Technology Assessments

An old saying goes, “You don’t know where you are going until you see where you have been.”  This is true in many cases including assessing proficiency in technology.  There may be blind spots in your instructions that you may not be aware of.  We need to constantly strive to be better teachers.  For educators, you can not know what needs improvement without assessing your strengths and weaknesses.  In week one, we took multiple surveys on our use of technology.  After taking these surveys, I discovered that my knowledge was limited to a single operating system. My professional development goals would be to improve my knowledge of other operating systems besides Windows, learn how to diagnose software problems, configure and troubleshoot software, and to navigate using the file manager.  Knowing these skills will help me save time when using different technologies.  I have never created a web page beyond my teacher site, which was very basic.  For professional development, I would like to improve my skills at creating a web site.  I could then create a website for my class that includes links to activities and information.  I would have never been aware of this fact had I not assessed my proficiency of technology.  Assessing student proficiency in technology is also beneficial.  Some students may have a high proficiency in one area, but score low in another.  Assessing their level will provide vital feedback on what technology needs to be addressed.  We need to teach today’s students the skills they need in the 21^st century workplace.