Week 1 Assignments Part 1

Week 1 Assignment Part 1 A and B
Technology Skills Assessments
In part one of the Week one assignment, we were supposed to take part in technology assessments. The first assessment focused on our personal use and knowledge of technology. I think of myself as technology literate, however this survey allowed me to become aware of technology area in which I am unskilled. The domains of Communication and Solving Problems with Technology Tools were my weakest domains. I only answer yes 67% of the time under these two domains. Under Solving Problems, most of the questions to which I answered no dealt with collaboration and creating projects. Under the domain of Communication, I again found that I need work in the area of creating products and tracking the progress of those products. I agree with the results of this survey, because I do not have experience in collaboration or product creation. I also liked this survey better than the other one because it focused on my personal technology skills, while the second survey focused more on what I use in the classroom. At my school, we do not have technology available for teachers to use, so a lot of the questions on the second survey were not relevant to me. There was only one area in the second survey that allowed me to say that technology is not available to me, so I do not feel the second survey was a true reflection.

The second survey focused on the use of technology in the classroom. These questions were harder for me to answer, or couldn't be answered at all because there is minimal technology available on my campus. I know this is a problem, and as a teacher, I should push for more technology. Every year, my department makes the suggestion for more technology, but nothing is done. I need to try harder to reach this goal. If I were the principal of a campus, I would make sure that teachers are given the opportunity to learn and use technology as needed in the classroom. I felt that the results of this survey did not truly reflect my knowledge of technology because the questions were directed at what was used in the classroom. Since I do not have access to technology, I am unable to use it in the classroom. It is not that I don't know how, or refuse, it is that I do not have the equipment necessary.