Reflection

Picture Created by Todd Petrie on Flickr

Looking back at all the things that I have done in my Introduction to Technology for Educators class I realize how much I have learned. As a 33 year old college student I have not been in a K-12 class in a long time. Times have defiantly changed since my chalkboard days. It is amazing to me to see how technology is really changing the way the classroom works. As a future teacher the things that I have learned in this class will benefit me greatly. Working in a group I learned how to collaborate to create a lesson plan and a Wikispace. These two projects taught me a lot about the ways to communicate through technology to work as a group. At times it was challenging but in the end it is something I can show my students how to do. The lesson plan project also taught me a lot about curriculum standards. “National curriculum standards narrow the “what to teach” question to specific topics and skills, but still leave considerable discretion about how to teach that content.”( Maloy, et al, 2013, p.82) Along the way I also worked on a WebQuest page. The project taught me how to create a step by step lesson for the day. In the process I learned how to integrate technology into any lesson and how to create something that students could do and make it fun in the process. At the end of the class I created a teacher web page. During the process of creating the web page I learned how to set up a web page (which is something I have never done), then I learned how to customize it to make it fun for student and parent to read. I also added all of my previous projects to the page and it made me more aware of the things I had accomplished in this class and how much I have learned. Periodically we wrote discussions in the class. I think the discussions were a valuable part to the class. It allowed me to think on a topic, write about it, and then get feedback from other students. Reading other students posts also allowed me to see how others view the same topics as me. For the legal and ethics discussion I think almost everyone decided to write on cyberbullying. With technology so readily available, kids are now using it to bully other kids. The textbook describes cyberbullying as  “willful and repeated harm through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic equipment”. ( Maloy, et al, 2013, p.82) It was great to see so many people passionate about the subject. In time I hope the issue gets resolved. Over all the class was very educational. I think the textbook was a great resource for everything we did in the class. All of the projects, discussions, and even this blog have been helpful in making me understand how truly important technology is in the classroom. I have no suggestions for improvement. This was a great class and I wouldn't change a thing. 

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Mayer, A. (2012, May 6). Clip from Smart Phones Episode of 'Til Death. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqD5VsCtwV4

Petrie, T. (2014, July 19). Linn Schoolhouse Teacher's Desk. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/58869428@N05/14671948366/in/photolist-omvz61-rAHmp6-9JAgK6-4ABY56-rABNMW-ioHQTB-qDHNs7-BmcTF-cpgxtq-rRTVuf-dwQSKy-dpxc4i-5o37tw-oDB5ba-ommQEy-auPuAq-4zwJXY-hHBuPe-o6Mwi3-5VMR24-8Z1KSm-msMS8K-fuwq6c-auzZYn-9CNCeQ-iJKAoQ-4AGeLW-ok1AtL-o5yRqg-4efaNz-jsfXVL-omQurb-o2TLg2-msP8YE-o5xX9d-dgQLGp-dRdSMd-Hyorj-eZiK4N-8ZHQvc-gwGon-hnKgTh-fnWU6T-eKBniR-9NY6K6-o7gcXY-78hHJy-mo4x6T-2gSUy-9iBcs7