Nikki Navarre
Legacy
TEL 313
9 May 2010
Final Exam Reflection
Technology- it is everywhere, whether we like it or not. Email, Facebook, MySpace, Google, cell phones, iPods, DVDs, the Internet, PowerPoint- these technologies supplement our professional and personal lives undoubtedly. However, how often are these resources incorporated into education past a Word document or an occasional PowerPoint presentation? Integration of technology into the classroom is critical for education now and in the future. This course has been a great facilitator in helping me understand technology’s importance to not only my education but the education of my future students. I have truly grown over the past semester in this field and am excited to incorporate my learning into my future teaching.
Throughout this course, I have been able to track my own personal growth by looking at my major accomplishments, recognizing and overcoming certain difficulties, and reflecting upon the difference between post- and pre-semester.
The most visible method to measure my growth in the field of educational technology is obviously looking at my completed, major assignments throughout the duration of the course. I learned a great deal from creating and listening to the mini-teaches, doing the TIPP project, and filming the digital story video. My learning is supported through the grades that I earned on all three of these assignments as well as looking at the sheer amount of technologies that I have been introduced to (see reference page for a complete list). The one thing that has blanketed all of my accomplishment in this course is the fact that I was finally able to experience student-centered learning for the first time in its most extreme form (that is complete student, creative control).
Amongst all of the positive accomplishments of the semester there resided some difficulty. The main thing that gave me a hard time was being thrust into an environment with barely any boundaries constructed by the instructor. It was my responsibility to take charge of my own learning by coming to class, reading the class readings, paying attention to peers’ mini-teaches, and completing the signature assignments of the course. In this manner, I had all of the resources and knowledge that I needed at my disposal, but it was my job as a student to problem solve and find my own understandings. All of the essential questions that prefaced the work in this course meant to “challenge students to look beyond the apparent, delve into issues deeply and broadly, and form their own understandings” in a true constructivist nature (Sprague & Dede, 1999). In order to overcome this difficulty, I had to step outside of my comfort zone and, like Nike advertises, ‘just do it’.
The last instrument to measure my growth this semester is to consider the differences between my mindset in the beginning of the semester compared to now. As a future teacher, I learned that I truly wish to enrich instruction. Before this course, I focused on a teacher-centered approach to instruction. After being able to participate in student-centered activities, I realized how rewarding and relevant this approach is. Allowing students to take control and responsibility of and for their learning in such activities is critical in sustaining a constructivist classroom. Sprague and Dede advocate for a teacher who approaches teaching in a constructivist manner where she incorporates activities that “…are often more motivating and interesting to students because they are learner-focused and authentic, encourage critical thinking, and create knowledge that is lasting, transferable, and useful” (1999). All of these characteristics are most definitely a part of my overall, theoretical, teaching goals when I finally get my own classroom. In this respect, I must incorporate constructivism in my future classroom in order to foster these skills in my own students. Further, I have learned as a student and soon-to-be teacher that it is critical for me to be resourceful. Being able to navigate the many different software packages that we have discussed in class this semester has trained me to be resourceful in my professional life. This has been a major step forward in my professional development, which makes me sought-after more as a first year teacher than the majority of technology adverse, tenured teachers.
This course has further helped me ascertain some new teaching goals that I would like to pursue for 1) my students and 2) myself. Firstly, I really want my students to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills so that they are not dependent on others for knowledge. In this manner, I want to give them an opportunity to not only use provisioned knowledge, but develop their skills in finding such information themselves. This is illustrated by the constructivist teacher, Elizabeth, whose teaching “…went further than her content area, including language arts and science as well” (Sprague & Dede, 1999). I do not want my kids to just learn my content exclusive from all of their other learning; I want them to be able to more deeply understand it and be able to relevantly connect it to tangent subjects and their world, in general. In this respect, I have to be actively involved in continual learning myself, much like the constructivist teacher “who had to have a deeper understanding of the material than what was presented in the textbook” in order to successfully structure her student-centered lessons (Sprague & Dede, 1999). Secondly, I have made a goal for myself to stay abreast the ever-evolving field of technology implementation in education. I do not want my students to feel that they must “power down” when they come into my classroom and leave behind all of their tech knowledge at the door (“Students say they,” 2009). Further, I know that the best way to pursue this goal is through the advent of constructivism. The constructivist classroom is characterized by eight principles: learner centered, interesting, real life, social, active, time, feedback, and supportive (Sherman & Kurshan, 2005). All of these are characteristics that I wish to pursue in my future classroom. Ironically, I developed a classroom that utilizes these principles without explicitly knowing it when I finished my management plan signature assignment for another education class. In all, I highly desire to make my class relevant for my students. In this respect, I want to follow Elizabeth’s example; I loved the fact that she was able to get her student, Johnny, interested in history (which happens to be my content area) by connecting it to issues that are going on contemporarily (Sprague & Dede, 1999).
In the end, I have experienced a great deal of growth this semester. I have been able to look at the world that surrounds me and find ways to incorporate it into my teaching, making it relevant and interesting to my students. Teaching is an ever-changing field; teachers must be dynamic and resourceful to truly make education useful and successful for all students.
References
Sherman, T., & Kurshan, B. (2005). Constructing learning: using technology to support teaching and understanding. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(5), 10-39.
Sprague, D., & Dede, C. (1999). Constructivism in the classroom: if I teach this way am I doing my job?. Learning and Leading with Technology, 27(1), 6-17.
Students say they have to 'power down' when they enter schools. (2009, March 24). Retrieved from http://www.ednetnews.com/story-2332-3.html.
Legacy
TEL 313
9 May 2010
Final Exam Reflection
Technology- it is everywhere, whether we like it or not. Email, Facebook, MySpace, Google, cell phones, iPods, DVDs, the Internet, PowerPoint- these technologies supplement our professional and personal lives undoubtedly. However, how often are these resources incorporated into education past a Word document or an occasional PowerPoint presentation? Integration of technology into the classroom is critical for education now and in the future. This course has been a great facilitator in helping me understand technology’s importance to not only my education but the education of my future students. I have truly grown over the past semester in this field and am excited to incorporate my learning into my future teaching.
Throughout this course, I have been able to track my own personal growth by looking at my major accomplishments, recognizing and overcoming certain difficulties, and reflecting upon the difference between post- and pre-semester.
The most visible method to measure my growth in the field of educational technology is obviously looking at my completed, major assignments throughout the duration of the course. I learned a great deal from creating and listening to the mini-teaches, doing the TIPP project, and filming the digital story video. My learning is supported through the grades that I earned on all three of these assignments as well as looking at the sheer amount of technologies that I have been introduced to (see reference page for a complete list). The one thing that has blanketed all of my accomplishment in this course is the fact that I was finally able to experience student-centered learning for the first time in its most extreme form (that is complete student, creative control).
Amongst all of the positive accomplishments of the semester there resided some difficulty. The main thing that gave me a hard time was being thrust into an environment with barely any boundaries constructed by the instructor. It was my responsibility to take charge of my own learning by coming to class, reading the class readings, paying attention to peers’ mini-teaches, and completing the signature assignments of the course. In this manner, I had all of the resources and knowledge that I needed at my disposal, but it was my job as a student to problem solve and find my own understandings. All of the essential questions that prefaced the work in this course meant to “challenge students to look beyond the apparent, delve into issues deeply and broadly, and form their own understandings” in a true constructivist nature (Sprague & Dede, 1999). In order to overcome this difficulty, I had to step outside of my comfort zone and, like Nike advertises, ‘just do it’.
The last instrument to measure my growth this semester is to consider the differences between my mindset in the beginning of the semester compared to now. As a future teacher, I learned that I truly wish to enrich instruction. Before this course, I focused on a teacher-centered approach to instruction. After being able to participate in student-centered activities, I realized how rewarding and relevant this approach is. Allowing students to take control and responsibility of and for their learning in such activities is critical in sustaining a constructivist classroom. Sprague and Dede advocate for a teacher who approaches teaching in a constructivist manner where she incorporates activities that “…are often more motivating and interesting to students because they are learner-focused and authentic, encourage critical thinking, and create knowledge that is lasting, transferable, and useful” (1999). All of these characteristics are most definitely a part of my overall, theoretical, teaching goals when I finally get my own classroom. In this respect, I must incorporate constructivism in my future classroom in order to foster these skills in my own students. Further, I have learned as a student and soon-to-be teacher that it is critical for me to be resourceful. Being able to navigate the many different software packages that we have discussed in class this semester has trained me to be resourceful in my professional life. This has been a major step forward in my professional development, which makes me sought-after more as a first year teacher than the majority of technology adverse, tenured teachers.
This course has further helped me ascertain some new teaching goals that I would like to pursue for 1) my students and 2) myself. Firstly, I really want my students to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills so that they are not dependent on others for knowledge. In this manner, I want to give them an opportunity to not only use provisioned knowledge, but develop their skills in finding such information themselves. This is illustrated by the constructivist teacher, Elizabeth, whose teaching “…went further than her content area, including language arts and science as well” (Sprague & Dede, 1999). I do not want my kids to just learn my content exclusive from all of their other learning; I want them to be able to more deeply understand it and be able to relevantly connect it to tangent subjects and their world, in general. In this respect, I have to be actively involved in continual learning myself, much like the constructivist teacher “who had to have a deeper understanding of the material than what was presented in the textbook” in order to successfully structure her student-centered lessons (Sprague & Dede, 1999). Secondly, I have made a goal for myself to stay abreast the ever-evolving field of technology implementation in education. I do not want my students to feel that they must “power down” when they come into my classroom and leave behind all of their tech knowledge at the door (“Students say they,” 2009). Further, I know that the best way to pursue this goal is through the advent of constructivism. The constructivist classroom is characterized by eight principles: learner centered, interesting, real life, social, active, time, feedback, and supportive (Sherman & Kurshan, 2005). All of these are characteristics that I wish to pursue in my future classroom. Ironically, I developed a classroom that utilizes these principles without explicitly knowing it when I finished my management plan signature assignment for another education class. In all, I highly desire to make my class relevant for my students. In this respect, I want to follow Elizabeth’s example; I loved the fact that she was able to get her student, Johnny, interested in history (which happens to be my content area) by connecting it to issues that are going on contemporarily (Sprague & Dede, 1999).
In the end, I have experienced a great deal of growth this semester. I have been able to look at the world that surrounds me and find ways to incorporate it into my teaching, making it relevant and interesting to my students. Teaching is an ever-changing field; teachers must be dynamic and resourceful to truly make education useful and successful for all students.
References
Sherman, T., & Kurshan, B. (2005). Constructing learning: using technology to support teaching and understanding. Learning and Leading with Technology, 32(5), 10-39.
Sprague, D., & Dede, C. (1999). Constructivism in the classroom: if I teach this way am I doing my job?. Learning and Leading with Technology, 27(1), 6-17.
Students say they have to 'power down' when they enter schools. (2009, March 24). Retrieved from http://www.ednetnews.com/story-2332-3.html.
Name of Software:
-Blogs
-Wikis
-Google Sites
-Google Docs
-Google Spreadsheets
-IDEAL
-RefWorks
-Voicethread
-Google Apps
-Delicious
-Inspiration
-Kidspiration
-Podcasting
-Jay Cut
-Kid Pix
-Awesome Highlighter
-Smart Board
-Screenjelly
-Poll Everywhere
-Imagination Cubed
-MovieMaker
-iMovie
-Animoto
-Prezi
-Ning
-Jing
-Bubbl.us
-YouTube
-Coloring.com
-WebQuest
-Brainpop.com
-Kerpoof
-Voki
-Glogster
-Create-a-graph
-Skype
-TeacherTube
-Blogs
-Wikis
-Google Sites
-Google Docs
-Google Spreadsheets
-IDEAL
-RefWorks
-Voicethread
-Google Apps
-Delicious
-Inspiration
-Kidspiration
-Podcasting
-Jay Cut
-Kid Pix
-Awesome Highlighter
-Smart Board
-Screenjelly
-Poll Everywhere
-Imagination Cubed
-MovieMaker
-iMovie
-Animoto
-Prezi
-Ning
-Jing
-Bubbl.us
-YouTube
-Coloring.com
-WebQuest
-Brainpop.com
-Kerpoof
-Voki
-Glogster
-Create-a-graph
-Skype
-TeacherTube
