EDUC 6715 Reflection

The immediate effort I will be making to my plans of week 6 and 7 is to get involved with the grant writing team at my school. With my knowledge of emerging technologies, I can provided ideas that some other teachers might not have. If I joined this team, I could focus on the whole school getting technology grants instead of just myself. Gerding and Mackellar (2006), in their article Wishing won’t work: 10 things you need to know and do when applying for technology grants, say “The fastest way to grant funding is actually by taking the time to plan. A technology plan is not simply a list of what technology should be purchased and when it should be upgraded. It is a method to prioritize and to budget for the technology tools that are most important” (pg. 8). As a member on the grant team, I can coordinate with the technology team, other teachers, and the principal to help make a technology plan for my school. Once that plan is created I can then begin to write different grants to help fill our needs.

On the other end of the spectrum, once the technology is in our school, I would love to help teachers create lessons using the new technologies. If I have spent all this time writing grants and making a plan, I will want to see that is done right. I will help teachers create lessons and show them how to use each specific technology. This way, teachers will feel more comfortable using technology in their class and the money spent will go to good use. During this process I can get the help from the technology team and other teachers who are well adept in using technology. With a team of grant writers and a technology integration team, technology can become an even bigger part of my school and assist the 21st century learners that are the students of Sweetwater Middle.