As I began this course I wasn’t completely certain as to the skills in technology leadership that I would be acquiring. I felt my skill with technology was minimal and was optimistic that this course would teach me new ways to integrate the use of technology into my teaching. I also wanted to learn about the ethical and legal issues of technology use in general and specifically in relationship to education. In a general sense I did become comfortable with new ways to use technology. I had never used Web 2.0 sites and although it was a bit frustrating to begin to use them, in the end I was thrilled with my new comfort level. Likewise, I did begin to learn more about ethical and legal issues in relationship to technology use and look forward to learning more about this topic. This course appears to be a great stepping stone to all that I will be learning in futures courses in this program.
Much of what I learned is relevant to the work that I do in my school. Teaching math and science to 7th and 8th graders lends itself easily to the implementation of technology into lessons and units. Before this course my use of technology in the classroom has been mostly teacher led. Technology has been a tool to enhance my lessons. I lacked in making it an integral part of my student’s use. Now that I know how to create a Wiki, a Wordle, a Blog and an Animoto, I can easily teach my students to do the same so that they can use these tools as a part of assignments. Not all of our students have access to computers at home and the access at school is limited. That does make it difficult to assign things such as making a Wiki or an Animoto. However, we are implementing the use of individual laptops in the junior high this fall which opens the door to new possibilities. It is difficult to say what outcomes I did not achieve. If anything I wished I had learned much more about internet use and safety for children. Tidbits of information were offered on this topic and I would have benefitted from seeing an actual lesson taught to children on this topic. Anything that I did not achieve came mainly from my own lack of time to do more self-study. This course requires that you put in a great deal of time to truly become proficient at any topic. Because I was really not clear about that this degree would prepare me for, I did not have many expectations for outcomes of this or any other course. I was surprised that I was being prepared to be an administrator as well as a technological leader.
I was able to complete all of the assignments on time. However, much of the time I had a high level of frustration. Some of the directions in assignments were not clear or the directions and links did not take you where you need to go. I spent countless hours troubleshooting to figure things out on my own. Many days I did not have the time to spend an extra two hours to troubleshoot. The help desk was good but many times they could not help me. This was due the fact that explaining a problem on the phone is much harder than showing someone what is wrong. I believe this course makes an assumption that you are very technologically savvy when you join. Had I been savvier I would not have had so many difficulties. Another problem for me is that I do not have a scanner at my home nor does my computer have a camera on it. Thank goodness for friends who allowed me to use their computers to scan and to use for web conferences. All of these little hang ups just added to the hours of time spent.
Many things about me were reconfirmed by this course. First, I love to learn with others around, I get easily “shack wacky”, and I love listening to a live lecture with a human being in front of me that I can interact with. I dislike working by myself at a computer for more than a one hour stint. As much as I love technology, for me to sit at a computer screen for hours on end leads to headaches and tension. All the web conferencing, e-mailing, blogging, etc. never replaces for me the joy of being with others in person! With all that said, it may be hard to believe that I actually enjoy using technology in my classroom. I guess a classroom is a perfect balance for me. There are people and computers! I know this is where education is headed and I don’t want to be left behind. With the new skills I have learned in this course I am confident that my skills will increase and my frustrations decrease.
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