Ryan Lucas

University of Colorado-Denver

Information and Learning Technologies Portfolio

Dr. Brent Wilson
University of Colorado--Denver
Information and Learning Technologies

Dear Dr. Wilson:

In the nearly two years that I been enrolled at the University of Colorado--Denver I am amazed at not only what I have learned, but how I have grown personally. Prior to enrolling in the Information and Learning Technologies Masters program, I was familiar with technology in the general sense, but I had not considered how to integrate technology into my teaching and students' learning. I will always remember the wonder of uploading my first "Hello World!" page and realizing that anyone could see my work. More importantly I remember realizing the potential for communicating with students and parents. I quickly set out on my first Web site, completely dedicated to my classroom and communicating with parents. Bolstered by parents' positive feedback, I began creating sites to supplement the curriculum that I was teaching and later turned by attention to examining not only how I was using technology in my classroom, but also how my school and later my district used technology to the benefit of students.

What I found, unfortunately, was that my school lacked leadership in the area of technology. On the logistics side, the district maintained our server, but teachers still created seating charts by hand, used off-line grade books, only used their computers to take attendance, and the few teacher Web sites that were available to parents dated back two to three years. It was clear that at one time teachers had been using technology to manage the logistics of teaching, but for some reason the practice had grown stagnant.

Unfortunately, I found the same stagnation in teachers' use of technology when working with students. The school's computer lab was rarely used, some teachers did not allow students to use online resources, and using an overhead projector required teacher to check one out from the library. Despite this technological stand-still, our school continued to replace computers at a rate of about 20 per year. Many teachers, and community members I am sure, wondered why we were spending money on equipment that no one was using.

As a result of my education at the University of Colorado, Denver, I would love to report that teachers are fully integrating technology into their lessons and students are encouraged by all teachers to utilize all resources, on and off-line. Alas, the process of change is slow, but steady. As one of the leaders in my building, I allow my students to speak for me about the advantages of using technology. Instead of "preaching technology" I have learned that often teachers learn by seeing real results, and the results that they see from my students are a direct reflection on my experience these past two years in the ILT program. Not only do teachers see students producing high quality work, but they also see students enjoying what they are learning about. Instead of hearing students complain about having to research, teachers hear students excitedly talking about which sites are legitimate or whether a PowerPoint or a digital video presentation would best communicate their ideas. The biggest benefactor of my nearly two years as a member of the ILT cohort are my students who are helping me change the way other teachers view technology.

If slow and steady wins the race, my school is in first place. Gradually my school is making gains on using the vast amount of technology that we have in place. From utilizing the computers for more than "free time" to using videos and DVD as educational pieces instead of as a filler, teachers are beginning to understand that technology is more than computers. In the next few years I will continue to use what I have learned in the ILT program to better meet the needs of my students and to help other teachers do the same.

Beginning with offering in-services at my school's fourth Wednesday staff development days on topics suggested by other teachers, my plan is to show instead of tell teachers how incorporating technology into their curriculum benefits students. In addition, I hope to continue my role on the technology committee by leading our school to first examine the opportunities for students by integrating technology, and then create a plan for achieving and implementing the possibilities.

In my role as a technology leader, I hope to eventually become more than the person that gets the call when the printer is jammed; I hope to be the person that other teachers call after an amazing day of witnessing students researching online or collaborating on a WebQuest that the teacher created. In the fast paced world of technology I know that I will have to be a life long learner that is unafraid of embracing new and innovative ideas. In know that just as I draw strength from collaborating with other teachers because of their content-knowledge, other teachers will look to me for reassurance as they begin to become fluent in technology integration.

To help me in this endeavor, I plan to stay current in the field of technology integration by taking advantage of technology conferences such as TIE. In addition, I plan to continue my growth as a leader in my school by listening to the needs of other teachers and finding ways to help them. This could take the form of an action research project, graduate level courses, or serving on a district technology committee. As a graduate of the ILT program at CU-Denver, the foundation has been poured; I am ready to start framing the schools of the 21st century.

Sincerely,

Mr. Ryan R. Lucas