Running head: PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY SWOT ANALYSIS 1

Personal Technology SWOT Analysis, Goals, and Plan

Shakoiya Aiken

University of West Georgia

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PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY SWOT ANALYSIS

Personal Technology SWOT Analysis, Goals, and Plan

I am currently employed as a fifth grade teacher in Cobb County School District. My

primary job duty is to provide instruction for students below, on, and above grade level. I am

expected to provide them with opportunities that enables them to learn and achieve to the

maximum of their abilities. My second duty is to integrate technology within my classroom to

better support the students and I. I am expected to provide them with tools that allows them to

communicate, collaborate, problem solve, interact and engage with 21st century skills.

Strengths

One of my greatest strengths is the ability to know and understand the 21st century

technology that is used today because of my young age. I am very familiar with what is taking

place in today’s era, as well as how to implement and integrate the necessary 21st century

technology skills needed in order for students to be successful. I have a clear understanding of

the technology standards that are expected for students to master. Another major strength is my

educational experience. I have graduated with my bachelor’s and master’s in the last few years,

so I had the opportunity to explore and engage with newer technology. I am also currently

working on my ED.S to stay updated with technology. I am very good with implementing game-

based learning into my daily rotation schedule in math and reading. I constantly find new ways

to use technology for engagement purposes, but also find ways for it to be meaningful. I am

always willing to try new things to prepare my students for the future. I am the recorder in my

team meetings. I am expected to analyze and input 5th grade data. Analyzing and inputting data

are strengths of mine. I wouldn’t say it is my favorite thing to do, but I am good at it. Lastly, I

am good at using technology for preparation for county and state assessments.
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PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY SWOT ANALYSIS

Weaknesses

One of my greatest weaknesses is my inability to figure out why a technology device

doesn’t work. When my doc camera, desktops, laptops, SMART board, etc… stops working. I

immediately become frustrated because my interest is not in fixing technology. I don’t put as

much effort into fixing anything because my goal is to implement technology into my lessons. I

tend to panic when things are not going my way because wasted time is something I can never

get back. I also struggle with my time management when using technology. I sometimes become

so engaged in a program, app, or assignment on a device that I totally forget there are other

things to do. My current school is always rolling out new equipment’s and broadcasting

programs, and it gives me anxiety. I am dedicated to everything in which I do, so if I start

something, I must finish it. I don’t believe in quitting! But, it takes me forever to set up and

figure out how something works. I have knowledge with the basics. For example, word

processing, spreadsheets, and web navigation skills. I also have weaknesses in using camera and

audio on devices. Although I am good at presenting, I struggle with the tools needed to do so.

Some personal characteristics that I see as a weaknesses include my lack of thinking

everyone thinks like me. I will research through everything to find the answer to my questions.

My colleagues refuses to read and think. They want everything handed to them on a gold platter.

I also become easily irritated when my students repeatedly ask me the same questions over and

over again about a program, app, or game we are using when I have explained it 100 times and

recorded the instructions on the board.

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PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY SWOT ANALYSIS
Opportunities

With being an educator in the 21st century, I continuously look for ways to better myself

as an educator. I look for different ways to create assessments using irespond. It is a software

that provides students’ responses into a remote or app. I have been given the opportunity to show

my colleagues how to create assessments and use our school and county programs to analyze

data. I have also been given the opportunity to deliver professional development about ways to

communicate. I have been asked to show teachers how to use class blogs to effectively

communicate with their parents. I have stepped out of my comfort zone of elementary education

and transitioned to technology for better hopes of becoming more versatile. I am hoping this

Ed.S program will better prepare me for what is yet to come in the technology world. I

mentioned in my Nature of Learning discussion that I enjoyed the cognitivism theory because it

correlates with Bloom’s Taxonomy. I have the opportunity to use my technology strengths to

connect with this theory. According to Morris (2017), “Changes with technology are enabling

educators to have a more diverse set of pedagogical approaches to support their learners, which

means that they can be more inclusive in their teaching methods (p. 1). I briefly discussed this in

my previous discussion. Technology is evolving into something bigger and better, it is crucial

that I continue to seek opportunities within technology in order to create opportunities for my

students when integrating technology.

Threats

One of the biggest threats to achieving the implementation of technology is the lack of

devices. Speaking from experience, I have worked in all title 1 schools and I always had limited

access to technology. This is the first year that I am not encountering that situation. Another

threat is the lack of training teachers are receiving, including myself. I can honestly say I haven’t
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PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY SWOT ANALYSIS
received any technology training. I learn through exploration. Another threat is the misuse of

technology from students. This can happen in a manner of seconds. Monitoring is key and it is

difficult to monitor 27 students in one class using technology. In addition, privacy and copyright

laws are also a threat when implementing technology. It is important to be aware of laws before

implementing. I have been in the situation before with parents signing a form stating they don’t

want their child using the internet. This makes it hard to implement lessons using technology. As

mentioned in the Piano stairs the fun theory (2009) video, 66% more people than normal chose

the stairs over the escalator. I have learned throughout the years shortcuts never gets individuals

too far. It is easier for educators to say they are not using technology because of the threats. But,

that is taking a shortcut to success.

Personal technology goals

I strongly believe teachers must be willing to learn themselves in order to see changes

within their students. My personal technology goals are to engage in different technology

resources to support my instructional strategies that can meet the needs of all students. I want to

learn more about gamification in order to implement it in my classroom. I want to continue

digging deeper to understand the meaning behind technology and how it can and should be

utilized. I want to work on creating a fully online learning initiative for my students to be able to

use on each and every break and on a daily basis.

Once I work on becoming great in all aspects, I hope to be able to deliver professional

development to teachers across the county and the state. I want to support them in every way

possible that will allow them to be successful, as well as their students. I want to be able to use

what I have learned and practiced to share with educators who have a negative feeling about

technology. I believe teachers are passionate, teachable, and visionary and I believe I have to set
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goals and accomplish them in order to make and see a difference. According to Christensen,

Horn, and Johnson (2016), “We should nurture the understanding that people can see things

differently and that those differences merit respect rather than persecution” (p.1). I mentioned

this within my Marzano discussion because it connects to my philosophy of teaching. I fully

understand all students are different and visualizes things differently, so I have to make

individual changes myself.

Person technology plans

My main plan for achieving my goals is through digging deep into my courses. I have

never been one of those students who does the bare minimum. I am dedicated and I invest my

time into everything that I want to accomplish. I will continue researching to find the answers to

my questions. I will continue asking questions in order to get answers that will help better myself

and my students. I am currently working on my ED.S degree, but I am also on the edge about

applying to a doctoral program in 2019 to further my learning. In addition, I have discussed with

my principal my immediate need of attending technology conferences and trainings. According

to Bates (2015), “Good teachers usually have an arsenal of tools, methods and approaches that

they can draw on, depending on the circumstances” (p.49). With the rapid changes in

technology, I strongly believe as an educator, it is my duty to become educated in technology

and everything that comes with it. The use of technology can either break or make a teacher. I

want to be able to effectively collaborate, lead, and evaluate effective use of technology.
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References

Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a digital age. Burnaby, BC: SFU Document Solutions, Simon

Fraser University.

Christensen, C. M., Johnson, C., & Horn, M. (2016). Disrupting class, expanded edition: How

disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sadh, D.M. (2009, October 9). Piano stairs the fun theory. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOQHsWfOB4.

Thomas, A., & Morris, N. (2017, March 17). Is digital technology changing learning and

teaching? The big debate from Digifest 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/is-digital-technology-changing-learning-and-teaching-15-

mar-2017