Goals for Instructional Technology

Our world is shrinking. We are in the Information Age where cascading technological advances are changing the way we live and learn. For many years Guam has been behind the times, primarily because of geographic distance. This most certainly is no longer true. Guam is digitally wired into any location on the planet. Cell phones, digital cameras, DVD players, and computer use are now an everyday occurrence in most peoples’ lives on our island. This is true with education as well. Not many years ago a teacher might ask his students, “Who has internet at home?” Now the question is “who doesn’t….?”
And so, as an educator, I must consider that the resources available to me are no longer limited - but limitless. This is one reason why I am enrolled in this Master’s program: to learn the current technological tools available to the modern teacher and how to apply them. One goal of mine is to read more scholarly publications. I would like to amass a library of ideas and opinions in my LiveText account. I find the online file storage aspect of LiveText very appealing. Now I can keep my office space less cluttered. Not being able to learn new techniques at a conference of choice is no longer an excuse for teachers on our island. They can gain new insights by reading an assortment of publications online.
In a more general sense, I would like to use the Internet more for doing research and gathering materials. Besides LiveText, I am using a moodle and blogging for the first time. Webquests are also a new concept for me. Also, I am learning that so many items are available as free downloads. The resulting effect is that I am seeing Internet usage in a new light.
Another goal of mine is to use my palm pilot for something other than a date calendar. I purchased it over a year ago in anticipation of using it with my students (most own one of their own). But I wasn’t able to participate in the training we had at the school for using the palm, so I need to catch up on its capabilities and how I can apply them in my classes. I can probably ask one of my students to help me.
One chapter of the text I found useful was the one on visual principles. Although I find myself already using some of those practices, I did gain some ideas on how I can present my materials differently and perhaps more effectively. Now that I have learned how to make a PowerPoint presentation, I find it possible to give students notes or an assignment in that format.
The one hurdle I see in accomplishing some of these goals is cost. I have been pleasantly surprised of the free cost of many of the resources we are using. But there is a significant monetary cost in the implementation of some of these materials and equipment in the classroom. Still, it is possible that I am unaware of the resources available to me. For instance, I now think it is conceivable that I could check out a LCD projector for its use in my classroom. I will make finding that out my first goal for instructional technology.