CEP 811 Reflection

Another class comes to an end...

As I reach the end of yet another MSU Educational Technology course, I reflect on what has just happened this past 8 weeks through these few questions:

What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?
    I am beginning my first teaching job this upcoming school year and as I prepare for my classroom, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I am integrating technology into my lesson plans. I have a smartboard in my room, and access to a computer lab or laptops anytime. I have been planning ways to use this technology to make my lessons more engaging through technology. For example, in CEP 811, I learned about webquest and how to create them using UDL strategies. Since I will be teaching in a multi-age classroom, this will be a strategy that I will use quite often.

How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?
     In CEP 811 I remember a quote very clearly although I am not sure who said it, "Just because a teacher is using technology, doesn't mean more learning is effective," (or something along those lines). I like this because it makes me realizing that using the technology is not enough, but using the technology to make my teaching better, more engaging and effective is my goal. To reach this goal, following the NET-S framework and UDL is a first start to making effective use of whatever technology I have the opportunity to use.

How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?
     My personal goals for integrated technology in my classroom is to feel comfortable using technology, becoming familiar with resources to be creative in integrating technology, and to continue my growth in my personal networking. Well, in CEP 811 I have grown as an educator by utilizing websites such as MERLOT, Dropbox, blogger, created a STAIR, created a lesson plan using a webquest, and had an opportunity to network with many other educators passionate about technology as well. Although I am new to the education world, I feel I am entering my first teaching job with a network already in place. This makes me feel comfortable and excited to get started in my first year where I can get creative using technology right away and feel like a technology leader in my first year.

Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
     One new goal is to learn a little more about the FTP process. I seemed to have avoided this by using Dropbox.com to store my work. I am able to make my way around the internet and create projects and such, but I feel I should spend some time learning about how computer work, the storage process, networking them together, etc. I am not sure if any of MAET courses will have any of this information, but if not, I hope to work closely with the technology director at my school to learn about these things on my own. I also hope to continue using MERLOT and dropbox. I have bseen trying to find a way to use dropbox as a class so that my students can save their work since we cannot save to the laptops in our room. My goal is to figure this out how to do this before school starts in a few weeks.

8 weeks come and go fairly quickly, especially in the summer months. I have taken this time to reflect to realize what has actually happened! I look forward to continuing on in the MAET program and can't imagine what else is out there that I don't know about already.