The Department of Educational Technology
Fall 2005 Synthesis Journal
EE TEAM

We are ready to assess your learning and ours. As we focus deeply on this past Fall semester, we will review and evaluate your learning now with an eye toward our final work with you in Spring and Summer 1.

Please answer the questions below in a Word file and send them to bes@liu.edu and mmb@liu.edu by Monday, December 12, at the latest. This document should not exceed five pages at 12-point font with one-inch margins. Note also, one page would probably not be sufficient to address the assignment fully. Please also complete the EEV collaboration questionnaire and send that to bes@liu.edu. Dr. Schneiderman will compile the data from the questionnaire and then share it with Dr. Byrne. Feel free to share your work, if you wish, with Faye Lourenso and Donna Clapp, too.

Write clearly and concisely. Given the space permitted, you will need to convey a lot of meaning in a few words. Note: This is a “synthesis” journal, so please do not restate material you have already entered in your logs. What is the bigger “image” that you see and understand as you work through the items below.

1. Your learning experiences in Fall 2005
Describe your learning as though you are putting your experiences "in writing" in a portfolio. What did you learn and how did you learn it? Be specific. We are looking for a sharply defined portrait of your own learning and your reflection on that learning.

2. From where to where?
How far have you come in your learning journey in T.E.A.M.? You might want to answer some of the following in this item: Is there anything remarkable about your growth from September 2004 to now? How has your growth coincided with your stated desires to grow? Are you “in control” of your learning?

3. EEV collaborations
Describe the process you followed and the accomplishments you achieved in your EEV collaboration. Was what you did, or what you intend now to do, a good vehicle for learning to use your technology tools? Was it a good vehicle to model using the PG/S you now value? Include a statement of the kinds of tangibles you will produce by mid-June. What part(s) will you yourself develop? (One paragraph)

Please respond to the separate EEV questionnaire.

4. Constructivism
How is your work this semester grounded in constructivist/project-based theory?

5. Readings
Your primary readings together this semester have been in varied websites and in Peter Senge et al’s Schools That Learn. What has been the impact of these works on you and your learning? Did you find any readings on your own that were especially important to you or your growth?

6. GLEF/Edutopia
Tell your best learning story using Edutopia and the GLEF materials. Name a specific video or specific area or article and tell about its relevance to you.

7. Professionalism
Think about other readings you’ve done this semester. Think about their impact on your capacity to link to the broader fields of education and educational technology—to people, issues, events, and activities. What did you learn? What is its meaning to you? Your work in your collaborations, in your schools or work settings, and in T.E.A.M. should build upon anchors in the field. (One paragraph)

What have you read or what would you like to learn more about to help anchor your work? (One paragraph)

What would you like to learn more about to help you develop professionally? (One paragraph)

8. Intellectual Behaviors
Comment on Intellectual Behaviors as presented by Art Costa in Chapter 5 in Schools That Learn and in the Habits of Mind site by Costa and Kallick. Are they useful? Powerful? Why? Are some more important to you for the future than others? Are there skills that are missing? (One paragraph)

Relate your own learning this semester to the Intellectual Behaviors presented? (One paragraph)

9. Five Disciplines
Relate your learning this semester to Senge’s five disciplines.

10. Wikis
How might wikis such as our impact teaching and learning in the future?

11. Del.icio.us Bookmarks
How might social networks of information, such as del.icio.us bookmarks, impact you and your access to information, resources, and people in your future?

12. Technology Learning
We are in a model quite different from what you’ve told us you have been in before. We require significant time on technology learning during the week but growth at your own pace. Some of you are focused on more basic skills in our various tools (e.g., Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, video editing, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook). Others of you are stretching in your creative and expansive work with our tools and also using other tools. What did you actually learn about the tools and about yourself as you learned to use these tools this semester? What tools are you focusing on for personal growth?

13. Evidence Chart
What progress have you made in each of the following. A sentence for each will be fine.

• Use of constructivist elements
• Critical Thinking
• Reflective practice
• Values in learning
• Team building
• Cross-TEAM & cultural/community connections
• Technology applications in real settings
• Significant people and ideas
• Engagement in learning
• Visioning and envisioning
• Technology tool learning
• Collaborations
• Professional growth/scholarship
• Online activities
• Personal & professional change
• Leading and leadership

14. Learning stories
What was your most frustrating/challenging experience of the semester? How might you or we avoid this for you in the future? What was your most satisfying/challenging experience of the semester? How might you want to be challenged next semester?

15. Your future
How has the T.E.A.M. experience this term contributed to your own professional development and how has it modified your plans and goals for your future? How have you changed (“Change is hard, Changing is Harder”)?

16. Time on task
Approximately how many hours each week did you spend using a computer this semester when you were not in class? Approximately what percentage of that time was for this program? Approximately how many hours each week did you spend away from the computer studying about the impact of technologies on teaching and learning? About how many hours this semester did you spend on work related to your EEV collaboration outside of class?

17. Class Attendance
Please self-report on your attendance in class.

18. EEV Workshops
What EEV workshops, if any, did you attend? We will refer to your EEV workshop logs for your reflections on those.

19. Quiz
If you were to take the quiz again today, do you think you would get:
a) all correct, b) one or two incorrect, c) 3 or more incorrect?

20. Suggested grading
A = high achievement, personal commitment to hard work and good energy, creativity, diligence, and success this semester. B+ = very good achievement, but room to improve. A- = somewhere between A and B+. B = good achievement, but room for significant improvement, etc. Less than a B = must conference with us to determine if you remain in TEAM. What grade would you assign yourself? It is especially important to clearly explain why.

21. Anything else?
Is there anything else you would like to share with us about yourself and T.E.A.M.?

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