Reflection: Final Blog Posting (for EDUC6710)

On the first day, when I skimmed through the course syllabus and outline, I only recognized the word “blog”, otherwise, I felt like I was reading a foreign language. I didn’t know what any of the web tools were. What is a Wiki, RSS, podcast, etc? I was a little nervous. Now, eight weeks later, I am so excited that I got to explore what these things are, experience using them and learn ways to bring them to my students. I got to experience what my students would experience in a technology rich classroom. I think that my students will feel the same way I did, it was interesting, motivating and a great change of pace from traditional assignments. I was excited to learn and curious about what came next. I loved that I got to learn each tool by actually using it myself in a class application so I was simultaneously learning about the technology and with the technology.

Before taking this class I had a completely different idea about the ways to use technology in my classroom. I think one of the major insights I have had from this course is the difference between what Dr. Thornburg describes as “doing things differently” versus “doing different things” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Before taking this class I would have thought that using technology to do the old things differently such as for links and research would have been enough. I would have never thought about doing different things such as collaboration with students and teachers globally or using wikis, blogs, etc. At the end of this course, I feel like I am leaving with a new bag of tools and ideas for using the web to improve my students’ learning, for my own professional growth and for my personal interests.

My perspective on being teacher-centered to learner-centered has changed drastically. I have always been more of a lecturer and explainer and I know that I need to re-design my lessons to be more student-centered. This course showed me the importance of doing this and ways to accomplish it. I look forward to transforming my role as a teacher to becoming the guide and helping my students help themselves and one another learn.

This course not only gave me new insights, it has sparked my interest to continue to learn about technology. I plan to continue to do more reading, research and exploring on my own. I also look forward to learning more from the other specialty courses involving technology and education. I will also continue to use the web tools not only for my classroom but for my personal and professional growth as well. I plan to use it to connect with other teachers and participate in on line communities.

I have set many new goals for myself as a result of this course for ways to transform my classroom. I would like to gradually re-design my lessons and curriculum, unit by unit, to incorporate some of the things from this course. I feel like I could integrate the use of technology so that my students will learn the technology itself while also learning math content and 21st century skills. I am also excited about getting some projects started that would involve bringing professionals from different fields and students from around the world into my classroom through things such as blogs and wikis. Another goal would be to become more involved with my school as a whole when it comes to technology use. I would like to share what I have learned with my colleagues since many of them are in the same situation that I was before starting this degree. Many of them don’t know how to use technology or they are self-taught. I think they would all benefit if I share my new insights with them through workshops on staff development days. I would also like to try to push to expand access to the computer labs in my school so that more teachers and students could take advantage of the technology. I think that if we think about a different way of using the resources the school has, it could be much more effective.

This course has really opened my eyes to what technology has made available for teachers and students. I have a completing different mindset about how I look at my lessons, my students, and my role as the teacher. From now on, whenever I plan and implement lessons, I will be thinking about the technology I could use, the ways I could make it student centered, how I could model 21st century skills and how I could take my class outside of the school building and into the real world. Learning about the use of web tools has made me excited to make my classroom a technology rich environment. “The idea that the relevance of student work no longer ends at the classroom door cannot only be a powerful motivator but can also create a significant shift in the way we think about the assignments and work we ask of our students in the first place” (Richardson, 2006).

References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.