As in many schools, Directors of Academic Technology such as myself plan, prepare, and deliver training to two major constituent groups around our schools, faculty and students. We spend countless hours working with large groups, small groups, and individually so that they users can learn new skills, become aware of new tools so that they are able to create engaging learning networks for themselves. Forgotten, or at least pushed to the side, is an important and influential group in the education of our students – their parents. It begs me to think about the following questions: How much time do […]

It is Thursday, late afternoon, and we have nearly completed our first full week of teachers meetings. This year, I had the opportunity to share new tools with each of our three divisions (Elementary, Middle, and High School) in sessions that I found very engaging, but exhausting. I am exhilarated each time that I present to each of these groups as the teachers are fresh from summer vacation and classes have not begun. They are enthusiastic about their own learning and they are open to discussing and thinking about how to utilize the new tools to enhance their curriculum. From […]

Due to some family issues, for the past three days I have been trying to keep moving forward, making sure that the student and teacher schedules from the timetable make sense are are balanced as best as they can and wrapping up a number of new initiatives in anticipation of the return of our faculty. At times, I have found it difficult to keep focused and am sometimes looking for distractions. Yesterday, when I went to moderate the comments on my blog, I noticed that there were two new incoming links to my both, one from the American Association of […]

Today is one of those interesting days on the calendar, especially for those of us on campus who spend nearly 12 months on campus, rather than the typical teacher’s ten month visit. Today is the day where the majority of the campus is away, squeezing in that last bit of vacation before the arrival of new faculty next week and all faculty the week following. For me, it is a time to be able to work on projects with at a leisurely pace. My project for the day today is to back up all of my data onto the network, […]

This week, I have been doubly blessed. First, the three principal (we call them heads) of each of the three divisions have carved out four hours of their time during the first full week back. This can be a hectic time, as they transition from summer mode into school mode, catching up with teachers, making sure schedules fit, and trying to determine who to launch a successful year. Secondly, I am blessed that they have chosen to spend their precious time with me, learning about the new tools, and discussing and brainstorming the implications of these tools into teaching practice. […]