Final Reflections

Throughout this semester, I have learned countless new things that I would have not otherwise. At the beginning of this course, I really was not sure what to expect. I think that I expected to learn a little more about the latest technology and how I could apply this in the classroom in the future. Well, I learned all that and more. While I was familiar with some of the tools that were used throughout the class, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of how to use them. Furthermore, I was able to gain a lot of knowledge about current technology trends and how that was affecting students today. I learned a lot about myself as a teacher that I also did not expect to learn. Overall, I gained more knowledge in this past semester that I had expected.
Coming into this course, I had already some knowledge of interactive white boards, Wikis, and a handful of basic computer programs. While I had an understanding of how to use these in basic terms, I learned how to really expand upon my prior knowledge. First of all, not only did I learn how to create a wiki that was also a curriculum page, but I learned how to use other programs with is such as Prezi and SlideShare. These two programs I had never heard of so it was great to learn how to use these in my classroom. In addition to these programs, I had never created a curriculum page and found this project to be extremely beneficial. Creating a wiki that is also a curriculum page is something I can expand upon and use every day in the classroom.
Not only did I gain a better knowledge of software and internet tools, I also learned a lot about how technology directly affects teachers and students. For example, during my time in my undergraduate degree I had many professors who felt it was better to have zero online presence. I learned through this particular class that it is much better to have an online identity than none at all. As an educator I want to put myself out there on the internet in a positive way. What this means is I should create wikis or blogs that I can use in my profession. This topic was a key discussion during this course. I now understand that it is beneficial to my career to create blogs, wikis, and info pages that reflect my knowledge of education. Learning about online identities was not something I expected to cover much in this course. In addition to understanding my online identity, I learned about the importance of filtering (or not filtering) websites in schools. I feel that this is something that is often looked over by educators. Through readings and blog discussions, I realized that this is actually a topic that can almost polarize people. Personally, I did not think about this issue very much until the blog discussions, so I was happy to gain a better understanding of why schools filter and how this affects students. On the whole, I actually learned a lot of things that I did not expect to learn. I always like when I am able to learn more than expected. I know that all the things I have learned this semester I can take into a classroom one day and apply it.