Whew - Week 3 Web Conferences

It appears that we are running out of things to talk about - I choose to take that as a good sign.  A core few students have logged on this week, mostly in order to clarify what items were to be done and what course assignments to include.  Many people, including me, are excited about graduation and can't resist making some plans.  I remember how silly and off-task I believed that to be on my first web conference:  how times have changed.

Feeling the Pressure

I attended at least a portion of all three web conferences this week, and everyone appears a bit tense.  As I know is the case in my house, I suspect many of my colleagues are suffering from exhaustion, frustration, and revision anxiety.  In some ways, the web conferences exacerbated the problem, layering one set of responses onto another until most were not sure exactly what information applied to their efforts and what did not.  However, between conferences, many of us communicated privately with our professor and/or our IA, so that by today most of us have some obtainable goals.  Life outside of Lamar has made the going more difficult for some than others; so, I feel blessed that my support system is still intact as we move forward into week 3. 
My observations from the conferences:
1.  Answer all of the questions for the reflections specifically
2.  Put a page number on every citation
3.  Check all headings
4.  Focus on the specific assignments

Off I go into the next week.  Hopefully I'm moving towards the right path at a pace that will land me in the target by Week 5.

Close to the Finish Line: EDLD 5370 Web Conference

I can scarcely believe we've come to this place:  this week, I began finalizing my portfolio and writing my comprehensive exam in order to finish my master's program.  I actually attended two conferences this week:  on Tuesday, I simply hoped that someone else might have a question that I hadn't even considered.  In fact, it appeared that most people felt the same way.  Dr. Abernathy gave us some guidelines for getting started on the comprehensive exam, including recommendations for how to most effectively create the paper in APA style.  She also clarifed for the group which items should be contained on the eportfolio (wiki) versus which items should be included in the comprehensive exam.  One bit of a surprise came when Dr. Abernathy told the group to add the curriculum vitae to their comprehensives.  It is certainly not trouble to do so, but I appreciated her pointing it out specifically.

By Sunday, I was feeling some of the pressure and had my own list of questions ready for the final web conference of the week.  This conference consisted of a small, intimate group of students, most of whom I have connected with throughout the coursework.  Consequently, we were able to bounce ideas between each other and Dr. Abernathy for what I consider the most robust, productive web conference of my entire program.  My first main question was answered almost immediately:  Dr. Abernathy told us that our comprehensive exam introductions should maintain a balance between the expression of our own personal narratives and an overview of the types of material to be covered in the paper.  Later on, Dr. Abernathy addressed my concerns regarding the field-based summary reports, indicating that various activities that reflected mastery of several ISTE indicators could be crossed-referenced to indicate the connectedness of our learning and experiences.  Also, she informed us that the signed summary report would not be due on our eportfolio until the final week of the course.  I was immensely relieved to have more time to refine and organize my thoughts for those all-important reflections.  Overall, this second conference allayed many of my fears and allowed me to feel much more confident in my abilities to complete this course in time for the long-awaited December graduation date.

Web Conference 2 Overview - EDLD 5397

I was able to participate directly in the Week 2 web conference, and I took the opportunity to ask questions regarding the action research project write-up coming in Weeks 3 and 4 of the course.  To the best of my understanding, we will not be required to write the action research summary in an article form for submission; however, Dr. Martin encouraged those students who had an interest in doing so would need to follow IRB protocols.  Students in this week’s conference, as in last week’s, had questions concerning the changing of a site mentor.  Many also asked for clarification on several clarifications for the Week 2 assignment as they related to the differences between the ISTE indicators for Educational Technology students and the Principal Competencies for the Educational Administration students. In listening to the discussion, I determined that my best course of action was to consider both aspects as I made adjustments to my plan.  A few students had questions regarding TK20, which I frankly do not find particularly useful.  The assignments required on TK20 have been prompted thus far, and I do not see any reason for that to change.  After many student questions had been answered, Dr. Mason prompted us to share examples of leadership successes in an effort to offer colleagues some potential options for consideration.  Although a few members of the web conference complied with this request, it seemed that the majority of attendees participated solely to receive information as opposed to offering it.  Some of my own anxieties regarding the final push towards certification and graduation were reflected in the tenor of the conference, which served both to validate and heighten my own concerns.

Web Conference overview - EDLD 5397

I took an opportunity to view theJuly 12th web conference and read over the chat transcript, and I came away feeling as frustrated as has often been the case over the past months.  In hearing the questions and answers for both Educational Technology and Educational Administration being tossed back and forth at random, I wondered if combining these two groups in conferencing causes more difficulties than it solves.  There are concerns and questions specific to each of the program requirements, and hearing random details of one simply muddled the information for the other. 

One message that I received loudly and clearly from the conference was the “eight change” requirement for internship plans, regardless of course number or program type.  As a student taking my tenth course, in July when the entire district is shut down, I find this arbitrary standard both unnecessarily rigid and essentially unproductive.

I have further questions regarding the action research component of the coursework, and I hope to be able to attend the web conference this week to request some answers.

Web Conference August 28-29: Quite Disappointing

The web conference experiences of this course have been short, largely uninformative, and immensely frustrating.  
The technology itself was a significant obstacle on the August 28 conference.  I logged onto the conference, but was unable to activate voice and camera.  As I attempted to use the help function through Adobe, the browser navigated away from the conference instead of opening a new window.  This disconnected me from the conference.  Although the conference had been closed when it reached a certain number of members, I expected to be able to log back on because the conference host can see the names of those who try to join, and my name had already been listed.  However, I was denied access for the remainder of the conference.
Although my conference host contacted me after the conference to tell me that I would receive credit for attendance, I logged onto the next day's conference in the hopes of gaining some insight into the next week's assignments.  That was not the case:  the course material for the next week was still being developed, and was not open for questions at that time.  The questions mostly revolved around using video for the PhotoStory assignment: the conference host seemed frustrated and mentioned that she was anxious to end the conference quickly.  
Because the Week Two assignment has been quite confusing, it is a disappointment indeed to have received so little information from the web conferences.  

Web Conference - August 9: Time for Action

     The final web conference of the course did not disappoint. Dr. Jenkins was, as always, incredibly informative and supportive, and the group had a dynamic discussion. In the course of the conference, we learned that our action research projects would be monitored via either blogs or wikis that would be created for each cohort group; with an assigned professor that will monitor our progress during the course of our action research and provide feedback and assistance should we have the need. I’m pleased to hear that we will have an avenue for ongoing dialogue with a mentor who is familiar with our project. I strongly encouraged Dr. Jenkins to select a wiki format for this process; the linear nature of blogging does not create the kind of multi-faceted collaboration that I believe the professors hope occurs. Dr. Jenkins solicited participants’ thoughts and reflections on the course, and reassured those people who expressed concern about not yet meeting with their mentors or administrators to finalize their projects. I feel fortunate that I have had excellent collaboration with both my mentor and my principal, and I know that they will continue to support both my research and my internship.

     Although my action research will be ongoing, this blog post is the final formal task for 5301. My next stop – video and multimedia. I have high expectations for the course, and I think it will be a fantastic way to start the school year. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.”1

1.  Brackett, C. (Producer), & Wilder, B. (Director). (1950). Sunset Boulevard [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Web Conference July 28, 2010: Persistence Pays Off

The web conference that I participated in this evening was just excellent – I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Jenkins’ support of students through this intimidating process of developing a research plan.  While the conference still had its share of technical difficulties, the flow of the conference never seemed affected.  Early in the conference some dialogue occurred relating to creating a writeable document, embedding the document into a blog, contacting site mentors, and the nuances between sections of the weekly assignment.  These questions were resolved, and Dr. Jenkins set minds at ease about the logistics of plan development.  (Please feel free to go to http://wilsoneduwiki.wikispaces.com if you need a writable copy of the SIP/PIP document.)  As a result, the conference theme was able to move effectively past the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the assignment particulars and into content. 

     I had the privilege of hearing some truly fascinating research topics: from parent involvement in Pre-K to PDAS, many stakeholders will be benefiting from the efforts of these professionals in the coming months.  I had some concerns about how to articulate my plans to share my research data this early in the process; during the conference Dr. Jenkins discussed the need to create a framework for the plan that could be updated as information and guidance became available.   As I read through the class texts this week, I had some questions about how to utilize my campus professional learning community to collect data via peer observations.  Dr. Jenkins advised us to look into some current research that is being conducted on peer-to-peer observations and evaluations, which I hope will help me to formulate a template for our PLC observations. 

     All in all, I feel much more comfortable with my inquiry progress than I did two hours ago.   Hopefully I will be able to meet with my mentor and principal in the next week;  then, it should be all systems go for the project.  It’s exhilarating to get started!

Web Conference July 23, 2010 - Whew!

I must confess, I found myself signing off from today's internship web conference feeling frustrated.  The conferences are incredibly crowded, so generally true conferencing with voice and video is out of the question.  So instead, the process is much more like the chatrooms from times gone by.  However, although the flow of information requires some diligence to follow, I don't find that particularly challenging.


What I do find exasperating is the repetition of questions, not only within a single conference, but over the course of several conferences, and between the written course material and the conferences.  I suspect some of this stems from having several different cohort groups conferencing at the same time, and some of it comes from the few-second delay that we all experience as we essentially IM back and forth on the conference board.  We had multiple questions about whether or not to purchase TK20, our new assessment and portfolio platform; about whether or not to blog on our web conferences;  about whether to include said documentation in our wikis; and about the due date for this week's assignment.  Dr. Abernathy seemed generally unruffled by the repetitiveness, and was exceedingly respectful in her responses, even those that were asked and answered more than once.  I was not so placid.  Although I did get an opportunity to ask two questions about our action research project that I had developed for the conference, I walked away from the conference feeling that we spent far too much time on "nuts and bolts" logistical information, much of which is answered in our written coursework.  


The questions that developed as I conferenced today are; first, "How could the web conferencing system in the Lamar Academic Partnerships Program be made more valid for different groups of students?"; second, "How could the web conference schedule for the Academic Partnerships program enable more students to participate with both voice and video?"; and third, "How is the dissemination of logistical information affecting student outcomes in the Lamar Academic Partnerships program?"  Although I'm not in a position to complete action research on these questions, I find it helpful for me to look at all professional functions with an eye towards inquiry.  I will join in the web conference on July 31, and collect more data on the web conferencing process.  In the meantime, on with my research.  

Thoughts on Web Conference

     Today's web conference was an incredibly productive and informative one.  Dr. Abernathy clarified much of the confusion for ETL students, such as myself, who do not have the resources and assignments from the 5311 course that Educational Leadership students take as an introduction.  Although I realized that I had thrown a bit of time down a black hole creating a second blog, I was incredibly relieved to find out that we would, in fact, be able to use our original blog for this course, as well.  That seems so much more organic and useful for me as a student.  The mystery of the "School Leader Internship" text persists, but I hope to find resolution for that in the next couple of days.  
     Dr. Abernathy spent a significant amount of time discussing the format of the reflections, reports, and summaries required for both the course-embedded activities and the 33 indicators from the ISTE TF Standards. Because this web conference included students from a wide number of cohort groups, those of us who are early in the process had the benefit of the knowledge (and questions) from students much farther along.   Much of the concern and questions regarding these logs came from confusion about the appropriate handbook for students.  The most important "take-away" information for me today:  Use only the 3.1 handbook, and delete all earlier versions!  I also received formal notice today that monthly summaries are not to be sent in, although we are to continue completing them and posting them to our wiki.
     All in all, I feel comfortable that I am keeping pace with expectations, and will be prepared as the school year begins next month to jump into my internship activities.  The conference closed with the professor inviting August graduates to an open house . . . a light at the end of the tunnel!  So, in the meantime, I'll keep learning and growing and plugging away.

Week one web conference - a look back

From last week's web conference notes (May 27, 2010):


An interesting first try! Some technical difficulties to overcome; lots of working the bugs out of hardware and, “can you hear me now?” I suppose that is the purpose of a dress rehearsal. Although we didn’t spend much time on course content, the exposure to the technology alone made it worthwhile. I’m looking forward to next week’s attempt.  I wonder about the frustration level of the participants -- if we had this level of difficulty in the classroom, would the students have been able to wait patiently, or would we have had a hotbed of off-task behaviors?  Would one of them have been able to jump in and solve everyone's difficulties?  I suppose the only way to find that out is to give it a try - just like today.

Week 2 Web Conference Today

Well, the Week 2 web conference is in the books. We had a little bit of experience with “technology gremlins” as we continued to develop our skills, but all in all I think we saw a marked improvement over last week. I definitely felt somewhat intimidated listening to all of the requirements for the internship; I’ll need to remember that 18 months have a lot of days and take it one day at a time. I heard quite a bit about the “performance indicators” this evening, so I think that will be my reading for this evening!  The point Professor Borel couldn't stress enough - find a mentor right away.  I wonder if it is more beneficial to have a mentor who is more familiar with my campus or one who is more familiar with the technology.  I suppose that's a decision that will happen very soon.  My lesson learned for the day - stay ahead by a week.  The more you know going in, the more you get out.  As Professor Borel told us today, "Managing your time well will make you successful!"  So, back to the books.