ReflectionsOnStandard7

In chapter seven of //ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do//, Williamson and Redish discuss Technology Standard Seven. Simplifying Standard Six is somewhat difficult as its discussion encompasses quite a bit. The basics of this standard, however, is all about planning. Planning for what rules and policies will be in place concerning the district's technology, planning how you will provide technical support for the technology, and planning a budget with which the district will spend specifically on educational technology. But planning and support of technology in schools is extremely important because without this support, "teachers are easily frustrated and prone to abandon technology, dismissing it as unreliable" (Williamson, 2009, p. 147).

In our district, we are currently under a budget crunch, so several issues dealing with the technology budget have come to light during my internship, especially at my campus. We have often time seemed to "reinvent the wheel" and peice together working computers and other technology by using working parts from others that are having other types of problems. However, because of this, I feel that I have been able to learn more about these machines and how they work from the inside. It has been a very interesting experience!

Future learning on standard seven will be an ongoing task. "Selecting appropriate technologies requires the ability to understand the instructional context in which the technologies will be utilized and thorough knowledge of available educational technology" (Williamson, 2009, p. 150). This technology is constantly changing, so a "thourough knowledge" relies on constant learning. Being a life-long learner means being active in professional development. The textbook put this into some perspective as it reports that the Consortium for School Networking recommends that professional development constitutess 15-30% of the total project budget" (Williamson, 2009, p. 156-157). While this constitutes a huge part of a budget, it is probably the most important part, because if you have the technology but have no understanding of why our how it should be used, it is a waste of money to have that technology.

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). //ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do.// Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.