In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher?
This course has really opened my eyes to the myriad ways I can use technology in the classroom. Up to now, I have not used much technology in my classroom and really never thought much about it. I now see how important it is to teach with technology in order to reach the needs of my students. The truth of the matter is that most of our students are more technologically savvy than us teachers. This course has helped me acquire skills and knowledge that will make me a better teacher and enable me to utilize technology more. For example, until recently I had never done a blog, wiki or podcast. Additionally, this course has helped me find some wonderful websites to help me integrate technology into my classroom.
In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process?
I have learned the importance of introducing technology to my students. I always felt that I did not need to focus too much on technology since I teach young students at the Kindergarten level. I have since discovered that, no matter the age, kids need to be introduced to and start learning new technology as soon as possible. My job is to help prepare them for society, and as they get older they are expected to expand on what they have already learned. I need to provide them a sound foundation early in their education.
In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered?
To be honest, this was my first time working with Web 2.0 tools. Previously I have always done a lot of teacher-centered activities. I now know that, in order to teach the 21st century skills, I need to focus more on giving the kids hands-on time with computers and other technology instead of me just showing and demonstrating to the kids.
In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement?
My main focus will be to continue educating myself on the use of technology in my classroom. I want to have a good understanding of how to use the technology and start integrating it into my classroom. The Web 2.0 tools are fairly difficult for my students, but I have learned that there are ways I can scale them down to start introducing these to my students.
Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals?
Setting goals for myself has never been an easy thing for me to do. I honestly have a hard time following through with all of them. I have good intentions and do complete most of my goals, but the fact is that I am not always successful.
My first goal would be to work on getting a grant to help get more technology into my school. I am in a small school and we do not have much with which to work. Unfortunately, my district does not see the importance of technology and does not spend much money on it.
My next goal is to educate my fellow teachers on the importance of teaching with technology and teaching the 21st century skills. I would like to teach them all the Web 2.0 tools (at least the ones I have learned myself so far). I actually have a lot of old-school teachers in my building, so this might be a little bit of a challenge. I am going to put forth every effort I have, however. Even if I can only get a couple of teachers to work with me, that is still better than doing it on my own.
Refer to your checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course?
I will definitely start using a lot more technology in my teaching. Before this class, I thought that it would take a lot of extra work to integrate more technology. I have since learned that not only is it in the best interest of the students, but it is helpful to me. I can easily incorporate technology into my lesson plans, and the kids love it. Plus, they are a lot more focused to learn something new, which has been an added benefit to me as a teacher.
