This weeks module gave me the opportunity to collect data from my school/program to document the Operating Systems and Devices that are currently in place for the SBAC testing and to determine if they meet the required standards. As a second grade teacher, I don't have a lot of experiencing testing students using the SBAC. However, I did teach a 2nd & 3rd grade combination class a few years ago and was able to experience the SBAC testing utilizing iPads, external keyboard, headsets, bandwidth and application glitches. It was a frustrating process for the students and as the manager/facilitator of the process in my classroom.
Completing this module and analyzing the SBAC requirements helped me look back from the perspective of a leader and decision maker and how much has improved over the years. From slow bandwidth to improved networks and simulations prior to testing. For example, due to the issues of bandwidth from the past, leadership implemented a "break the internet day" this year to ensure the network is reliable and can sustain all testers and all k-2 classrooms that are not testing but utilizing their day to day applications. On “break the internet day", students of all grade levels were logged on to web based applications and teachers were streaming from every device. The bandwidth and network proved to be reliable, therefore any classroom and any grade can continue to their daily technology routines. In the past years, all k-2 classroom were not allowed to utilize any technology during the testing block, this has changed this year.
As a future leader, this experience with SBAC and connecting the dots looking back gives me the knowledge and the importance of listening to the teachers and users of the technology. In the past, leadership was open to the feedback of teachers and the glitches and set backs they experienced and how leadership moved with that information to ensure they're not repeated.
Completing this module and analyzing the SBAC requirements helped me look back from the perspective of a leader and decision maker and how much has improved over the years. From slow bandwidth to improved networks and simulations prior to testing. For example, due to the issues of bandwidth from the past, leadership implemented a "break the internet day" this year to ensure the network is reliable and can sustain all testers and all k-2 classrooms that are not testing but utilizing their day to day applications. On “break the internet day", students of all grade levels were logged on to web based applications and teachers were streaming from every device. The bandwidth and network proved to be reliable, therefore any classroom and any grade can continue to their daily technology routines. In the past years, all k-2 classroom were not allowed to utilize any technology during the testing block, this has changed this year.
As a future leader, this experience with SBAC and connecting the dots looking back gives me the knowledge and the importance of listening to the teachers and users of the technology. In the past, leadership was open to the feedback of teachers and the glitches and set backs they experienced and how leadership moved with that information to ensure they're not repeated.