Final: Reflective Essay

During my first semester of college I enrolled in Intro to Technology for Educators so that I could get one step closer to my dream of becoming a teacher. I had no idea what to expect for this class, but I soon learned that this online class was one of my most challenging, but rewarding classes I have taken thus far. Throughout this semester our work load consisted of blogs, projects, reading chapters from our assigned book, class discussions, and weekly digital badges. All of the activities, assignments and projects that we did during this semester really helped me understand what teachers actually do and the important role technology plays in being an outstanding teacher. The Collaborative Lesson plan and the Teacher Web Portfolio were two assignments that I learned the most from in this course. Before those assignments, I had no idea of the proper items to place on a portfolio or how to create a detailed lesson plan.

Each week we created a digital badge that reflected what we learned from the chapter. Digital badges taught me to step up my creativity. Although I may not have been the best at my digital badges, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge in creating them and knowing how they are used for future reference. I am most proud of my Lino on virtual field trips. I look forward to using it in my future classroom. One very important website that I have gained from this class is "Delicious". I look forward to continue to use that website to keep track of all educational websites I find for when I become a teacher. During this course, our learning objective consisted of Communication, Critical Thinking, and Technology. Throughout this course we had used all three in many different ways. Communication(COM) came in handy when we were required to communicate with our selected group members and create an Instructional Strategy Wiki and a Collaborative Lesson Plan. During our Lesson Plan, we also used Critical Thinking (CT). As far as Technology/Information Management (TIM), I would say we practiced that particular learning objective as each week passed throughout this semester. Each week we learned new technology that would be used in the Education field and at the end of each week, we continued to practice using previous technology with our badges. By learning and using all of the material, I feel that when the time comes, it will make me a better teacher.

References:

Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Delicious
Weebly