JHU & ISTE Week 2 - Blog Assignment 1

My first blog assignment is to post a reflection in regard to my two week orientation course for the Johns Hopkins and ISTE program I am taking for the next year.

The questions posed, and my answers are below

What are your expectations for this program? What do you hope to accomplish?

• My expectations for this program are high. Specifically, I expect to participate in a program that will challenge common (mis)conceptions of educational leadership. As someone who works in a leadership / administrator role I am eager to push the boundaries of innovation in respect to systemic integration of technology.

• This program is unique in that a significant focus is Instructional Technology, and to be able to codify some concrete ways in which school districts can adopt successful measures to utilize technology more effectively, is something of significant interest to me. I also expect to learn some elements I acknowledge are absent from my own education, especially the area of education law. As someone who was educated and trained to teach in another country, the finer details of the US education system are hugely important to me.

• I hope throughout this program I am able to interact with a wide range of participants who not only agree with my thoughts and ideas, but challenge them, and my perceptions as a foreigner. Likewise, I hope I am able to present various alternatives to the current educational norm throughout the US.

• It is my goal to participate fully in all discussions and projects but I also know I am an outspoken individual who often likes to play devils advocate and push buttons. I aim to curb this somewhat because I know this can be misconstrued in an online environment.

Now that you have a good sense of the types of online activities and the rhythms of an active participant, what steps will you take to be successful in this program?

• I am not a big fan of group projects, especially through online courses. But, noting how significant these types of activities are in this program I will have to take some steps to remain open minded.

• It has been several years since I was last a student, and so I acknowledge I will have to adopt a very different weekly, even daily routine. The orientation process proved to be a great induction into the online environment, and a great way to help me organize my thoughts and actions differently now that I am a student again.

• I will need to organize my computer and online resources (Google Calendar, Delicious, etc) to ensure I have a clean slate ready for the summer kick-off.

• I will take steps to ensure several evenings per week are kept free so I can devote the necessary time to my studies.

• I am going to have to renew some old collegiate relationships and re-build my PLN so I don’t go through this in absolute isolation.

Where do you still need additional support to be successful?

• My biggest issue will be adhering to the APA guidelines. As a Brit, I am having some issues understanding the intricacies and subtleties of this system. I think this may be my biggest downfall.

• Having used Blackboard in all my other online classes, I think I am possibly going to need further help (or just more time) using the JHU system.

My Foray into Blogging

Well, this is major turn of events for me in that I have resisted, for many years now, to begin writing a blog. I am not sure why, but I think I have been hesitant to maintain my a blog for that one key word.. "maintain". The maintenance commitment seems to be rather significant, and I have never been sure of the level of commitment I can provide outside of my friends, family, fiance, and cat.


However, as I embark on a new chapter in my life, and a new course of study at Johns Hopkins University, I am going to take some baby steps, and bashfully participate in the blog-writing process. 


The title of my blog is hugely important, for many reasons. The first, is somewhat ironic, in that I have worked for the largest Support Organization within the NYC Department of Education, called the Empowerment Support Organization. Not too much irony there you may think, except just as I gain the momentum to write my blog, the DOE decides to disband Empowerment and the organization no longer exists. Nor does my job as I have known it for the past 2.5 years. 


And yet, I remained faithful to the name simply because, regardless of organizational names or titles, my passion is the true empowerment of educators and students. My own empowerment, as an educator, has led me from the UK to USA working in a variety of roles. My latest role undoubtedly has the most impact in respect to empowerment (more on the specifics in future posts) due to the fact I am able to provide opportunities for students and teachers to direct their own learning opportunities, share their results, and collaborate around innovative models of instruction.


My continued pursuit of personal and professional empowerment has afforded me the opportunity to enroll in a unique program at Johns Hopkins University here in the US. This is an online program organized in conjunction with ISTE, leading to Administration Certification with an emphasis on Instructional Technology. 


Many of my posts will relate directly to this program, as I will be required to utilize this forum for some assignments. Other posts will be purely for me, and whoever else wants to read them.


Hopefully there will be a growing number of people who will have an interest in my writing, points of view, and ideas.