CEP 810 Personal Learning Reflection

Throughout this course, I have grown as an educator.  The areas that I have grown the most are social media.  I have always been interested in Blogging and Tweeting and this class helped me do it.  Also, my favorite thing that I learned in this class that I will definitely use on a regular basis is Google Docs.  I am already using it with my mother as she helps me edit a paper I am writing.  My growth has been supported my my SIG members as well as my professors.  

• What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?

I have learned some effective teaching strategies to use when integrating technology such as:

- Use technology as a means of communication

- Use technology tools to make your life easier

- Use the internet to (Google) figure out to do something

- Use the internet (Google) find creative lesson plans and ideas for the classroom

- Use technology to allow students to learn in multiple ways which meet their individual learning styles

- Use technology to support instruction

• How did integrating the Internet help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?

When I think of technology, I think of the internet.  Integrating some of the things that I use the internet for however has changed my thinking.  Once I started using social media such as Blogger and Twitter, I came to realize that the internet is more interactive than I once thought it to be.  It's not strictly used to find information.

• Which of the assignments that you turned in do you feel really exemplifies good teaching with technology and why?

My SIG assignment really exemplifies good teaching with technology because the project was about technology and we used technology to make it.  My group met on Skype every Saturday.  We used Google Docs to collaborate our work.  Our project was advertising an interactive classroom/teacher website.  All of these aspect include some sort of technology

• How have you met your goals established in your Personal Growth Plan?

The main goals I set in my Personal Growth Plan were to learn how to use technology to improve my lesson plans, parent communication, and my overall skills as an educator.  I definitely met these goals throughout this course.

• Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?

My new goals are to take what I have learned in this course and apply it to my classroom.  In order to do this I will have to ease my way into it.  The first thing I will start with is a class blog.  I will do all the writing and eventually assign groups to write blogs.  I will create a class RSS feed page.  Each student will find one or two topics to use on our page.  Google Docs will be something I will use frequently.  I would also like to use my new knowledge and skills in my next online course.  My long-term goals will be met as I gradually integrate these skills into my classroom and continue to take online technology classes.