Integrating technology into my teaching practice has always been something I did out of instinct and not design. Taking EDTECH 541 has changed that now by providing me with a framework of determining the relative advantage of using certain technologies and to match them with specific learner outcomes. Integrating technology is more than simply trying out the “cool” thing that is currently creating buzz; it is making conscious decisions on helping students learn and that is a lesson I will try and promote to my colleagues. I also feel that learning about integrating technology in areas that I have no expertise will help me out immensely as I am now an administrator and part of my portfolio is to oversee the school’s use of technology. I have a few reluctant staff members and I think that I can now approach them with some ideas on how to help their students by integrating technology. My one regret is not having school in session so I could try some of these great ideas out or discuss them with my staff members. Rest assured I will be doing so in September. In fact, I am planning on starting an initiative to match up early adopters with reluctant tech users so that we can, as a school, implement effective technology in each of our curricular areas. I imaging helping these teachers create their own networks of supportive staff members and in the end using the investment of technology to its fullest potential. Overall, I think this courses has allowed me to gain mastery in many of the
AECT standards. These one stand out :
- 1.3 Instructional Strategies: with the work we have done on designing effective learning activities while integrating technology;
- 2.4 Integrated Technologies: the development of integrated technologies;
- 5.3 Formative and Summative Evaluation: when considering the courses readings, I feel confident about my ability to assess the appropriateness of edtech tools.
In terms of my performance, I have strived to always produce professional content for my webpage. In fact, I have already shared many of the lessons I created with my colleagues in our Social Studies department. I’m also looking forward to sharing my completed website as well. I think that pride in my work is a good indicator on how I feel about my performance. I have also strived to create thoughtful blog posts for each topic. This is where I got to expose myself to some research and other opinions and I think in the end these really helped me grow. If there was one area where I wish I could improve on is the feedback I gave my classmates on their blogs. I offered comments but I always wish they could be more constructive. In the end however, it was always interesting to read how others perceived our topics.
Overall, this course has helped me see the the powerful role an educational technologist plays in an educational setting and I appreciate that this was always the focus of the course’s design.
