Reflection - Final Blog Posting

I have always enjoyed learning and using technology myself, however, until this course I have not had experience with blogs, wikis, or podcasts. I have used the internet to do research and to find innovative ways to extent core curriculum standards. Now I feel better prepared to integrate these forms of learning and have a new appreciation for collaborative learning projects.

My knowledge of the teaching and learning processes has increased throughout this course through the readings and insights of Dr. Thornberg and Dr. Dede, both experts in 21st century technology. Their presentations, facts, and research enhanced their views and helped encourage my understanding of their beliefs, encouraging me to introduce more technology and expand collaborative activities planned in my instruction.

I feel I have always been a learner centered teacher. This is the way my college education led me, and being new to teaching, I have tried to remain these past three years. This last year I did find it difficult to lead a learner centered approach and, because of behavior issues, found it easier to be more teacher centered. My perspective remains the same though – learner centered is the way to go (when you can.)

The challenges in teaching technology skills in the classroom often involve budgets. The difficulty is in keeping up with the ever changing technological landscape. Even when we are able to keep up, we are often lagging in experience ourselves. Students are usually better aware of techniques and usage than the adults that are supposed to be teaching them. I know I’ve seen examples even here, where our own children have had to trouble shoot and teach us how to set up wikis, blogs, and such.

But to meet these challenges is to remain diligent. We are to seek out individuals with experience to guide us in using technology, then we need to “play” with the technology to learn its capabilities. We are to seek out models in usage and with the ever expanding internet, there is no end to the resources available.

My two long term goals are the integration of the new (to me) cps system that I have already spent countless hours setting up. The recreation of paper tests and activities to digital media has at times been exhausting. However, the importance of preparing students for 21st century skills drives me to integrate technology as best as I can. My next goal would be to find new ways to integrate existing technology (computer lab, internet) for my diverse learners. Like with the lesson I created with persuasive letter writing, some students were able to use a web site specifically designed for letter creation circumventing the “layout” difficulties.

Finally, in referring to the checklist from week one, I am more encourage to seek out other professionals, both at my school site and in the larger global community, with whom I share best practices and build a personal learning community to further my own professional growth. These classes have introduced me to several individuals who have similar beliefs and are at similar levels of technology understanding extending my peer collaborative group.