conclusion, I am happy to have had the hands on experience of using the different types of tools.  Technology is the direction that our world is going in and to keep up to date with these instruments will allow us to be better educators and have a better understanding of what is needed to help students.  Technology is giving us opportunities we have never had before and it is to our advantage to learn and continue to grow along with them.

Reflection: Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky

Our next book to reflect on is Clay Shirky’s Cognative Surplus (2010).  Having received my undergraduate degree in Psychology, I found this book to be very fascinating to read.  Many of the “norms” we expect individuals and society to follow in today’s day and age, we see changed throughout this book.  Shirky credits the opportunities that are offered to all of us on a daily basis as being the reason behind these changes. 

The first situation that interested me was the amount of TV being watched by individuals.  What do people do with their free time? Watch TV.  However, Shirky has found that today there are groups of young people who are watching less TV than their parents.  “Young populations with access to fast, interactive media are shifting their behavior away from media that presupposes pure consumption “(pg. 11).  In my opinion, there really isn’t much of a difference between spending time staring at a computer screen watching YouTube videos or sitting on the couch watching TV.  However, Shirky points out one big difference.  While I am quietly sitting on my couch conversing with no one, teens are online with the “opportunities to comment on materials, to share it with friends, to label, rate, or rank  it, and of course, to discuss it with other viewers around the world” (pg. 11). At this point in my life, I don’t have kids but I have thought about the use of the internet by children or young adults and what I will decide when I am hopefully a parent some day.  I have always been anti-internet for kids and teens because all we hear about on the news are sex offenders seeking out children or bulling happening by instant messaging or Facebook.   You never hear about the good that the internet can bring to the development of young children and you don’t think about the great array of knowledge you are keeping your children from if they are not able to explore it.  I am starting to consider the drawbacks of not allowing my children to use the internet.  Will I be setting my children back by not allowing them to participate and grow from cognitive surplus? 

When Shirky speaks about cognitive surplus, he talks about projects such as Ushahidi and Wikipedia.  What projects like these did was allow people to satisfy their want to create and to share.  Although it has obviously been a success and is very evident when you look at things such as Facebook and Wikipedia, I find myself not falling into this category of people.  I have many intrinsic passions that I enjoy but do not have a need to share it with the world as many people do.  Maybe it is just the personality type that I am, however, am I at a disadvantage as more and more of these types of project come to existence?  I think that participation in these types of resources is on a wide spectrum, ranging from individuals who use them daily, adding comments, rating, ranking, liking, etc.  all the way to individuals who use them only a few times a month to look up information and not really adding to its content.  I find myself somewhere in the middle. 

As I read about Shirky’s thoughts on opportunity, my thoughts on if I will allow my children to use the internet and how I use it myself, have changes.  He spoke about people operating as peers without someone who is managing them.  “This increase in our ability to create things together, to pool our free time and particular talents into something useful, is one of the great new opportunities of the age, one that changes the behavior of people who take advantage of it”(pg. 119). If someone were to ask me to describe my work style, I would say that I am a team player.  After reading this sentence, I realized that the internet is a new tool to allow us to all work as team players.  Not only with the people that we share and office space with, but also with people that work thousands of miles away from us.  At our university, civic engagement and civility has become a huge part of our everyday work life.  We are asked to attend workshops on these areas and take what we have learned and incorporate it into our everyday lives.  The internet is a great way to better understand others perspectives and to realize that our way of thinking is not always the only way.  There are so many talented people in this world and we do not all live within 45 miles of one another.  At what other time in history, were people ever able to communicate as freely and as globally as we have to ability to do today?  Because of that, I truly do believe that I am to a disadvantage if I don’t use the tools that we are so lucky to have at our fingertips today.

As I wrap this up, I know I say this often, but I can’t help but think about the children I hope to have one day and how different the wor;d they grow up in will be compared to mine.  The best thing I can do is be open minded to the changes that come up and to not just sit back and stay in my ways.  It is to all of our advantages to explore the options that are put before us because that will help us grow.   Where would we be today if we didn’t take Gutenberg’s printing press invention and run with the idea of spreading knowledge as far as we can take it?  

Reflection - The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr is a book about the effects of technology and the internet on society both intellectually and culturally.  In this paper, I will reflect on this reading and contribute my thoughts around the ideas that Carr has brought up in his book.

                I can still remember the very first time I used a computer.  For many people my age, the story may be similar.  I was in 3^rd or maybe 4^th grade when my teacher introduced Oregon Trail for social studies class.  That was the very first time that technology was incorporated into my education.  It only grew from there as teachers began to require typed papers, videos were shown in relation to what we were learning, and researching topics could be done by using “Ask Jeeves”.  Don’t get me wrong, I have spent my fair share of time in the library, researching topics by digging into the multiple shelves and tracking down that one book based on a grouping of numbers and letters.  However, I have been part of a generation that has been introduced year after year to new ways of researching topics and information. 

There has been quite a change in how information is being absorbed since the start of the internet.  In chapter one, Carr talks about the way he read books.  Often times spending many hours immersing himself in books and absorbing long articles.  He goes on to talk about an interview with Bruce Friedman about how the internet has changes that way of reading.  On page 7, he mentions, “His (Friedman) thinking, he said, has taken on a “staccato” quality, reflecting the way he quickly scans short passages of text from many sources online.”  This is something I relate to.  Reading articles and books was something I enjoyed doing when I was younger, but as articles on the internet have become more readily available including smaller articles with more pertinent and to-the-point information, I find it harder and harder to sit down and read an entire book, word for word.  This has benefits and drawbacks.  Benefits include being able to learn more about a topic in a smaller amount of time, the ability to research and be a “skilled hunter” (pg 9) to find many different sources which can include multiple perspectives from others, however, are we truly learning anything if we are not spending the time to dig into it further and completely understand a topic, are we challenging ourselves if we are just skimming the topic.   The effect that the internet is causing on how information is being processed is summed up on Page 10, “Calm, focuses, undistracted, the linear mind is being pushed aside by a new kind of mind that wants and needs to take in and dole out information in short, disjointed, often overlapped bursts- the faster, the better.”

Carr continues by discussing the many views that scientists and physicians had on how the brain relays information and how it relates to us as children all the way through adulthood.  The brain is believed to be made of nerve cells or neurons with a central core that carries a function and use axons to communicate with one another by transmitting neurotransmitters across a synapse to the dendrites of another neuron.  It is “the thousands of billions of synapses inside our skulls tie our neurons together into a dense mesh of circuits that, in ways that are still far from understood, give rise to what we think, how we feel and who we are” (pg 20).  The difference that physicians and scientists couldn’t agree on was if neurons could grow and change throughout your life or if they stayed the same as when you were a child.  My personal thought on this, I came to understand, when Carr spoke about those with mental illnesses or brain injury.  If our brains could not change or grow, there would be no hope for either to recover.  It was interesting to read about the experiment done at the University of Wisconsin Madison by Michael Merzenich.  Although I am a strong believe in animal rights and do not believe it was humane for a scientist to cut holes in a monkey’s skull, the understanding we received about how the brain can reorganize itself after nerves have been severed or limbs have been lost, was a huge break though.  It is also reassuring to know that there is hope for mental illness and brain injury patients.  I do believe that our brain is always creating new neurons that help us feel and become who we are.  However, I don’t think we lose many neurons along the way either.  I think that our neurons are always growing just like the rest of our body.  For example, I have fair skin and red hair.  I have always had fair skin and red hair, however, my skin and hair now is not the same skin and hair that I had when I was 5 but it still has the same characteristics.  I didn’t, along the way, one day wake up with tan skin and brown hair. The same for neurons, what I think and what I feel may change, but I never completely forget who I was or how I felt along the way.  However, memories are forgotten which shows me that it is possible to lose some neurons along the way also.

Carr talks about the argument between technological determinism and instrumentalism.  Determinism believes that what happens is out of the control of humans.  Instrumentalism believes that humans are in control of the instruments that are invented.  Both arguments are easy to see when you think about different technologies.  Something may have been invented because society had a need for it and it is the humans choice as to what is being used, however, determinist would say that humans have no control over the “path and pace of technological progress” (pg 47).   Although this is an argument that will never be resolved, it is evident that technology changes the path that our world takes.  You can see this simply by reading history books or even thinking back to your own childhood and the advances that have been made that have changed your own world. 

Google is yet another tool that has changed us as we know it.  Be honest, who hasn’t googled their own name to find what may be out there?  But what we don’t always see so readily is the impact it is making on society and how it is shaping our word.  Efficiency has always been important, no matter what point in history and also today. It’s what often times drives invention and technological advances.  But at what point is it all too much?  It reminds me of the commercials out there today where someone will ask a simple question and the other person begins to babble on about different answers much like what you read when you type in a google search, information overload.  In order to find what you are looking for, you scan and skim over words which are why we no longer have the patients to sit down and read a whole book any longer.  It’s a vicious cycle that in my opinion will never be reversed.  That is the way technology has changed our world and will continue to change us as we go. 

Every job has its tools and every generation has its inventions that have changed life as we knew it at that time.  I feel that we can’t dwell on the past and how things were once done. We need to be as flexible as the neurons in our brains.  We can always look back to learn from the past but we also need to be flexible about the future.  If we are conscious of how technological advancements can affect society either negatively or positively, we will be successful on improving our world for the future.     

Reflections Paper: Thomas J. Misa, Leonardo to the Internet

                Leonard to the Internet by Thomas J. Misa (2004) is a very enlightening book that discussed how inventions have progressed throughout the years.  It was interesting to see how cultural wants and needs have played such a large part in the evolution of technology.  You can truly see how both society changes technology but also technology changes society. 

                I enjoyed seeing how each group was able to summarize their chapter in either a youtube video or voice thread.  It was a new spin on presentations that I have never experienced before.  The book goes into great detail, listening to each group’s presentation brought more information in a shorter amount of time.  It was very entertaining and also allowed us to take what we have learned in class and put it into practice.  The more familiar I feel with a certain program, the more likely I’m going to continue to use it and therefore it was to my advantage to have an opportunity to practice the different techniques we have learned.   It was fairly easy to work in a group on this project.  Having learned Google Docs, we were able to keep each other up to date and add suggestions along the way.  It was a luxury to be able to work from home and meet only once in person to add our final touches.  There are projects I work on in my job that takes longer to complete with a team despite are all in the same office.  We use the typical email system and since learning Google Docs, I have suggested numerous times to switch and hope to have everyone in the office using it soon. 

                There were numerous topics in Misa’s book that I found were things I had never known before or never spent the time to think about.  First, in Chapter 1 the group spoke about Leonardo Da Vinci as a military engineer.  I had never known that Leonardo developed his masterpieces between military contracts. Even at that time, the demands of the culture outweighed the creativity of an inventor.  Secondly, the cultural shift that Johann Gutenberg’s printing press caused in the spread of knowledge and access to knowledge can only make me think of how the internet has and will continue to change our current world’s knowledge base and their access to information. Answers to today’s questions are only a few finger types away.  How will our children or our children’s children search for answers to their everyday questions? Lastly, the demand of society and how it has shaped what was invented at that time.  Many groups spoke about how there were great inventors at that time but it was the contracts or patents that were made that needed to be fulfilled or limited what an inventor could do which led to less time to be able to invent from their own imagination.  It makes me wonder what could have been invented if they had more time to devote to their own projects and had open accessibility to the knowledge at that time.  Many of the inventions were motivated by the needs of society.  If inventors were able to invent from their own imagination, would society have been changed by their inventions. 

                This is still the same for today.  If society is in need of a new product, big companies like Apple, General Motors, General Electric, etc.  strive to meet those needs and work to up-the-ante.  Misa encourages us to think more deeply about the technologies that come before us. In chapter 10, Misa tells us “technologies can be a powerful means for making the world a better place” (p. 319). He encourages us all to take into greater consideration the effects we can make on technology and how we can also help shape the future because of that.  I have to agree that as technological advances are made, we learn from the past.  If we can keep in mind why the advancements are being made, we will continue to work towards a better future. 

Visual Learning

This week I learned about visual learning.  As a visual learner myself, I wish teachers would have had the access to tools like this when I was in school.  I know that students have all different types of learning styles and I truly believe there is a lot of sense in incorporating visual learning in the classroom.   My brother is a special education teacher and while discussing this topic with him one day he had mentioned this story.  One of his fellow teachers was having a very difficult time getting her students to listen while she gave them instructions to follow for an assignment.  As an experiment, she decided to record herself saying the exact same information she would say in front of the class and upload it onto YouTube.  When she played the video for her students, all of them sat down, were quiet and listened intently to her instructions.  Students today are use to finding the answers to their questions online, so why not send them the message in a manner they are use to receiving.

                Although I know there are many ways I can incorporate visual learning into my role as an Admissions Counselor, it is fall and I have my families pumpkin farm on the brain.  So for this assignment, I created a YouTube video my family’s business, Zedland Farm.   I spent the day recording our animals, taking scenic videos and recording footage of our hayride.  This is a great addition to put up on our website.  It can show people a sneak peak of what they will find on the farm and invite them to visit our website and hopefully come on out and see it firsthand.   Now that I know how easy it is, I will definitely be doing this again as we add more features each year.

Pixlr Editor and Pixlr Express was the second tool I learned more about this week.  It is super easy to use and once I start, I can see myself spending hours using this tool.  I have always loved photography and this gives me the chance to play around will all the tools and try out all the different ways to enhance my pictures.

                In my current job, I can see myself using these tools to create postcard invitations for preview days.  Right now, I use Microsoft Publisher, which has some limitations.  This would allow me to manipulate the pictures I use and really customize them the way I want them to look.  As a background in these pictures, we like to use a scenic picture of campus; I could use either of these tools to really enhance the picture to make them pop.  When students receive them in the mail, we want them to see something that draws their eye in so they can’t help but take a second look at. 

Social Networking

Our office currently uses many different social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and YouTube.  It has gained a huge presence in our office since we brought on a Social Media Specialist a little over a year ago.  The funny thing is that it is all very secretive.  To stay competitive in higher education, we are thinking of new ways to incorporate social media, since that is where the students are at.  However, since many of it is so public and open for all to view, it also means that other schools can view what we are doing.  To keep a competitive edge, we can't share what we are currently working on.  I know it sounds very James Bond of me to say that, but it's the truth.  I can say that we have created many YouTube videos for the different programs on campus and have used them to promote some of the Preview Days that are specific for majors such as business.  We have also used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to spread the word about different events such as Preview Days, campus tours, and other campus events.
Our Facebook account also has different pages. One page is dedicated to the Class of 2016.  Current seniors in high school can go onto this page and meet other students before they even get to campus.  Last year, we even saw students starting conversations and in the end deciding to be roomates or starting new organizations once school starts.  Another page has all of the names, pictures and contact information for the Admissions Counselors in our office.  It makes it easier for them to asks questions if they can find that information all on one spot rather than having to search us on the website. 
I can't say Social Networking has been my favorite thing in the past.  Privacy has always been very important and the main reason why I haven't used it in the past. Now I'm starting to see the real value it could play for me in my job.  I am currently working with our Social Media Specialist to create a page specific to me where I can keep people updated on our preview days and just stay connected with the students I meet with. 

Social Bookmarking

I can't believe the paper I am going to save with this tool.  I am a huge fan of the highlighter and find myself printing off more and more things so that I can mark it up with highlights and side notes.  In fact, the only reason I don't bring a laptop to class is because I prefer to have the paper in my hand so that I can make notes right on the pages.  With this tool, I might be able to put the cap back on my highlighter for good.

Although it won't be a huge change in my office.  I can see this tool coming in handy when we are working on the wording of our website.  This would allow us to highlight areas we would like to change and add sticky notes of things we would like it to be replace with. 

It would also be helpful when doing group projects.  If all individuals are assigned a topic to research, they are able to bookmark the useful sites they find and highlight or add sticky notes to help others better understand your thought process and how the article can be incorporated into the projects.  Tagging will also help organize and locate documents when working together in a group