Internship Key Concepts
7.2 Candidates will be able to demonstrate the ability to tackle challenging technical tasks.
ET 691 Internship
In ET 691, Educational Technology Internship, we explored best practices in creating our internship at our school/district. In March 2020 when schools were closed due to COVID 19, I was prepared to develop a plan for New Hope to deliver distance learning due to the training that I had received from Loyola’s Educational Technology Masters program. Stepping into a leadership role, I was able to provide a technological solution to the principal that would allow the school to remain operational. Without the ability to implement distance learning, the school would have been forced to close. A few of the school districts in the area sent packets home to their students and eventually offered online instruction once or twice a week. Because of my PLN, I had anticipated the closing and New Hope only missed two days of school due to teacher training. The schedule put in place provides a full day of synchronous lessons, including specialty classes, electives, meditation, character education, advisory groups, and group discussions on various topics for the high school students. The distance learning program I initiated turned into my Internship program.
14.2 Candidates will be able to demonstrate the ability to lead technology initiatives at the school or district level.
ET 691 Internship Proposal
In ET 691, Educational Technology Internship, we explored best practices in creating our Internship at our schools/district. My Internship consisted of training all staff members at my school to teach remotely. The training was included for students and parents for successful experiences in the distance learning platform. Working closely with the principal, I developed a plan to switch instruction from face-to-face to distance learning. Thanks to my PLNs, I was able to anticipate school closing in March 2020 due to COVID. I kept my principal apprised of any new information I had heard or read and was placed in a lead role in implementing this technology innovation. With an extremely successful conversion to distance learning, I was awarded the title and role of Technology Coordinator, to oversee the Technology Department.
15.1 Candidates will be able to apply models of professional learning to begin the process of real change in a school.
ET 691 Internship
In ET 691, Educational Technology Internship, we explored best practices in creating our Internship at our schools/district. My internship began in March 2020 with a two day synchronous face-to-face professional development, preparing the staff to move to distance learning due to COVID. The PD introduced two technology tools that the school would incorporate into its new teaching protocol, Google Classroom, and Google Hangouts/Meet. In August 2020, I held multiple training sessions on Distance Learning, Google Classroom, and Google Drive. For the sessions on Google Meet and Google Forms I asked two knowledgeable teachers to lead those sessions while overseeing their preparations and including their slides into the entire presentation.
16.2 Candidates will be able to determine and implement the best approaches to improving their technology integration efforts through a continual process of self-evaluation and reflection.
ET 662 Reflection Journal
ED 602 Reflective Journal
ET 691 Portfolio Internship Reflection
In ET 662, Technology Leadership and Professional Learning, we explored adopting a reflective-practice stance on our teaching and professional learning. One of the projects for this class had been maintaining a professional reflections journal. As I progressed through the modules, I recorded the most useful, meaningful, and/or relevant information I came across and responded to questions while focussing my thinking and conclusions.
In ED 602, Learner-Centered Education, we explored the theoretical routes of learner-centered education and focused on how individuals learn and the most effective teaching techniques, based on the best available knowledge about those theories. In my Reflective Journal, I documented how Learner-Centered Educational practices were being incorporated into my teaching. Through self-reflection, I was able to analyze what went well and what needed improvement.
In ET 691, Educational Technology Internship, I implemented online learning at my school. During the process, I kept a reflections journal as an aid in evaluating what went well, stumbling blocks, and possible solutions.
17.1 Candidates will be able to locate a variety of technology resources, evaluate them for classroom use, and assist colleagues with this process.
ET 605 Professional Learning Project
ET 691 Teacher Resources
In ET 605, Introduction to Educational Technology we were introduced to the SAMR, TPACK, TIM, and LoTI frameworks. For my project, I designed a professional learning activity for teachers introducing the TPACK framework and Symbaloo, an online bookmark application for storing web links. In the presentation, I laid out the steps for teachers to use TPACK in lesson planning when integrating technology into the classroom to improve student outcomes.
In ET 691, Educational Technology Internship, we explored best practices in creating our Internship at our schools/district. For my internship at my school, I created a collection of technology resources for student, parent, and teacher use. In the professional development sessions for the teachers, I created two Google Slide presentations that covered how to use all of the technology resources they would need to teach remotely. These presentations were shared with the staff for review and reference as needed in the future.