The biggest part
of the course was the group website. I
really enjoyed my team and thought all of us contributed equally and
effectively. I learned a lot about
Google sites and how to upload information.
Sometimes the site was experimenting technical difficulties but all of
us were eventually able to upload all of our content. My team members shared so many valuable Web 2.0
tools and websites I did not know about until now. I really enjoyed the readings and videos from
this course. Most of them have
reinforced my thinking when it comes to education, which is we need less
handing out content and more about thinking, problem solving and collaborative
project-based learning. Knowing that as
educators we should be teaching this way just drove me more to create exciting
technology-infused activities for my students.
I enjoyed Chapter 8 in Using
Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (2007) about reinforcing
effort. I like how it gave examples
utilizing spreadsheet software for students to link their effort to their
achievement.
I feel I went
through the assignments very carefully and thoroughly. Each week our team collaborated on Wednesday
night for the assignment that week on our Google Docs site. As mentioned in Web.2.0 New Tools, New Schools (2007), Google Docs is a place where people
can share documents and collaborate in real time or synchronously, edit
documents from anywhere, and store their work on their desktops or securely
online. We always were able to come to a
consensus on what our game plan was for the assignments and each person gave
100% to the assignment to get it done correctly, completely and in a timely
manner. I reflected each week on our
site and double checked the rubric to ensure we fulfilled all the requirements. I enjoyed reading my colleague’s comments on
our discussion forum because it was interesting to know their thoughts and
experiences and compare them to mine.
It’s nice to share with a community of knowledgeable adults who share a
common interest as mine.
I have acquired
some life-long skills in regards to creating technology-enhanced lesson
plans. I have written lesson plans
before but not where I focused on technology so much before. This is the first time I created lesson plans
since my job as a Campus Instructional Technology Specialist; therefore, I had
a different outlook on how to go about doing them. Since my job, I have learned
so much in regards to the different programs, applications and Web 2.0 tools
that it was fun creating lessons with these programs in mind. I learned a lot from my fellow colleagues
being that they are all from different backgrounds and states. They brought new and different perspectives
to things being that they are very knowledgeable in different content areas. A common theme in this course is why doesn’t
our education system realize that drilling students in order to prepare for
them for standardized testing is not benefitting our kids? The boy in the video who
said, “What if we could learn the way we want to learn”? (Vision
for Technology in K-12 Education, 2:47) struck
a chord with me because as educators we know what we do every day is for our
students. So why are we lecturing to our
kids in a classroom with four walls each and every day? Utilizing technology in the classroom makes
learning more interesting for students and produces life-long learners.
References:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.,
Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction
that Works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 155-164.
Solomon, G., & Schrum,
L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International
Society for Technology in Education, 62-63.
Youtube.com (nd). Vision for Technology in K-12 Education.
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhoOG5Kf1w4
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