Discuss your perspectives of technology in education and how it has changed since the first day of class. Share your insights and/or particular favorite resources to future students of this course. What action steps might you next take to continue to grow your craft as a teacher?
Through the completion of this education technology course, I have gained so many insights and beneficial knowledge that I can hopefully use when I have my own classroom one day. I came into the course very naive and had very little experience with technology in the sense of how we were applying it. Being technologically savvy was not my forte but as we progressed throughout the semester I felt that I became more and more comfortable with the resources and tools we were being introduced to use. Growing up technology was not implemented into the classroom as much as it is today, and it makes me that much more excited to accommodate these resources into my instruction, for the incredible benefits they provide for the students. Learning and understanding these tools made me feel as a future educator extremely involved with my work as well as engaged with what I was doing. I cant help but feel that my future students will feel the same way.
For future students of this class, the main insight and advice I can give you is to be open minded and eager to want to use these resources. Personally for me there were sometimes that I felt overwhelmed just due to my digital inabilities to begin with but asking for help and guidance is not a crime and don't feel ashamed. You have to put in the effort and time to learn these resources. Which brings me to my next point, even though there seems like there is a lot of work in this course and you may feel overwhelmed at points, everything falls into place and every assignment is worth the time to understand. My favorite resource that I created during this course was the teacher webpage. I felt for my over technological level it was fairly easy to use and it was my own space to do what I pleased. I cant wait to one day have a webpage that students will actually get to look at and take part in. This tool is a great way to keep parents involved as well as a place to show my students videos and support for material that they need additional help in. It is also a great digital place that I can be myself and show everyone important aspects about me.
From the beginning I always felt that teaching and learning should never have caps or ceilings that limit their power. As educators we should always be seeking new ways to reach our students and make learning that much more interesting and meaningful. We want to help prepare our students for life outside of the classroom and how we choose to do this never has to be the same. I would really like to be able to go to future teach conventions and maybe travel to schools that are making a positive and differential impact in the education system. Learn from other countries and the way they structure their schools and curriculum. We can all learn from each other and if we choose to not take advantage of that aspect we are just putting limits on our growth. I hope to continue to use these technological tools that I have gained through this course and discover new tools that will add on to what I have already learned. The digital world is place that I hope to continue to discover new things and ways to help shed new light on learning for my students. Growing my craft as a future educator will forever be a work in progress and I hope to always be eager and curious during the process of teaching.
