SWOT+Analysis

Personal Technology SWOT Analysis, Goals and Plan Frances W. Helms University of West Georgia

I am a teacher in a large suburban high school outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I have taught in the state of Georgia for the last 28 years and currently teach honors level Biology and Anatomy and Physiology courses in a department of 15 instructors. Our school enrollment fluctuates around 2000, is in an upper socioeconomic area, and the parental expectation for most of our students is that they will attend college. Members of our department collaborate well together and our primary goal is to teach our students not only content but critical thinking skills to enable them to succeed in their post-secondary education.

**Strengths**

A strength I possess is the determination to learn and implement new technology in an effort to improve my student’s educational experience so all of my students are successful and gain the knowledge of how to learn independently of an instructor. It is to my advantage that I am an experienced educator. I have taught all levels of students in multiple courses and have utilized various teaching strategies and techniques over the years. I am always ready to try something new. I also possess the determination to commit to and complete a project even when encountering hurdles. I have the advantage of experiencing technology as both a teacher and a student. I have experienced the frustrations from both points of view and can utilize those experiences to anticipate student and co-worker reactions and empathize with them. My last two strengths, but not the least, are my desire to stay current with educational technology and the intelligence which allows me to learn and apply new knowledge fairly easily. That doesn’t mean I do not struggle with new concepts – I often do, but I continue until I succeed. I am used to hard work and do not wish to become antiquated within the classroom.

**Weaknesses**

I have several weaknesses which could hamper my progress. That doesn’t mean I cannot overcome them but I will have to work to do so. The greatest weakness I face is a lack of formal training in technology. I have a limited background with minimal knowledge and understanding of hardware and applications. Basically I have learned what I know through district in-services and, on my own, through trial and error. My next hurdle to overcome is a limited amount of time to dedicate to learning and implementing new technology. All educators face the same problem which is how to juggle current educational requirements and responsibilities with the need to create and produce new educational strategies and methods. Another weakness I have found is the difficulty in staying abreast of new technological innovations. Before beginning the Instructional Technology program at UWG, I was not aware of the need to actively update myself regarding new developments. This field is changing quickly and we must be proactive in educating ourselves. The use of blogs, TeacherTube, Twitter and online newsletters can help meet this need. In combating these weaknesses I also face the resistance many of us have to breaking old paradigms when moving from teacher directed use of technology to student centric technological use. The major weakness that I have that could jeopardize all of this is fatigue and frustration. My normal mode of operation is to dig in and push through until a project is complete. I have found that does not work as well with technology. I become fatigued in a different way when using the computers and screens. The more fatigued I become, the more easily I am frustrated. I have found with technology I can alleviate this to a certain extent if I work in units of 1 to 2 hours, take a break with a completely different activity, and then return to the technological project.

**Opportunities**

So many opportunities are available through educational technology. For the public as a whole, education becomes available to a larger number of individuals at an economical price. It accommodates various lifestyles, locations, personal responsibilities, and individual schedules. Educational technology also creates the environment for the development of student centric learning that can accommodate various student learning styles and paces. As progress continues we should also see a greater availability of applications that foster the development of our student’s critical thinking skills. I also see the opportunity to provide students with a greater variety of courses to prepare for future vocations and post-secondary education. As a result, we will be able to help students with limited success join the ranks of the successful.

**Threats**

I believe the greatest threat to the development and implementation of educational technology is funding. With the budget cuts district and state agencies are facing, educational development has been put on hold. Funding is necessary for the purchase of hardware and software, for training faculty and staff, and providing support to faculty and staff in the classroom. Funding is necessary for the development of programs that are student centric in addressing learning styles and thought processes. This type of program development is innovative and will take time and money to succeed. Teachers alone cannot create all of these themselves. Industry needs to step up and help produce such applications, not just give a nod in that direction. Lastly, as with anything new, current instructors have to be convinced to try new advances. The major resistance instructors have to new methodologies is the concern that the new methods will not be effectively deployed. With proper support not only in the classroom during implementation but in the development of the lessons as well, I believe the majority of instructors would actively participate in such innovative classroom changes. The instructor’s reward would be found within their student’s increased success and excitement.

**Personal Technology Goals**

I have several personal technology goals for the next year. My overall goal is to learn how to utilize technology to create a student centric classroom as compared to a teacher driven classroom. To do this, my next goal must be to educate myself in the new developments in educational technology and implement them in my lessons. The third goal is to learn how to use, introduce, and teach my students how to use new applications within the context of my content curriculum. My last goal is personal -- to streamline my technological devices so everything is readily available and easy to use.

**Personal Technology Plan ** My plan to achieve the above goals falls into three steps. Step one is to continue my online degree courses with UWG to expose myself to new applications, products and ideas in the arena of educational technology. The second step is to modify lessons to a 70:20:10 format utilizing technological applications to increase critical thinking and to allow students to learn and demonstrate mastery in a variety of formats. Within the second step I will develop lessons utilizing discussion boards, Wikis, Prezi, Jing, Camtasia and other applications. The third step is three-fold. I will work to convert all of our family photos into digital formats, upload photos onto digital picture frames and become proficient in sharing family photos through Shutterfly, etc. The second phase is to streamline all of my music into digital format and place devices throughout the house to play such music. The last phase of my third step is to become more adept with my smartphone so it is integrated with the other devices and saves time.