5364+Reflection


 * EDLD 5364**

When this course started I was looking forward to exploring technology integration closer. I have to admit that my job the last 9 years has been to train teachers and help them integrate technology, but my learning was mostly self taught. I was looking forward to this class to get exposure that I couldn't get before, and a more formal learning experience. I found that a lot of my ideas were similar although I felt that many of the ideas in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works by Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski were just not the way that I would use technology. Many of the activities were forced and seemed focused on technology for the sake of technology, like using Word for the students to create a KWL chart. It seems to me that the benefits of technology for that purpose takes too much away from the classroom to be beneficial in most situations. Considering that it takes 5-10 minutes to line students up and get them to a computer lab, another 5 minutes to get them to settle down and boot their computers up in the lab. Then they have to take the time to type the chart and finally time to save them, print them, and get back to class. This really makes use of technology inefficient for that. I also had the opportunity to explore some new technologies. I have used web 2.0 tools quite a bit the last three or four years, but I am looking at things like 3-D gaming technologies to see how they could affect education.

I don't feel that there were any outcomes that I didn't achieve, but I had learned a great deal on this topic on my own before this course. I was the team leader of my group and used the Google docs and Google site to organize and post information for my group. My work schedule and the rush in school toward Christmas made it difficult to focus on the course as much as I needed to. The experience was very educational and something that was very beneficial.

I believe I was successful in completing the course assignments, although it took a couple of weeks before I really got a good vision of what we were doing. Then another week to catch up. I had a very different vision of the use of my personal wiki versus the use of a blog. I also had difficulty forming a vision of what the personal reflections on the wiki should be. I used them to formulate and document my thoughts for the course discussion boards. That wasn't exactly the purpose of the wiki and I found that out in a message sent at the end of the 4th week of the course. I also found out that the directions for the course concerning tools like wikis, blogs, and other tools could be adapted based on the student's learning styles and needs. I don't think that affected my success in completing this course, but it did expand the variety of ways I could use those tools.

This course really exercised my leadership skills. I was able to organize our group and make sure that every team member could participate. This is something that I am uncomfortable with, although I am put in that position often in my job. The experience of organizing the group was helpful. I didn't use many of the tools I have in the past like live chats and video conferencing because e-mail and discussion areas on the Google site were most effective. I have known that my attitudes about the use of technology were pretty rigid. This course reinforced that understanding of my attitude. While some of the ideas in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works did expand my views a bit, I could see that my philosophy for technology in education was not very flexible. That could be a detriment to my job performance in a constantly evolving technological field. 