Course+Embedded+Reflections+-+EDLD+5306

I thoroughly enjoyed kicking off this advanced degree program with the content covered in EDLD 5306. It was so exciting to me, because the content was so relevant and applicable to my position as a Campus Instructional Technologist (my title at that time.)

I remember the timing of the this course was right on the money for me. It was the beginning of another school year and the time line for the STaR Chart was just around the corner. Everything that we read and learned about the Texas Long Range Plan and STaR Chart, especially the 3 year Comparison of our campus STaR Chart assignment, absolutely allowed me to prepare a higher quality professional development training on STaR Chart than I had delivered before. This was important to me (as it is for anyone that is responsible for developing any type of professional development), because “Although lack of professional development opportunities is often reported in terms of quantity, quality also seems to be an important issue” ( Mouze, 2002/2003, p. 273).

I was able to explain that state law mandates that the Texas Campus STaR Chart be used to evaluate a campus’ progress toward meeting the goals of the Long-Range Plan for Technology and that the chart can also be used for technology planning, budgeting for resources, and evaluation of progress in local technology projects. Then in support of this concept, I used the 3-year comparison assignment results of the STaR Chart for my campus, to explain our scores, noticable trends, and then offer recommendations for reaching Target Tech certain areas.

At the time of this class, I was a 1st generation technologist in my district. The analysis of the Long-Range Plan really provided me with a stronger foundational understanding as to the what and why of my position. At the time, my district’s focus over the previous 4-5 years had been to acquire and place needed equipment and resources on our campuses, which was wonderful, but it seemed to happen so quickly that we (the technology leaders; CITs) did not really spend time on the foundations of our roles. We didn’t have time to study the why’s and how’s of Instructional Technology. I feel that I have a better understanding of all the terms and names we seem to hear all the time (i.e. Long-Range Plan, TLRP, TA TEKS, Teacher Proficiencies, STaR Chart, ETAC, etc.) and feel strongly that my knew found knowledge and insight helped strengthen my professional development classes and trainings and provided a higher degree of clarity to other educators as well.

Just recently, I was asked, by a collegue, what the purpose of the STaR Chart was and how the information was used, if at all? I couldn’t help but feel so excited and proud of myself, when I was able to clearly explain this to her. At the end, she thanked me, and stated that after having been made to complete the STaR Chart for the past 5 years, she never had anyone ever explain it’s purpose with such clarity.

In another very recent event, I was in attendance at a District Technology Symposium and the topic of the STaR Chart was brought up. As a district level Intructional Technology Facilitator in the group, I was unexpectedly asked to share my knowledge and understanding of the STaR Chart. With the understanding that I had only been in this new district level position for only two months, I was so proud that I had plently to say and share on the topic and I knew it was because of this course.

**References** Mouza, C. (2002/2003). Learning to teach with new technology: Implications for professional development. Journal for Research on Technology in Education, 35(2), 272-89.

Texas Education Agency. Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. []

 Texas STaR Chart. Retreived September 6, 2009, from []