First and foremost, this course has helped me "try-out" many tools that I would have never attempted alone. With the help of my classmates and instructor, we collaborated and created a Blog, a Wiki-page and a Podcast. These new web 2.0 tools have shown me the 21st century tools that are available to use with my students and how I can use these skills to better prepare my students to be successful in the future business world.
I have discovered that my "old school" methods of teaching are not what my students need today. Their learning styles are so different now than they were 20 years ago, when I started teaching. Most of my students are digital natives, while I myself, am a digital immigrant just entering into the wonderful world of technology. Although I have used e-mail for communication and digital picture taking, I have certainly not been on the cutting edge for most of the technology tools that we have available for us as resources in the classroom. The "hands-on" knowledge that I've learned from this class showed me that I can use Wiki's and Blogs as useful collaboration techniques and not be afraid of them. The use of Pod casts in my classroom will continue to be a work in progress for me, as this particular tool seemed to be the most complicated to produce and manage.
In the future, I plan to have more student centered lessons and I will become more of a facilitator. In the readings during this course, I discovered that I should not just be teaching the kids what I know, but rather helping them to discover the true process of learning itself. Not that I didn't address this before, but now I have learned that there are more effective ways to achieve the same objective. The use of Wiki's and Blogs can be used to evaluate their knowledge and use of collaboration within each group formed and will give my "digital natives" a chance to show off their computer skills.
It is my hope that through these courses at Walden, I will continue to learn the most efficient ways to create lessons in my class with the use of technology. Ultimately, my goal is to have the highest student achievement possible in my class and prepare them for the 21st century. This is a continual learning process, as there seems to be new and exciting tools created on a daily basis. This is what makes learning about technology challenging. There's always something new and better coming just around the corner.
In the next two years, I hope to have weekly, if not daily lessons that will need to be completed with the use of technology tools. One way that I'm hoping to accomplish this goal is by applying for a grant in our school cluster, that will afford me the opportunity to equip my room appropriately. I would like to have a more interactive way to present my lessons and still be mobile in my classroom. When I use a PowerPoint presentation in my room right now, I am having to return to my computer to move on or complete the lesson. I'd like a remote to be able to continue interactively working with the students as I move about the room. In addition, I would request funds to purchase several ( as many as they would give me money for...) laptops to be used as stations in my classroom. I will be in a new school next year, and I assume they will have the laptop carts for check-out, but I'd like to be able to use them whenever I want. All of our schools are equipped with a wireless network, so all I would have to purchase would be the computers themselves. The second goal I would have for myself in the next two years would be to take risks and don't be afraid to try something new. After being stuck in a rut for so long, I feel that this third class in my Masters program has certainly gotten me on the right path to achieve this goal. I feel that my confidence level is building in technology and I can only get better from here.
As a final reflection, I would like to thank all of my classmates and my instructor for helping me when I needed it, and simply being a great support system in this "new world" for me!! I have enjoyed working with each of you and look forward to meeting you again in my future courses.
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I am also motivated to apply for numerous grants to increase technology in my school system. These technololgy courses have really opened my eyes to so many different and more effective ways of teaching and the students really seem to enjoy them more than the old textbook method. Most teachers do not want to integrate technology in the classroom just because they do not want to take the time to learn about it. To me, they are at a disadvantage as teachers because their students are not going to think of learning as fun but as a chore. This is where your second goal comes into play. You are willing to take risks and your students will not only appreciate that but you will see such a difference in their progress by keeping your lessons fresh.
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