Schedule Fall 2019

Detailed Course Schedule: Items Under Each Week Should Be Completed Prior to Class

August 27, 2019 Course Introduction: Leading in a VUCA World

Face to face meeting to introduce course content and tools. Please bring your laptop: you should be able to connect to UR wifi and use the camera and microphone.

September 3, 2019 Visionary Planner 

Readings:

This week, you will explore texts that have formed the foundation of conversations about educational technology including the National Educational Technology Plan and standards from ISTE and CoSN, two major organizations in the field.

As you review these documents,  think about similarities and differences in their ideas about leadership, educational technology, and technology integration. Is there a shared vision? Does it go beyond technology use?

Blended Learning: Since we are using a blended learning model for this course, I thought it would be helpful for you to explore the topic early in the semester and then we’ll revisit it as part of our end-of-semester reflection. Edutopia has several good articles that include videos of teachers talking about how they are implementing the model:

Blended Learning Built on Teacher Expertise: https://www.edutopia.org/article/blended-learning-built-teacher-expertise

Blended Learning: Making It Work in Your Classroom: https://www.edutopia.org/video/blended-learning-making-it-work-your-classroom

You can also explore their blended learning roundup that includes links to other articles and web-based resources as well as some tools: https://www.edutopia.org/blended-learning-resources (NOTE: These are from 2014 so some of the websites and technology tools may be gone or outdated. We’ll talk about the issues related to websites and specific tools–especially those free ones–in class.)

Activities:

  • Review the course site and come to class prepared with questions.
  • Create a Twitter account and follow me (@witchyrichy). Tweet at least three times over the course of the week. (http://www.twitter.com)
  • Write your first reflection. No more than 250 words that provide your individual observations about the readings and/or activities.  You can use my questions as a guide or go off on your own tangent, connecting the readings and activities to your own experiences or ideas. The only requirement is that your thoughts be grounded/connected in some way to the work we are doing that week.

September 10, 2019 Visionary Planner, Connected Learner 

Readings:

This week, you are going to spend time with George Couros, a thought leader in educational technology. He has been talking and blogging about using technology, particularly social media, for student engagement and teacher learning for a long time. The link below will take you to his blog posts and presentations related to social media. They are grouped into categories and you will choose two readings, one from each category along with George’s philosophy. Feel free, of course, to read more.

Activities:

  • Write a reflection. No more than 250 words that provide your insight into the readings. And, this week, include a meme or gif that complements your ideas.
  • Tweet at least three times this week:  a couple articles from Edutopia would be a good way to start. You could also participate in George Couros’s Friday Gif Day where he posts a topic and people respond with a gif. Here’s a sample: https://twitter.com/gcouros/status/1159962560843714560
  • Spend 15 minutes on Twitter finding educators to add to your feed. (TIP: see who people like George Couros follow, think about your specialities and interests and look for people as well as organizations that are connected, search a hashtag and maybe just do a few for fun like Oh My Corgis.)

September 17, 2019 Empowering Leader

Readings:

  • Browse Edutopia’s Technology Integration Section looking for exemplary uses of technology. Choose three to read and share on Twitter. (TIP: This is also a good place to consider options for your passion project. Remember, you are starting with the very general question: What problem do I want to solve? How can technology help and/or hinder?)
  • Read the following article from Education Week, Vol. 36 Issue 20, p 11: Ed-Tech Skeptic Finds a New Perspective. It is an interview with Larry Cuban, a Stanford Professor who has long questioned the “transformational technology” narrative. At 84 years old, Cuban has a long view of education and has always been skeptical. He has some new ideas. And…he blogs!  NOTE: If you do not have access to Education Week otherwise, you can get html versions of the articles from Boatwright Library’s online catalog.
  • Learn more about demo slams: https://sylviaduckworth.com/2016/04/22/how-to-win-a-demo-slam/
  • Explore Common Sense Education’s list of Best Tools for Back-to-School 2019. Think about them in terms of the demo slam but also consider the general categories they have chosen. Are there tools that you use that aren’t on the list? https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/best-tools-for-back-to-school-2019

Activities:

  • Sign Up for Demo Slam: Assignment is due October 22, 2019: First Come, First Served
  • Create a Wakelet account: https://wakelet.com/home
  • Flipgrid Assignment Post: First Thoughts About the Problem You Want To Solve:  https://flipgrid.com/urfall2019 and the code is urfall2019.
  • Tweet at least three times this week. Challenge yourself to respond to someone else’s tweet rather than just posting or retweeting. Try to start a discussion.

September 24, 2019: Visionary Planner & Empowering Leader: Technology Integration & Innovation 

Readings:

  • Read the following articles in Volume 38, Issue 30 of Education Week. (NOTE: They are available online through the Serial Solutions at the library. They are limited to text so you won’t see the charts and graphs. As Education Week is the journal of our field, I would suggest a digital subscription. It runs about $35 for six months.)
    • US Teachers Not Seeing Tech Impact, p 4-5
    • Teachers, Tech and Innovation, p 6-7
    • Choose Pragmatism Over Shiny Things p 8-10
    • Four Teachers Show Their Ed Tech Solutions p 19 – 22
  • Open Education Resources and Copyright: Changes in traditional copyright have made many more resources available to educators, everything from lesson plans to videos to images that can be downloaded, shared and even changed without permission. Virginia is a Go Open Ambassador state, a federal initiative designed to encourage use of these kinds of resources.

Activities:

  • Contribute at least one more tool to our Padlet taxonomy (https://padlet.com/witchyrichy/tooltax2019).
  • Respond to at least two of your classmate’s Flipgrid posts. (https://flipgrid.com/urfall2019)
  • Search OER Commons for resources related to your content area or other areas of interest. Save at least three to your Wakelet account.
  • Tweet at least three times this week. You can share those three OER resources.

October 1, 2018: Empowering Leader: Technology Integration Models

Readings & Activities:

October 8, 2018: Empowering Leader: Technology Professional Development
NO LIVE CLASS

Readings:

Professional Development and Learning:

Visualizing Date, Part 2:

Activities:

  • Create a model that could be used to support your professional development. Post a digital draft of your model to your blog. You can do paper/pencil if you like for now but take a picture to share. Describe it in under 250 words. (NOTE: Eventually you will make this into an infographic using Visme and incorporate it into your letter to teachers about professional development which is due November 12, 2019.)

October 15, 2019: Fall Break

October 22, 2019: Demo Slam Videos Due

Readings:

Activities:

October 29, 2019: Maker Ed Night ON CAMPUS
Boatwright Library Learning Lab 1 (behind media center on second floor)

Readings:

Activities:

  • Spend time working on your passion project: collect resources, start your draft page, finalize your video tool, etc. Plan your work as the next week will be all yours.

November 5, 2019: Passion Project Week: We will not meet online and I have no readings or assignments due. This is your week to dig into your project. If you wish to meet with me, let me know and we can set up office hours for the class time. 

November 12, 2019: Potpourri (Assistive Technology, Gamification)

Readings:

Activities:

  • View your classmates’ demo slam video and leave comments.
  • Add a passion project update to flipgrid by replying to your original or second video: https://flipgrid.com/urfall2019 and the code is urfall2019.
  • On your blog, write a letter to your faculty outlining your professional development plan for the year. Embed your model/infographic and connect it to the learning. No more than 500 words for this one.

November 19, 2018:  Equity and Citizenship Advocate

Readings:

Activities:

November 26, 2019: Thanksgiving, No Class

December 3, 2019: Last Class ON CAMPUS

Activities:
Complete, scan and email me your embedded hours form.
Prepare a short presentation about your project for the class. Just a slide or two about what you are exploring and what you have learned so far. That will be our main focus and then some words of wisdom from me.

December 12, 2019: NO CLASS

Final Project Due
Write your last reflection: no more than 250 words about what you learned, what you plan to do with what you learned. Try to put the course in perspective. What is the big takeaway.
___________________________________________________

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *