I. Knowing the Content

The professional education program provides evidence that Instructional Technology Specialist certification candidates complete a program at a bachelor’s or post-baccalaureate degree level that requires them to demonstrate their knowledge of and competence in the application of instructional technology in public school settings. The program requires candidates to demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental and advanced concepts of instructional technology planning and applications at elementary, middle, and secondary levels (K-12) including:

I.A. Identification, selection, installation and maintenance of technology infrastructure, and hardware and software applications for school administration and instruction including:

assessment of educational and administrative technological needs,
design and production of media including projected and non-projected visual aids, audio and video production in both analog and digital forms, and photography using film-based and digital formats,
implementation and maintenance of interactive information systems, the Internet, distance learning technologies, and networks,
assistive technology resources for students with special needs,

evaluation of the performance of hardware and software components of computer systems,
application of basic troubleshooting strategies

Artifact: Troubleshooting GILT514 Exceeds
By completing the task of Troubleshooting on my own, I can better decipher where problems can arise in other machines, especially when the problem occurs within a string of computers. Troubleshooting for problems in technology systems in schools help with the use of visual aids in the classroom for all students, especially those with special needs since most of the technology implemented into the curriculum directly targets this demographic of learners. Maintaining the system also is deemed essential for administrators as well as teachers since most of the learning support and communications within the school community occur over e-mail, and if the system crashes or fails for whatever reason, there needs to be a systematic response for getting everyone back on track in a timely manner in case of emergency and the general smooth sailing of daily operations.

I.B. Integrating technology into curricular planning and instructional design including

research on and evaluation of existing and emerging technologies,
use of instructional theories and teaching models,
learner characteristics, developmental levels, and individual differences as related to instructional technology resources and modifications,
access and use telecommunications for information sharing, remote information access and retrieval, and multi-media/hypermedia publishing,

Artifact: Using Wikispaces GILT515 Exceeds
By instructing teachers on some of the best practices for online platforms, students benefit from the ability to access their classroom even if it is after school hours. The all-inclusive nature of the platform for communication purposes and assignments allows another barrier to be removed from the teachers and students accordingly. Using Wikispaces as a platform for teachers and students yields a menagerie of benefits for schools. Some of the advantages of using Wikispaces in the school setting is that students and teachers are able to communicate more effectively with a documented conversation. This provides teachers and students a basis for their communication and provides a more effective and productive environment in which they can all collaborate on learning and projects. Also, it enables students to develop a means of communicating with their peers and teachers in a professional manner to meet their learning needs. Another great tool with the Wikispaces is that it provides teachers with a platform that allows students to edit and collaborate on projects so that sharing and editing responsibilities, which is lifelong learning tool. Teachers also have the ability to view recent edits and changes that students make to different documents and projects, keeping up-to-date with a slew of students with various projects on the horizon. For teachers who encourage multiple stages of writing or projects, it helps the students with the editing and staging process which can prove to be invaluable for the students to submit different stages of projects and writing pieces. Lastly, Wikispaces is a great platform for teachers to use in the classroom because it has no prearranged structure. This benefit to the program is that teachers’ creativity will not be stifled and they can manipulate the layout of the webpage to suit their individual needs for each of their classes. As most teacher value innovation and creativity, that is a crucial element to maintaining their own teaching preferences, even in the online setting.

electronic mail and Internet resources for communications and instructional support

Artifact: Concept Map GILT511 Exceeds
By creating a concept map, I played upon the different multimedia necessary for students to understand how concepts are related and how information sharing can connect to a wholesome lesson. My students will witness the concept map in action during a few different times of this lesson. They will first see how the poet, Robert Browning, is connected to the overall concept of the unit, the Romantic Poets. The students will relate Browning’s works, Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess to the of mystery and more reserved way of living and writing during this time in history. By visually representing the relationship between the author and his works with the other authors and works of the Romantic era, the students have a better chance of accurately recalling the information and tying all of the respective entities of the unit together. The concept map will also provide the students with an audio recording of Browning’s My Last Duchess so that they gain a better understanding about the depth of the dramatic monologue. There is also an external link to a website of Harvard and Cal Berkley graduate students who have a comical yet educational video that dives into the biographical information about Browning. This visual representation, combined with auditory elements, and aesthetically pleasing visual elements, play to each student’s different intelligences and learning strengths. By tying these elements together through the concept map, the students will gain a more wholesome understanding of the lesson and overall unit theme.

I.C. Management and administration of technology programs at the building, district and regional levels including:

planning and utilization of facilities including, budgeting, accounting, and program reporting, grantsmanship, personnel administration, and staff development,
preparing presentations for parents, administrators, school boards, and the public,
monitoring and evaluating technology plans

Artifacts: Technology Plan GILT514 Exceeds
The creation of this full-blown technology plan allowed me to see the public policy aspect of the planning, budgeting, preparation and monitoring technology in the classroom as presented to a public audience. Combining the entire skills set that my classes required me to improve, the technology plan was an appropriate, albeit long-winded, culmination of my studies in instructional technology for the semester. It provided me with the foresight that many school administrators must constantly rely upon in their fields to budget the necessary means of revenue for their respective districts as well as methodically allocate funds to subsidiary parts of their districts so that they do not dry out all of their revenue sources within the first academic year of implementation. As an instructional technology specialist, I have to realize that there is always going to be a demand for improved, cutting-edge technology in the classroom but that there are not always places for the money to come from in a timely manner.

I.D. Research, problem solving and product development of technological applications including:

Basic principles of instructional design associated with the development of instructional technology materials,
emerging programming, authoring, and problem solving environments including team and collaborative projects such as on-line workgroups,

designing and publishing on-line documents that present information and include links to critical resources

Artifacts: Wiki GILT514- Exceeds
By aggregating data from various school districts around the country, this Wiki provided me with the opportunity to see how other schools present their budgetary information, as well as accessing the terminology that otherwise would be unknown to technology users throughout the technological realm. By providing these links to that information, I was able to present information that I researched and present it to my fellow colleagues in an effortless manner. Oftentimes, faculty members are some of the best untapped resources in a school that hold information that proves invaluable to student learning and achievement but there are no clear cut ways for their knowledge and expertise to be shared with other faculty and staff members. With the innovation of the Wiki, faculty members can more effortlessly collaborate and create unity within their schools by the sharing of information and advice virtually through the online portal. This also promotes the idea that technology and education is ever-changing, and that there always are new innovations and add-ons that should be addressed and recognized within a school setting to further advance the overall caliber of student output and achievement.