EDUC 6710 Reflection: What will I do now...

Wow, what a class and an opportunity! I was actually able to tell multiple folk that I created a blog, podcast (with sound), and a wiki! Further, this class has served as an impetus for me to try new technology – personally and professionally (again, blogs, wikis, podcasts, websites) and as an impetus for me to try to implement technology in the classroom (more access to technology which would, hopefully, spark more interest from students).

I have learned that teaching goes farther/deeper than simply just the information that is given; nowadays it seems that it is more about how the information is given. I now have a perspective of what 21st century learners are and how that new understanding affects me will determine the way I approach educating students. More than just techies, digital immigrants receive information differently so they expect different modes of learning – I see that now.

I have come to better understand that teaching is more about what and how information actually reaches the students and less about how I think or expect them to receive it. While I still find tremendous value in traditional teaching, I have decided to transfer some of the learning responsibility over to the students. They indeed have the capacity and the tools to explore, research, communicate, and process information.

This Masters program (Technology in the Classroom) has already opened my eyes to new and exciting resources and perspectives and by the time of its completion I will have learned even more. More digital interaction with these digital natives will lead me to seek more of the “different” approaches to learning. As I use additional methods of instruction I move closer to the ranks of excellent teachers and students will have a higher opinion of me as Teacher, prompting them to be more open to follow my lead to achievement.

I do have specific goals of implementing a technological change (of sorts) in my classroom. Although resources and established methodology (from the department in which I teach) are slight obstacles, I do see opportunities to help to reach those goals. I plan to incorporate the use of technical assets via using a blog or a wiki to promote mathematical discussion. Since our community college already offers multiple computer labs and free internet connections to all students, I could just include a discussion or online journal piece in the activity points. Students could learn more from each other and from researching responses (class notes, websites, college resources, etc…) before posting them.

The use of interactive whiteboards (IWB) is becoming more prevalent in school worldwide. I do not see a reason why I can not expect to subscribe to those types of lessons as well. Again, our department already has some SMART technology connected in a couple of classrooms, but none of mine, yet. I would need to research actual lessons to see how an excellent IWB lesson looks and functions, but it is indeed one of my long-term goals.

To be honest, I have not yet fully implemented some of the tools and perspectives into my classroom, but I have thought about how to do so. As a Math Editor (at a text book publishing company), however, I have reviewed and researched tools and resources that will be introduced into our products. I have sought other professionals’ opinions and experiences, participated in developing tools that allow us all to work more efficiently, and focused on promoting best practices in technology integration (though not necessarily for classroom instruction – more for the development of the tools used for classroom instruction). In those respects, my responses to some of the statements on the Week 1 checklist have absolutely changed; and will continue to change as I seek to be the best teacher I can.