EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflections

There were a total of 13 web conferences for this course.  These conferences provide a method for students to ask questions and have assignments clarified.  They also provide a method for the professors to evaluate the courseware and make updates as needed to provide more clarity or address any confusion that has occurred.

Week 1 Web Conference - Monday, June 4, 2012

There was a lot of discussion about having the correct assignments for Week 1.  There seems to be some problems with the correct assignments showing up in Epic.  My particular section in Epic has the correct assignment but the Readings are wrong.  Under the Readings section, there are still 7 readings listed and a progress monitor.  This is not correct for the current course.  The syllabus has the correct readings listed.  Dr Abernathy indicated that Lamar was moving from Epic to Blackboard beginning in August.  This course has been updated from the previous sections and it seems that all the changes were not imported by Epic into the current courseware.  Dr Abernathy made us all feel very welcome and emphasized that she was there to answer all our questions and help us in any way possible. 

Week 2 Web Conference – Saturday, June 9, 2012

Dr Abernathy discussed Week 1 to ensure that everybody understood and completed the assignments.   There were questions about how to submit certain assignments because some of the assignments had instructions but no actual place for you to add your responses.  Most students seemed to either add a textbox to the end of the assignment page or to submit all responses on a separate web document.  We will be using Audacity for audio recordings and we are to select a video editing program to explore.  We can use Audacity to create a podcast that gives a brief explanation of our chosen video editing software.  Dr Abernathy clarified the assignments to turn in for the week and then briefly talked about upcoming weeks.   We should have a Google Site to post some of our work in this course.  Most students already have a Google Site that was created in a previous course but there is a tutorial in resources with instructions on creating a Google Site.   The procedure for obtaining an embed code was discussed so that our created video can be embedded on our Google Site.  The code should be copied and pasted into our site.   Dr. Abernathy reminded us that we are problem solvers.  We can easily obtain a tutorial for any subject by using Google and searching for the desired subject and the word tutorial.  Dr Abernathy provided a link to her blog (http://kayabernathy.blogspot.com) that contains helpful information.  It is important for us to realize that we will be posting on the web for this course which should make us more comfortable sharing information on the web that would benefit our students or peers.  There is always the possibility of problems when information is placed on the internet but these have been reduced by being well informed on the workings of the internet and the options available for sharing information.  

The issues with having the wrong files in Epic were again discussed.  Corrections were supposed to have been made but some students indicated that they were still seeing assignments with the wrong information.

Week 5 Web Conference – Sunday, July 01, 2012

As we end Week 4 and enter Week 5, there was discussion on week 4 and 5 assignments.  This was a time that clarifications were made on both weeks.  Dr Abernathy loaded the Week 5 Overview and this has the most updated and correct information for the course.  In essence we are resubmitting many of the same parts as in previous two weeks but we have now completed all revisions.  My team has used Dropbox and GoogleDocs to collaborate on this project.  These have been invaluable in maintaining collaborative documents that are easily assessable to the entire team.  

An update on our Action Research Project and our internship hours are due in this course.  This is a good time for us to step back and access our progress on both of these requirements.  It is very helpful that we have the flexibility to change the research project if our situation has changed.  It is very important to be able to conduct research on a topic you are interested in and that is pertinent to you.

This was the first time I had received information on taking the principal’s exam.  It was very comforting to hear that we will be required to take weekly practice exams until we are able to achieve a certain score.  This will occur during one of the future courses.

There still seem to be issues with the course in Epic but we are receiving weekly overviews with the correct information and these web conferences are invaluable.  Dr. Abernathy has provided the most flexibility with web conferences of any course I have taken.  This has been a great asset for our learning.

This information is also posted on my Google Site: 

https://sites.google.com/site/surroundedbytechnology/edld-5363/week-5-web-conference-reflections

EDLD 5363 Week 1 Creating a Personal Digital Story

I was excited and anxious about this week’s assignment.  I do not have much experience creating videos but, since I want to create more videos to use in my classroom, I was eager to learn.  By first writing a video script and creating a storyboard, I was able to organize my thoughts and stay focused on the end product.  Peer reviews of my script were conducted on the discussion board and I sent my storyboard to James Hawks and Jeanette Conti for comments.

I went to an iPad workshop this week to learn some apps for the new iPad that was provided by the school’s PTO.  One of the apps was iMovie.  I used this app and my iPad to create the video this week.  It was extremely easy to use.  It took me longer to gather photos than it did to insert them into the video.  While I only have a basic understanding of the features of iMovie, I found it very easy to edit the photo lengths and to record narration for the movie.  I do still need to explore ways to download the iMovies but I chose to use Vimeo this week since I have used this site a couple of times in the past.  I was able to obtain an embed code from Vimeo and insert this embed code into a gadget on my Google site. 

This assignment was structured to allow us to learn a variety of techniques that will be very useful in the future.

EDLD 5301 Course Reflection

As I reflect on the last 5 weeks, I am amazed at all that I have learned. This course revealed the use of action research or action inquiry as opposed to traditional research methods. Traditional research is conducted objectively by outside researchers and establishes generalities and explanations. Nolen and Putten (2007) relied on Mills(2003) to define action research as any systematic inquiry conducted by teachers, administrators, counselors, or others with a vested interest in the teaching and learning process, for the purpose of gathering data about how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how students learn. This view was supported b y Dana (2009), “In a fashion similar to the ways teachers utilize this process to gain better understandings of themselves and their teaching practice, administrators can use it to gain deeper insights into their practice as administrators and their leadership role in school improvement efforts.” These insiders look at wonderings or questions that can help them better understand a current practice and determine a way to improve this practice. They can also use the action research method to determine the best way to implement a new technique and determine its success. Action research facilities a localized approached to the cycle of inquiry, reflection and improvement.


As I have progressed through this course, I have realized the importance of detailed planning of the action research steps which required reflection and revision. During the process of conducting the entire action research plan, a continuous process of revision and reflection is normal. The constructive comments provided by my site supervisor, school librarian and peers have proved invaluable in my understanding of the importance of collaboration. Because of the continuous process of inquiry, collaboration, reflection, and improvement, the product of my action research plan will be stronger and more relevant.


This course has given me an awareness of the importance of action research as a method to provide positive change. I have gained the confidence to develop and conduct an action research plan knowing that the results of this inquiry will be beneficial to my campus.






Fichtman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.


Harris, S., Edmonson,S., & Combs,J. (2009) Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.




Mills, G. (2003). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (2nd
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.


Nolen, A. and Vander Putten, J. (2007) Action research in education: addressing gaps in ethical principles and practices. Educational Researcher, (36) 7, 401–407. Retrieved from http://www.aera.net/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/Educational_Researcher/3607/10EDR07_401-407.pdf

Action Research Plan

Real Life Research Action Examples

This week focused on real life examples of action research from three Texas school districts.  These included improving TAKS scores, the process of gaining approval for and organizing an action research project, and using a grant to develop an on-time graduation program.  Focus was placed on the importance of data driven research.  Action research should be used to develop any improvement plan. 

In order to develop research topics, the question ‘Where do I find my wonderings and questions?’ was explored (Fichtman, 2009). This section focused on nine passions that can be used to focus your thoughts when you are developing an action plan.  These passions are staff development, curriculum development, individual teacher(s), individual student(s), school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice or equity issues.  While these passions focus on a wide range of subjects, all ultimately relate to the goal of student improvement. 

This detailed exploration of examples of action research was beneficial to understanding the process and focusing on a topic for the required research in this program.  The topic should be achievable in the time allotted and should be of concern to the school staff.  By conducting the research, the topic can be examined and improved before determining if it can be successfully implemented.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

Through the use of blogs, educational leaders can access the collective knowledge of a wide variety of people.  New and innovative practices can be explored and debated.  As stated by Ferriter (2009), “Specifically, thousands of accomplished educators are now writing blogs about teaching and learning, bringing transparency to both the art and the science of their practice. In every content area and grade level and in schools of varying sizes and from different geographic locations, educators are actively reflecting on instruction, challenging assumptions, questioning policies, offering advice, designing solutions, and learning together. And all this collective knowledge is readily available for free.”  Blogs bring a real time aspect to the learning process.  Information and ideas are updated on a daily basis allowing a continuous exposure to professional growth.

Ferriter, Bill (2009, February). Learning with blogs and wikis. Educational Leadership, 66(5), 34-38.

What is action research? How can it be used in a school setting?

Action research is a process that allows participants to improve personally and professionally.  This process is multifaceted.  In order to analyze current practices or seek out a better or new methodology, questions are posed, data collected and analyzed, changes are made based on this analysis and results are shared.   Action research is beneficial to both principals and teachers.  As stated by Nancy Fichtman Dana (2009), “In a fashion similar to the ways teachers utilize this process to gain better understandings of themselves and their teaching practice, administrators can use it to gain deeper insights into their practice as administrators and their leadership role in school improvement efforts.”

The most appealing aspect of action research is the continuous cycle approach.  This reinforces the idea that learning is a lifelong process.  As educators, we need to constantly reevaluate ourselves and our techniques.  We, educators and students, must be global learners to meet the needs of our ever changing world.  In order to meet these needs, we must maintain a continuous cycle of evaluation and improvement of all our policies and procedures.

Technology is one aspect of education where action research can be used in a variety of ways.  With the advancements in personal technology and the budget constraints of many school districts, there has been a move toward ‘Bring Your Own Technology’ or BYOT in a growing number of schools.  This presents the issue of developing new policies for the use of student owned devices in the classroom.  Schools are facing limited budgets and there is a push to move to eTextbooks.  This would require detailed analysis including the cost of eTextbooks and supplemental materials, availability to students, and the updating of online content.

Action research is used on a daily basis is education. Teachers adjust their teaching strategies to accommodate the students’ learning styles. Administrators are always striving to implement and update their school improvement plans.  Education is not a static environment and action research is an excellent tool to use to development new and better methods of meeting the needs of the educational staff and the student population.

Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 

Murphy, Kari Rhame (2011, November). Striking a balance: district acceptable-use policies must evolve to reflect the changing realities of 21^st century learning. Techedge,4. 23-24.