This has been the most challenging and engaging course that
I have taken so far in my Master’s program.
I learned to actively use three new tools that will not only engage and
motivate my students but that will also help me learn and continue to grow
professionally in our global society. I
also learned that although I was digitizing I was not truly integrating
technology as much as I thought I was.
Additionally, my belief that schools are lagging in the area of the
technology movement was reinforced by the mounds of research and it has given
me new motivation to do more in this area for my students.
As a result of this class I seem to be looking at every
project with a new vision. I want to
transform my whole classroom right now.
I have a tendency to want to dive in right away and start making
changes, but I am holding some reservation as I think more critically and
clearly about what I am trying to do and the impact that I am trying to create
with my implementation of technology projects.
Furthermore, I am already an avid believer in the process of
collaboration and teamwork, and this course just reinforced how working
together can not only scaffold learning but it can deepen learning too. This
course has also reinforced my belief that I need to move out of the way and let
the students learn. I am a facilitator
of learning, I have never had a problem with acknowledging that I do not have
all of the answers and that I make mistakes.
This class solidified for me that I am making the right choice to guide
student learning and place them at the center.
This course has given me great knowledge and opportunity to
expand how I look at 21st century learning and its importance in the
classroom. Moving forward from this
class I am planning to continue growing in my ability and proficiency of
technology integration. First, I will
continue with my graduate level studies in technology. Second, I am planning to start a professional
learning community at my school where I can help others see the importance in
student centered learning, where technology is a creation tool and not just a
word processor. Third, I will continue
to use blogs and my RSS feed to stay up to date on new information and
technologies, as well as, to gain ideas and suggestions for improving my integration
in my own classroom. I feel that through
collaboration with my peers both at the school and global level I can learn how
to maximize my impact on students with the assistance of technology enriched
experiences.
Moving forward
I have some great plans for my next step on the continuum of technology integration. First within the next two years I plan to have
students creating digital podcasts as part of a curriculum assessment. I need to collaborate with my team to create
units of study that integrate 21st century learning with subject
area standards, Common Core Standards and technology proficiencies. In order to be successful I will need to work
on securing more access to technology where I can teach students to use the necessary
tools. I will also need to get parents community
members, and administrators on board with the idea of posting student
information to the web. A second goal I
have for the next two years will be to have an active public class blog. I plan on beginning small with a private blog
and then as I am more comfortable with the technology and management of the
tool then I can move to using a public blog.
In order to meet this goal I will have to work with parents, and administrators
informing them of the importance of such skills and how beneficial it will be
to expose students to the global learning community. I will need to develop rubrics for posting to
the blog, develop a plan for teaching internet security, as well as, securing
the necessary internet access. I will also
need to work with students and families who do not have access to the blog
outside of school.
Moreover, this course has expanded my horizons and thoughts
about how and when to use and implement technology into the classroom. In looking at my checklist from week one, I
was already using many of the elements in my classroom often, there were areas
where I did say sometimes or rarely. I
do not feel that I can say that I have moved in any of those areas. I plan to move and I have started to think
about how I can move across the continuum of integration of technology and 21st
century learning skills, but I do not feel that the little I have done during
this course constitutes a move in the checklist. I feel that for me the change will need to be
lasting and the integration will have to become more seamless before I can say
that I do things sometimes or often.
In closing, I have learned how to use three new types of
technology during this course. I find
the experiences in this course to be invaluable to what I do every day in the
classroom. I am hoping that I can use
what I have learned and apply it in my classroom with consistency and
regularity. I can definitely see myself
using pod-casting and blogs in the near future, the wiki’s are also important,
but I am still unsure of its use in a third grade classroom. I am motivated and excited to make a
difference through these amazing tools.
