Week 5 Assignment: Course Reflections

Based on the title of this course, I envisioned increasing my background in the area of technology integration and the issues related to it. This was one outcome that was definitely achieved. Although a number of articles felt slightly outdated and some were a bit redundant, I did get the opportunity to review some issues I was aware of and also reflect on a few issues I had not given as much thought. Unfortunately, I often grew frustrated by the discussion assignments associated with the readings which limited my engagement with the material at times. Another outcome I envisoned was an opportunity to experience and work with a variety of the technology that is now available for use in education. This is an outcome that was not achieved through this course. Overall, I would say that the actual course outcomes were not very well aligned with what I had envisioned for the course.

Focusing on the outcome of increasing my knowledge of the issues that surround technology and the integration of technology into education, I feel I did learn some new information while refining my awareness of some of the things I already knew about. They are extremely relevant to my current work as the technology teacher and technology liaison on my campus and it was definitely beneficial to spend some time looking over the state plans for technology and the plans my district has laid out. Looking at the trends on my campus over the past three years has also provided me with a great deal of information I can use to help guide future goal-setting and decision-making in the area of technology at my school. In this area I achieved the outcome of being more prepared to be a leader in technology decision-making on my campus through the work done in this class.

Unfortunately as I finish this course, I do not feel any more experienced with the technology tools that are available to educators. The opportunity to create a blog was useful, but I did not like the limitation of the powerpoint presentation from the second week. There are a number of other Web 2.0 tools available that could have been explored to expose us to what is available. These include prezi.com and ahead.com. Once we were past the second week, it felt like the class focused solely on the issues of technology integration but there was very little hands-on work. This was disappointing to me as I feel unprepared to go back to my school and share anything new. In week four’s assignment, I was able to explore a few things when planning professional development activities, but the resources I used were ones with which I was already familiar based on previous experience. The failure in this area could be due to my misperception about what this course would involve, but I also feel it is something to consider for the future of this course.

In this course, I was able to complete all of the assignments and feel fairly successful in them when I finished. For the most part I was satisfied with my products, but not as much with the process. The assignments later in the course were extremely frustrating due to unclear expectations. In speaking with other students in the course, I heard the same concerns from others. As educators we hear time and time again about establishing clear expectations for our students, especially when doing more project-based learning. As a result it becomes extremely frustrating as a student when I feel like I do not know what is expected of me. This led to a great deal of discouragement and lack of motivation to continue on. Initially, I was extremely interested in taking this course and felt rather let down as I worked through the assignments each week.

This course gave me the opportunity to examine additional information regarding technology and refine my attitudes and beliefs in regard to the issues. t did not change any of my basic feelings about it, but I did have the chance to consider some different points-of-view and heighten my awareness. I also found some of the information frustrating when taking it back to my campus because I am able to see how my campus would benefit from administration considering some of the same issues we learned about in this course. Unfortunately, my current principal has her focus when it comes to technology and it will take time to educate her on the issues that extend beyond purchasing of new equipment. I feel that my attitudes about technology and education are in alignment with what experts are discussing at this point and at the same time I have also come to realize that I may be more of a digital native than my colleagues. Many of them are complete digital immigrants and that is an issue that always needs to be kept in mind.

As mentioned before, I was glad to have the opportunity to develop my own blog. Blogs and blogging have a great deal of educational value in the 21st century classroom and in a world where students are used to being able to create and be heard. Blogs provide opportunities for students and teachers to learn from each other while sharing their opinions and knowledge. It can also help students develop their own “voice” as they contribute. Blogging also provides the opportunity for collaboration and community building which is something that many students thrive on. This interactive quality can lead to increased enthusiasm and student buy-in as well. One of the greatest aspects of value in terms of technology intergration is that blogging provides teachers with the opportunity to teach writing skills that are based in real-life applications. It also provides the opportunity to teach students about the responsibilities they have when writing for a public audience. So it goes beyond the simple act of blogging to provide teachable moments that are relevant to the future of our students.

As with any activity involving use of the internet there are safety concerns that must be addressed. Just as we teach students about safety in their offline lives, as educators we have a responsibility to teach our students how to be safe in their online lives. Out of all the readings done in this course, there is one quote that is still with me. In the article Cyberbullies, online predators, and what to do about them, J.A. Hitchcock sums it up with the following, “if you wouldn’t say it to a complete stranger on the street, then do not ‘say’ it online.” With this sentiment in mind, I feel we can guide lessons on how to be safe when participating in activities such as blogging. Another concern is one that occurs in classrooms and any situation where students are working together and it is the issue of bullying. Cyber-bullying is just as dangerous as other forms and must be taken seriously. If expectations are made clear in the beginning and students agree to follow the guidelines, the risk can be greatly reduced. The areas of concern can be greatly reduced by setting up clear-cut expectations and consequences just as teachers do with other projects they use in their classrooms. Teaching about responsibility will also greatly reduce the threats and the issues many use to speak out against educational blogging.

Blogging is not only a tool to be used in the classroom and would be a good way to keep communications with stakeholders up-to-date. It is much more convenient to make post to a blog than to log in and format a new page or update on the school website. Anything that makes it easier and saves even a few minutes is an easy thing to share with my colleagues. Those are the types of things they are extremely interested in learning about. As a technology leader on campus, there are a number of different ways blogging can be used to communicate with different groups of stakeholders. Just as teachers can use a blog to communicate with parents, school leaders could do the same. I feel that use of a blog to make announcements to faculty could also be of great benefit on many campuses. Not only would information be available 24/7, it would automatically be archived in the blog as well. It would be available to later access or for documentation if an issue was to arise based on something from earlier in the school year. In the school setting, blogs could serve a wide variety of purposes and reach out to the full-range of stakeholders.