Reflecting on Education & Enterprise Architecture (EDL 680) - Spring 2015
3 Critical Discoveries for Course
It is difficult to quantify the learning in the last 16 weeks. It has included lots of questions and lots of pondering. The topic of EA was foreign yet had a few familiar elements. My learning experience has involved reading articles that I did not completely understand. It has also included a very timely position for me as an SIS selection committee member for my district.
During this course, I have been able to ask a lot of questions. The thing is that my professors did not always give a direct answer or perhaps their answers were not the answers I wanted to hear. Sometimes I was given more questions to ponder and my brain felt like it was going into overtime. Interestingly, the questions they would ask did not stunt my learning. They usually (eventually) propelled me forward in my own thinking even though I did not like it all the time.
I felt welcomed by my professors into the learning experience with them, not for them. I felt like learning about EA each week involved a chance to read, discuss, dialogue, apply, and reflect. It was wonderful to know that I had classmates to interact with as well as professors who were willing to provide support and questions to spur on my own thinking.
I am slowly starting to be able to visualize myself as an edtech leader. My brain thinks differently now. My experience during this class has helped me realize that my perspective does matter - and that there is a lot more to educational technology than what happens in my own classroom. It makes me wonder more and more what my job may be in the future. Will I feel more and more called to leave the classroom, or will I continue to blend my love for science and edtech as a classroom teacher and as a tech resource teacher?
- I have a new lens to view topics, events, lectures, and work activities in educational technology and leadership. There are so many factors to consider. EdTech leadership can be both overwhelming and exciting.
- A well established and believed in (by stakeholders) vision is crucial to the growth and development of the organization. If the vision is not current or relevant, the leadership needs to revisit it sooner rather than later. The vision grounds and guides the organization.
- Just because it works for one organization, it doesn’t mean it will work for another. It’s like teaching and learning! Just because an individual learns one way, it doesn’t mean definitively that another will learn the exact same way. Individuals are unique and organizations are unique.
It is difficult to quantify the learning in the last 16 weeks. It has included lots of questions and lots of pondering. The topic of EA was foreign yet had a few familiar elements. My learning experience has involved reading articles that I did not completely understand. It has also included a very timely position for me as an SIS selection committee member for my district.
During this course, I have been able to ask a lot of questions. The thing is that my professors did not always give a direct answer or perhaps their answers were not the answers I wanted to hear. Sometimes I was given more questions to ponder and my brain felt like it was going into overtime. Interestingly, the questions they would ask did not stunt my learning. They usually (eventually) propelled me forward in my own thinking even though I did not like it all the time.
I felt welcomed by my professors into the learning experience with them, not for them. I felt like learning about EA each week involved a chance to read, discuss, dialogue, apply, and reflect. It was wonderful to know that I had classmates to interact with as well as professors who were willing to provide support and questions to spur on my own thinking.
I am slowly starting to be able to visualize myself as an edtech leader. My brain thinks differently now. My experience during this class has helped me realize that my perspective does matter - and that there is a lot more to educational technology than what happens in my own classroom. It makes me wonder more and more what my job may be in the future. Will I feel more and more called to leave the classroom, or will I continue to blend my love for science and edtech as a classroom teacher and as a tech resource teacher?
A Group Presentation about Student Privacy
NGSS: An Overview
EA Frameworks: A Little More Learning
(February 7, 2015)
(February 7, 2015)
The linked document above is a KWL chart. It highlights what I now know about enterprise architecture, what I would like to know, and a few documents that detail my learning so far. There is more learning to come, but this organizes my learning and gives me a reference point for my future learning.
Summary of Learning: There are a lot of details in each of the 5 main EA Frameworks, which makes it hard to establish a clear picture right now. There are familiar business elements involved, while other business elements that feel semantically foreign. It’s a matter of mental adjustment to be open to learning about the frameworks of enterprise architecture. It also allows giving oneself time to read and reread when necessary. This is complicated. However, educational organizations increasingly need to utilize frameworks to help them plan, execute, troubleshoot, and maintain their technology. Otherwise, a purchased device or brand new system can flop, even before the end user even views it.
Summary of Learning: There are a lot of details in each of the 5 main EA Frameworks, which makes it hard to establish a clear picture right now. There are familiar business elements involved, while other business elements that feel semantically foreign. It’s a matter of mental adjustment to be open to learning about the frameworks of enterprise architecture. It also allows giving oneself time to read and reread when necessary. This is complicated. However, educational organizations increasingly need to utilize frameworks to help them plan, execute, troubleshoot, and maintain their technology. Otherwise, a purchased device or brand new system can flop, even before the end user even views it.
Enterprise Architecture: A Novice Understanding
(January 2015)
(January 2015)
Architecture includes thoughtful, strategic placement of puzzle pieces in order to provide structure to a larger object. It involves thinking about how the pieces fit together so that those pieces can continue to work together, and personally sounds very related to engineering. Enterprise architecture takes a look at an organization where it is and where it will be going in the future. It involves visionary thinking to decide the structure of its pieces so that in the future there will not be a need to be a complete restructuring but rather minor modifications or simply a rearrangement. In practical terms, the concept of enterprise architecture is similar to determining your next furniture purchase. In order to buy a new sectional, one may think carefully about how she want the pieces to fit together in her current abode. She also wants to make sure these same pieces can fit together in another configuration if she moves the furniture to another room or moves to an entirely new locale. She wants a solid structure, and not something that can only be set up one way.
As I ponder the concept of enterprise architecture, I think about how an educator uses technology with her students. A variety of tools are tried throughout the semester, but when she wants to use those tools in a slightly different way the next time she may have to recreate how she used the tool. It may be that her organizational methods weren’t successful the first time or she does not remember how exactly she set up or had the students access the tool. It would behoove her to set up the tool, document, and capture (as best she can) why she is using it and how she is setting it up for use in her classroom. This way, she has a point of reference for the same tool the next time she needs to use it. Is this relevant to others pondering the concept of enterprise architecture?
I hope to learn more about the pieces that truly are part of educational enterprise architecture. I feel that my own experience as a tech resource teacher and site curriculum specialist are giving me glimpses of the pieces and about each group of stakeholders involved. However, there is still a lot to be learned about how to make sure the pieces work, fit, and are flexible enough for whatever the future holds. How can an organization be visionary yet structurally sound in the midst of change?
References
As I ponder the concept of enterprise architecture, I think about how an educator uses technology with her students. A variety of tools are tried throughout the semester, but when she wants to use those tools in a slightly different way the next time she may have to recreate how she used the tool. It may be that her organizational methods weren’t successful the first time or she does not remember how exactly she set up or had the students access the tool. It would behoove her to set up the tool, document, and capture (as best she can) why she is using it and how she is setting it up for use in her classroom. This way, she has a point of reference for the same tool the next time she needs to use it. Is this relevant to others pondering the concept of enterprise architecture?
I hope to learn more about the pieces that truly are part of educational enterprise architecture. I feel that my own experience as a tech resource teacher and site curriculum specialist are giving me glimpses of the pieces and about each group of stakeholders involved. However, there is still a lot to be learned about how to make sure the pieces work, fit, and are flexible enough for whatever the future holds. How can an organization be visionary yet structurally sound in the midst of change?
References
- (2010). Enterprise architecture: origins, tools, and insights. - Free ... Retrieved September 8, 2014, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Enterprise+architecture%3A+origins,+tools,+and+insights.-a0203895990.
- Education Enterprise Architecture Guidebook (2014). The Reform Network, US Department of Education.
- Mastering ArchiMate. (2013, April 19). Why enterprise architecture? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/qDI2oF1bASk.
- Ross, J. W., Weill, P., & Robertson, D. C. (2006). Enterprise architecture as strategy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.