Responses and Reflections of the Two Technology Assessments

Wow, just when you think you've got it, just when you think you understand it, technology changes and you have more work to do. Don't get me wrong, technology has provided us with some of the best tools as educators to equip our students in becoming lifelong learners but we as educators must constantly be on our toes concerning education because it is changing and developing at such a fast rate. In fact, one of the biggest concerns I found with these assessments is how far behind I have become. It has been about eight years since I was a public school teacher. Since then I have worked in the world of business as a Director of Operations for a small Greeting Card company and for the last 3 years have been a youth minister. As I prepare to get back into the profession that I love so much as a teacher and hopefully one day as an Administrator, I have discovered in our latest course how much improvement I will need to make in the realm of technology. Intimidating, well maybe a little bit, but I am not that concerned because I have been using some of these tools in my last two professions. Eight years ago I was teaching Texas History in Mesquite and there was zero technology being used within the classrooms of history. Sure, we went down to the computer lab occasionally and wrote papers and did research but the classrooms of today are fully equipped with projectors, and interactive whiteboards. From our assessment tests I am not concern in my ability to use these tools within my classroom. In fact, I'm really excited about that! My concerns from the assessment tests lie more in my inability to effectively use spreadsheets and to identify terms within technology today.
The first assessment test was called the Technology Applications Inventory. Divided into for domains, the only domains that I seemed to be proficient in were Foundations and Communications. Again, this to me involves more of the presentation tools within the classroom which with my current experiences I feel proficient in. The two domains were I need further development are Information Acquisition and Solving Problems. There was a lot of terminology that I was unfamiliar with and frankly, just lack of experience in using several of the tools they listed. Within the domain of Solving Problems was a lot of proficiency involving spreadsheets and graphics. I am fully aware of my lack of experience here and will devote considerable time to these two domains.
I believe the most important thing for me to do is to reestablish myself and reacquaint myself with the technology of today within education. I really enjoy technology and what it can do for us as educators. With the right instruction, I am confident that I can become proficient within all domains and as the second assessment test pointed out, be able to apply these to my classroom.