My expectations for this course were admittedly unknown in the beginning. I didn’t really know what to expect. The quizzes and evaluations at the beginning of the course made me believe I would be learning how to use the technology more than how to teach others using these techniques. I did learn some new technologies, for example I learned how to start a wiki and a blog. I feel like these two techniques alone will increase my abilities as a teacher in reaching out to my students on their own level. Over the progression of this course I found myself implementing the technology covered into my lessons. I have attempted to reach out to other teachers at my campus and share with them the value of the lessons I have learned in this course. I feel that technology is no longer beyond my ability. The mystique behind both the set-up and implementation of technology is now in my grasp.
I achieved the outcomes of this course; however I realize that I will need more practice to truly master these technology aspects. I feel that obviously the best way to practice is to continue to use this technology as often as possible. I have also found that some of my new teachers are the students themselves. Often the technologies that I implement in my lessons are already known by some of my students. They can sometimes answer questions that I might not be totally comfortable with. An example of this is a classroom blog. I didn’t have to teach them how to blog only give them a topic to blog about. The best thing about lessons such as this is the reaction that I get from my students. They are passionate about the topics that we are learning. They are passionate because the lesson relates to them and activities that they know about.
I feel that I achieved all of the outcomes in this course. I feel that I must continue to practice in order to overcome my biggest challenge, speed. I know that currently the amount of time that I need to set up and use technology is longer than it needs to be. In my mind this will lead to difficulties in altering lessons “on the fly” and improvising when discussions lead to new possibilities. I found it discouraging while reading the discussion boards that others in this course where so far ahead of me in the level of skills possessed. Being new to this field it was a daunting task to catch up and learn at the same time. Given the amount of material that we covered in a five week period I’m actually proud of the fact that I did as well as I did. I feel that a longer time frame would have been better suited to my learning needs.
I feel that the things that I learned from this course will greatly benefit my students, my campus, and me over the long run. I found that I get easily frustrated with things that I don’t inherently know or that don’t come easy to me. In focusing on the big picture however I learned about the importance of integrating technology in today’s lessons in order to procure a greater interest by students in my classroom. Today’s student needs to find relevance in their studies. There is no better way than the implementation of technology. Their lives are a constant stream of videos, blogs, streams, downloads, and hits. By using technology and bridging the gap between instruction and events in kid’s life you as a teacher are able to get better results because that lesson will stick. They are already using these methods in their social lives so if we are able to connect it and show them how it will be relevant in their future the lesson will have a more lasting impression.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
National Educational Technology Plan
To summarize the National Education Technology Plan of 2010 one must keep in mind that education is the foundation of American growth. Only through working to achieve common goals in education will we be able to lay down the path to better economic and social promise. There are goals that are defined in the National Education Technology Plan of 2010. These goals provide a framework for our school districts and educators to follow. These goals are: Learning: Engage and Empower, Assessment: Measure What Matters, Teaching: Prepare and Connect, Infrastructure: Access and Enable, and Productivity: Redesign and Transform. In short all of these goals mandate that educators integrate technology in their lessons. This will give them the ability to educate 21st century learners. This will give their students the abilities and confidence to succeed the fast paced and ever changing world of technology. These goals also ask that teachers become life-long learners themselves. Our educators not only learn new technology as it becomes available, but they also must learn new and exciting ways to present this material. One of the statements that I agree with in the Plan is “As we enter the second decade of the 21st century there has never been a more pressing need to transform American education or a better time to act.” This places the focus of teachers acting now. The times of archaic classrooms techniques are gone. Lesson plans that were used repeatedly for many years have to be replaced as new technology becomes available. The time for complacency is behind us. In order to move forward in today’s world teachers must become the front line for technology education to our children.
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