Week 8: Reflection

After reflecting on this technology course, I have found that my technology skills have improved, I have learned more about the teaching and learning process, my perspectives about learning have changed, I know about many different ways to continue learning and I have set goals for the future in respect to teaching with technology.

This course helped me develop my own technology skills as a teacher each week. Every week I was to complete a different project, all of which included technology. I learned not only what wiki’s, blogs and podcasts are, but I also learned how to use them. I also learned how these could be used in my classroom. I also was able to learn about an RSS reader, create a reader account and be updated on other classmates’ blog postings instantaneously. What has helped me the most in developing my technology skills is implementing a web 2.0 tool into a lesson plan. This really made everything in this course come together as one big piece for me. When I finished my lesson plan, I realized that I can use technology a lot more than I currently use it right now. It is not as intimidating as I originally thought. I can also work on getting my students using more technology.

I deepened my learning of the teaching and learning process because of two different reasons. One, I learned a lot of valuable information through the articles that were assigned to read and through the videos the class watched for each week. I learned many different pieces of information, but what stuck with me the most is that there is such a thing that exists called a “Digital Native” and a “Digital Immigrant”. I now know that one can learn from each other. I also learned that experience is more important than content. It is hard for me to think this way, but now that I am aware, I will keep this in my mind as I design my lessons. I also learned a lot about the teaching and learning process by being an active participant in class discussions each week. By hearing what my other classmates had to say and responding to them, I learned a lot about the experiences of others. I also got some great insights and ideas from one another. Others were also able to comment on my own postings. I received some valuable information from these activities.

I am in the process of changing from being teacher-centered to learner-centered. It is a hard transformation to make, so I have been working in it slowly. For example, when I teach a new concept in Spanish, I now hand them a sheet that has a few sentences dealing with the grammar structure we will be studying. I have students talk about it in groups, thinking about the similarities and differences they see in each example, and then they make predictions based on the compares and contrasts they make. After the class talks about what each group discussed, we move on with the lesson. I like to give my students some thinking time before I jump into teaching them something new.

There are many ways I can continue expanding my knowledge of learning, teaching and leading with technology to increase student achievement. Since this was my first technology course at Walden, I can stick with this program and continue to take the other prescribed technology courses to learn more about what I can do with technology. I can also attend workshops, go to optional workshops provided through my district, and keep up to date on current research, technology and practices for achieving higher student achievement.

I have set two long-term goals for transforming my classroom environment. The first goal I have set is to do a technology project each quarter for my second year classes. That will be a total of four opportunities for students to create their own projects using technology. I will achieve this goal by starting to create the lessons early. I already created one lesson for next year dealing with my first unit which is food in Spanish. Now I will work on the second unit project, and possibly be able to implement it as early as this year if I work on all the nuts and bolts. Hopefully by next year, I will have worked on all four unit projects and will successfully be able to implement them right away. The second goal I have set is to work on getting my world language department to be as open to trying new things as I am, or at least add one project or activity that includes technology into their lessons. I will achieve this goal using baby steps. I will talk about what I learn in my Master’s program, highlighting all the new areas of technology that I feel would work great in the Spanish classroom. I will then share my ideas, get feedback and tailor my lesson to fit what others feel will be successful. Hopefully after tweaking my lessons, my colleagues will want to use the lessons as well. I will also ask for their creative ideas for future lessons.

As I looked over my checklist from week one, some of my answers have changed since finishing this course. I have now designed lessons with the goals in mind, and then found the best piece of technology that will fit with those goals. I also now have a vision of how I want my classroom environment to evolve, and I am working on creating that new 21st century classroom environment.

Week 5 Application: Creating a Podcast

For this week's Application, I created a podcast. The link to my podcast is below. I interviewed three students from my classes about their thoughts on technology. I asked them how much time they spend using technology in their school and at home and what technologies are they using and what interests them in regards to using technology in their social and academic environments. I compiled the interview and my findings into one podcast. Here is the link! Enjoy!

http://mariegauthier.podbean.com/2009/10/11/week-5-application/