Reflection

The outcomes that I had envisioned for this course was to learn the state technology standards, and to learn new ways of incorporating the right type of technology into the classroom and my lessons. I did achieve my outcomes plus way more. Learning the key components of the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology, identifying the standards that guide the use and integration of technology on a campus, and to identify the sills and tools needed to navigate the new information landscape of 21st century schools are only a few of the learning outcomes this class want us to understand. These discussed what each standard was like and different ways to provide guidance to students when doing these standards. The outcomes talk about our society moving to a more technology driven community so it is important that we keep up to date with the new advancements. It really taught me how to incorporate in more in my classroom and school.

A lot of these outcomes that are talked about in this course are still relevant to the work that I do in my school. I need to know how to navigate through certain programs because I am not computer friendly. At schools I have been in before we only went to the computer lab once a semester or less, so this past year I tried going once a six weeks. Slowly but surely the technology is being added in to our lessons and classrooms across the campuses. It was nice to learn about the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology since I did not know how to do a lot of the skills myself according to the survey we did earlier in this class.

I believe the outcome that I did not achieve was to be provided with more resources for integrating the technology standards into my classroom. Right now a lot of the websites and tools on the internet are blocked because of the district restrictions, so it is hard to pull good websites and activities for the students to use. I also did not get to try out any of the examples provided, on a Macintosh computer. Those are the computers we work with at school and they work a lot different from a PC. It would have been nice to have one to go on to wikispace, etc and see if the district allows us to access those sites. It would have been nice to be given some technology examples that represent the outcomes along with the definitions to make sure we a clear understanding of how we should be teaching the concepts.


In my opinion, I was successful in carrying out the course assignments. I was not the first one to set up my blog in my group but the following weeks I was one of the first ones to post. Week three and four of this course were a little confusing at first but once all of my group discussed the different ways to start a powerpoint and other items on the blog it became more comfortable. The only thing that discouraged me from the week 3 and 4 assignments was that we had to try and do some organization and discuss with our group.

In this course I learned that technology is not something that can set you back as a teacher, but it is merely a resource that students and adults can use as a resource to the world. There are many different forms of technology, from cameras and dvds to computers and video games. I learned that technology does not have to be frightening as long as you go into learning it with an open mind and plan to take out what you get from it and teach it to your students. I know now that I can be a leader to some of my colleagues and show them ways to integrate technology into the classroom and show them how it can be time consuming but well reward able. When the new school year begins in a couple of weeks, I am going to plan my lessons more constructively and incorporate at least one big technology project each semester. If I have the chance I will also shows ideas that I have learned through the course of this class.

Learning about blogs and being able to use them in today’s world is very important. This would be a great tool to use in English classes. Students could write a paper. Other students could write their own paper reflecting or commenting on how they feel. This would be a great way to teach students persuasive arguments in their Speech classes also. People have jobs writing blogs on clothes, entertainment, and sports. Also if you have a question you can post it online, and someone will reply.

There are many concerns with blogs in education. When you blog it’s available to anyone online. Anyone can reply. Currently teachers are the only ones that look at students work. Students will have to mature, and not make fun of someone else’s work. Also blogging will be more difficult for students that don’t have a computer at home. Training about blogging and proper use will need to be done in each class.

Blogging could be used to communicate with school stakeholders. Administrators can use blogging to reach the community and keep them updated with the school’s events or past events. This will allow parents to stay involved and know what is going on on campus. Administrators can also keep teachers up to date with meetings and other updates they need to know about. Students can read blogs and know what games or events are happening on campus.