ETEC reflection 8

This week for ETEC was another week of new experiences. We looked at writing memos for “thorny” topics. Looking at those technologies or techniques that can be implemented into a school that can be very beneficial for students. This can also be affected by data that has been collected about those technologies or techniques. Data can change or assure the decisions made by different stakeholders in the schools.

Decisions that come from data are very important. I, myself, like quantitative data, logical and concrete as can be. With making decisions from data there are key parts that must be taken into consideration. One must be able to manage information. When looking at data, you must be able to organize it rationally before you can even begin to break down the information. Also for data to mean anything or have a real impact there must be someone or group that can analyze the data. They must be able to glean what is going on. I have seen and read articles that were in science or education journals were there was no backing from the data. In the same articles, the data did not match the conclusions.

Also after the data has been analyzed it must be used for the betterment of students. There are many stakeholders in schools and districts, but the students are the center of all the “debates”. Stakeholders in education include students, parents, teachers, principles, superintendents, local leaders, business owners, and many more. If a school fails it can have severe impacts on a community.

This is why there must be backing (data) that drives what is to be done. Also, there is a great need for a critical eye when looking at data. If you made all of your decisions based on standardized testing then there is a flaw already in your decision making. Many intelligent students are horrible test takers. I use my wife as an example. (She permitted me to share). She is a very intelligent woman, she makes me look like an idiot. But that being said, she gets a test block. She will overthink questions and in the process think her way out of the correct answer that she knows. I am not saying that we should not discount standardized tests, but there are many more dimensions to our students than what we learn from a test.

We need to do what is best for our kids, there must be data that supports what we decide to implement in their schools. We want the best for them and it depends on the students we want to reach with technology.