Reflection: 6701

This course has helped me develop my technology skills because it allowed me to experiment with new computer programs that I had not used in the past, or knew very little about. Though I had experimented with podcasts in the past, I did not know anything about Audacity, and using it in this class has given me better ideas to developing podcast assignments. I have also learned how to update and manage blogs and wikis. I have so many ideas for implementing either a blog or wiki within my department or in my classroom.

This course has opened my eyes even more to the importance of making my classroom a student/ learner-centered classroom. Because students have access to information in so many ways other than their textbooks, they may come in with knowledge prior to it being brought up in the curriculum, or they may go online to research a topic and find information that causes them to question what they have heard in school. As educators, we have to be prepared with not just the knowledge that backs our curriculum, but we need to know how to adapt to our 21st century learners. Moreover, we need to address 21st century skills in our classrooms. Our students should not JUST be learning about our content, but also real-world skills. How many of us teach how to determine what information on the internet is valid and what is not? How many teachers encourage students to check the information they find against more than one source? Who encourages collaboration in their classroom? It’s imperative that teachers move from a teacher-centered class to establish and teach these important 21st century skills that students will need when they are out of school.

I can continue to expand my knowledge of incorporating technology in several ways. One of these is to continue with this masters’ program. Just two classes have sparked so many new ideas in my head for future performance-based assessments, activities, and homework for my class. I would like to create a department wiki for the world language department in my district, so that the teachers can collaborate and share materials and ideas for different units. I know this may take a while, but I hope to develop this over the next school year and train my colleagues to contribute to it. I foresee some challenges with this because I know many people in my department are resistant to technology despite repeated attempts to use it. I plan to utilize a department meeting or two to spearhead this project.
I would also like to attend professional development days that center around incorporating technology in my field.
Finally, I plan to utilize blogging in my classroom. I think I can use a class blog to create a study guide. One of my colleagues assigns a student each day to do a class report the next day that summarizes the day’s class, but I could assign someone to post to the blog notes from the day or answers to handouts, so that by the end of the unit, the students can have a study guide.

My answers have changed from the start of the course on the survey. I am starting to collaborate more with my students on technology where before I did not at all. It turns out that many of them are very helpful with troubleshooting and have great ideas for ways to incorporate technology in the class. I have also reached out to other teachers in my district to try to learn more about using technology in the classroom. I feel I have certainly grown throughout the course.

Students and Tech