PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS 1

Running Head: PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS

Personal Technology Analysis:

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
Megan O. Standley
University of West Georgia
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I am a ninth grade math teacher at East Coweta High School. My undergraduate degree is

in Business with a concentration in Marketing and Advertising. I later got a Master of Arts in

Teaching. I have since been teaching for five years at both the middle and high school level. One

of my strengths in technology comes from my undergraduate work. As an advertising student, I

took multiple courses in both graphic design and data analysis in various spreadsheet software.

Taking these courses helped me become comfortable working in different interfaces and I was

able to become quite efficient using many different software programs. Another strength is that I

am of a younger generation. I have been exposed to computers since elementary school and,

although Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail are not expert-level programs by any means, the

use of them from an early age meant that I became quite comfortable and efficient with

technology early on in life. I have never been afraid of breaking the computer or clicking the

wrong button. I am comfortable experimenting within programs and finding key components on

my own. If someone is available to teach me, I am a very quick learner and generally only have

to be shown once. If no one is available to teach me, I have no trouble finding instructions on the

internet or just learning through trial and error.

One of my main weaknesses is my response to the external factor of time. Cuban

references a 1994 survey of teachers where 45 percent said they had no time to learn about

classroom uses of computers (Cuban, 2001, p. 121). Although that was more than ten years ago,

I would imagine that percentage has increased and I would be included. Having a full-time

teaching job that is packed with instruction, meetings, grading, tutoring and everyday tasks that

must be accomplished, Im fairly parsimonious with any extra time that I get. Id rather not

spend my few treasured minutes of lunch researching student-centered technology, or finalizing

details of a new technology-infused lesson for teaching quadratic functions. Many times, Id
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rather stick with what I know from previous years a trusty, old graphic organizer or an easy-on-

the-eyes Kuta worksheet (plus they come with an answer key!) and am unwilling to give up my

fifteen minutes of thought-free indolence. After work, time is even more precious. I have a

husband and a one-year-old daughter and its with them that I want to spend any spare moments I

get between Specialist course work assignments.

Another weakness is my vivid memory of carefully planned technology-centered lessons

that have fizzled in execution. I recall running from computer to computer enabling cookies,

unblocking pop-ups, and reminding students of their suddenly-forgotten passwords the lunch

numbers theyve used every day since Pre-K. I recall websites not functioning as they had in trial

runs or the school wireless connection taking a fifty-five-minute break from proper functionality.

Quite often in my first year teaching public school, my Flipcharts I created for the Promethean

Board worked flawlessly and students were actively engaged in the lessons. When I transferred

schools the next year, I cursed the gods of funding and technology when I learned my new

school only had whiteboards and an overhead projector. My perfect lesson was not compatible

with the equipment and, ergo, was no longer useful. I must now plan an entirely new lesson.

Perhaps this time Ill stick with a worksheet.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity is that we live in a technological age where resources

abound. I can use technology to further my understanding and use of technology! Using Google,

YouTube and an endless array of other websites and browsers, I can find information on new

teaching resources, videos of how to operate them, blogs about best practices for

implementation, and pictures of student results. Another external factor in my favor is my

employment at the largest high school in the county. I have access to a wide variety of different

equipment, both owned by the county and owned by individual teachers who do not mind
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sharing. Also, our large faculty means there are many people to whom I can go for help our

school Tech Support Specialist, Media Specialists, and other teachers who have already

implemented technologies I wish to use. Our county has also issued Chromebooks to all students

which means I can plan a technology-based lesson any day and not have to reserve the computer

lab or Chromebook cart weeks ahead of time. A third opportunity is my specialist coursework.

Taking courses that are taught online and that are centered on the topic of technology will help

me practice its uses and implementation in the classroom.

One threat is the lack of programs that provide student-centered instruction as discussed

in some of our readings for both this class as well as others. There are some programs that have

some aspects of this, but there have yet to be developed any programs that do it all. This can

result in teachers having to piece together lessons from several different places. Another threat is

the student. Students can be irresponsible, resulting in Chromebooks coming in not charged, or

perhaps not coming in at all if they forgot it at home. If using another type of technology,

students could misuse it and break it, preventing it from being used by anyone for a period of

time. Also, students are very tech savvy and most know how to use technology for other things

besides my structured lesson on evaluating exponential functions. They may be emailing with

their best friend across the room or online shopping for their prom dress when my back is turned.

One personal technology goal is to learn of more uses for my classroom. I do not want

my students to use computers mainly for word processing, to search the Internet for research

papers, and to play games (Christensen, 2011, p. 82). I would like to learn about more websites

that I can use specifically in my high school mathematics course for student instruction, practice,

assessment and record keeping. One thing that I have not found that would be extremely helpful

in the area of differentiation would be a website or program that can scaffold for student
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learning. Teaching a class with thirty-two students, it becomes quite difficult to know where each

student is in their learning. For instance, is there an area of previous learning in which they lack

that is keeping them from mastering the new topic? If there were a program that could identify

these previous weaknesses and help the student master them, subsequently, it would be possible

for the student to learn the newest topic. This would significantly increase student success rate.

Another goal is to learn more about the logistics and best practices of technology implementation

in my classroom. I want to let the technology work for me as the old saying goes, work

smarter, not harder. For example, learning a better way to administer an assessment, retrieve

growth statistics, and calculate other student data would allow me to know where I need to

improve as a teacher.

One of the main ways I plan to attain my personal technology goals is to pay careful

attention to each of the readings and discussion posts in each of my courses. I know I will be able

to gain knowledge from readings of highly regarded leaders in the technological and educational

field. I will also be able to learn a great deal from fellow educators participating in the

discussions. Reviewing the discussion posts of my colleagues to see what types of technology

they use and how they implement it in their own classes will give me ideas for my classroom. I

think this will be especially helpful since nearly anyone can write about this topic, but it

somehow seems more applicable and possible when reading about others real-life experiences.

I plan to make and spend time planning how to implement student-centered technology in

my classes. I am going to try to include a technology-based lesson at least once a week

throughout this semester. Im hoping that if I focus on one or two programs at a time that I will

become more proficient using them. I know one of the programs I want to focus on is

USATestPrep.com. This is a website that is standards-based so it is completely relevant to the

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content of my curriculum. I know I can create assignments and gather data from student

assessments. Id like to become more proficient at both of these things in order to obtain all the

program has to offer. This will help me guide each of my students to the topics they need help

with and, hopefully, help them grow and succeed in my course.

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References

Christensen, C. M., Horn, M. B., & Johnson, C. W. (2011). Disrupting class: How disruptive

innovation will change the way the world learns. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused computers in the classroom. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press.