Final Thoughts

One issue that continued to reoccur as I completed the tasks in the final module was that being a leader involves more than one person. Within any leadership position lies a team working with him/her towards a common goal. If I were asked at the beginning of the course if I felt there were opportunities to get the school community (i.e., parents, community leaders) involved in technology integration, I would have responded with a no. Simply because the school community is rarely connected with the in's and out's of a classroom and would not necessarily grasp the intentions or challenges. Now, on the other hand, I am totally supportive of community involvement in technology integration. For a couple of reasons:

1. technology is a vital aspect to many job descriptions and having their involvement would strengthen the school to work connection;
2. there are many community leaders who just by the nature of their position are experts in many examples of technology;
3. the more the community supports technology integration the greater the support within the school from teachers, administration, and students; and,
4. the community's support is imperative in order for important events to take place. Teachers and administrators are sometimes bogged down by their jobs that eager parents could help support the workload.

As a teacher interested in further integrating technology in my practice as well as increasing my role as technology leader, I will seek the support of the school's community, not just from parents and community leaders, but also from the students themselves, especially those who are tech. savvy and are interested in sharing their expertise with me and other teachers.

I really enjoyed developing a 3 year plan for integrating technology. It gave me a real sense of accomplishment and it was a practical assignment because it is something I can take to my principal and/or place in my teacher's portfolio for future reference. It also made clear the necessity of having a plan in place when integrating technology, not just for accountability sake, but also for measurement of effectiveness and future goal setting.