EDLD+5364+Final+Reflection

Teaching with Technology EDLD 5364  Final Reflection ** *For the Final Reflection Assignment for this course, I need to answer five questions. The questions and answers are listed below. 1. **What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

As I began this course, Teaching with Technology, I was looking forward to learning about new ways to integrate technology into my first grade classroom. While taking the first course required for this Masters program, I became aware of how far below the recommended standards our district was performing on the STAR chart in implementing technology into our schools. I felt that I needed more training to be proficient in technology myself, before I could help my students and provide support to others in my building. I feel that I have more than achieved the expected outcomes with this course. The two required textbooks, //Web 2.0, New Tools, New Schools// and //Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works// were both very informative and I feel that they will be invaluable references that I will continue to refer back to time and again. I gained new insight into the best way to plan for implementing the new technologies into my classroom and the best ways to assess my students’ success with them. Overall, the actual course outcomes aligned very well with my expectations and even surpassed them in most areas.

2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

The new knowledge that I gained from this course is very relevant to the work that I do in my school. I am a technology team leader for my elementary building and I have already begun to share some of the new ideas and techniques that I have learned from this course. My building colleagues are excited about some of the new Web 2.0 sites that I have shared with them, and I am fast becoming a “go-to” person for the new interactive whiteboards that my school recently purchased for all of us. I am also a member of a Response to Intervention team for our campus and I have shared the information from the CAST website with my team and we are all using the UDL Book Builder to make no-cost materials to help with tutoring our at-risk students. I feel that the outcomes that I achieved from this course were indeed relevant to my everyday teaching program and I will continue to use this information on a daily basis.

 3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

Although I achieved many of the outcomes that I anticipated, I would have liked more time to explore the Web 2.0 tools that are available. I feel that there are so many out there that I could be implementing in my classroom if only I was aware of them. Because of my busy schedule, I do not often have free time to just sit down and search for resources on the web that might be beneficial. In the future, perhaps the course could be modified to allow for more exploration of the usefulness of the various Web 2.0 tools.

Another area that did not always go smoothly was the Group Project assignment. The groups are made up of five people and it is vey difficult to get a group of this size together for a discussion. Our group was made up of five very busy moms who also had other responsibilities. We had a great deal of trouble coordinating our schedule to brainstorm and work on our project. Invariably, someone was called away and not able to make our scheduled meeting times. We did a good job on our final project, but not without a struggle.

4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I was successful in completing the course assignments, but it was not always easy to manage my time. The assignments in Weeks One, Two, Four and Five had just about the right amount of work to keep me interested without feeling overwhelmed with too much information all at once. Then, in Week 3 and the amount of work was almost impossible to complete on time because of the sheer number of readings, videos and assignments. I was very glad that I had heeded my academic coach’s warning to pace myself and begin early on Week 3 or I would not have been able to complete everything on time.

Another area that seemed to make the course a more difficult was the group-learning project. The concept of a group project is a great one for applying the new skills we were gaining. The only drawback was trying to get five different ladies who also have many other responsibilities to collaborate on a group project. It was never possible for all of us to chat online at one time. We collaborated in smaller groups, and then communicated those collaborations to the other members through the Google doc. One suggestion that I have to make the course more effective, would be to set a smaller group size. Two or three members would be ideal and make it much easier to coordinate schedules.

 5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

I learned a great deal from Teaching with Technology that I am already applying in my classroom. It has been exciting to learn about the new Web 2.0 tools that teachers can use for free and even more exciting to share it with my teaching colleagues. I feel that I will be referring back to the CAST website for many years to come in order to keep up with the newest ways to include technology in my lessons. The fact that assistive technology can benefit all learners is both exciting and inspiring. With each course that I have taken through Lamar University, I have become more confident in my own use of technology applications. This series of courses has renewed my interest in teaching, which had started to wane after twenty years in the classroom. Today, I am excited to go and share the new knowledge I am learning with my students and my peers.