Course Reflection

Throughout this course, I feel that I have learned about several different types of technology that would vastly improve my instruction methods and the learning that goes on inside my classroom. I have been introduced to several different methods that I had never thought of using with students. Since being introduced and learning about these different technologies, I believe that in the future, I will be more open to using something new in my classroom. I am very comfortable with what I do now, but am excited to implement blogs, wikis and podcasts in my classroom.


The learning process is something that remains the same throughout generations. People are introduced to new concepts and must apply themselves to fully understand what they are learning about. The only difference with 21st century learners and learners prior to the 21st century is the way that information is received. It used to be that information was gathered from books, magazines, and people. Also, to receive that information could take an extended amount of time. Today, access to information is instantaneous. People have access to the Internet; which has endless resources. Having learned about the needs of today’s students allows me to become a better teacher because I am aware of those needs and can alter my methods to accommodate to them.


My perspective on student learning has not changed too much. As I went through my Bachelor and Certification program, I was told that learning should be student-centered. They are the learners and need to be able to take control of their own learning. The teacher is there to help facilitate the learning environment to allow for student success. However, I do feel it is important for a teacher to share their knowledge with their students. Information is received from many different, valid resources, so I need to be able to give my students the tools to use those resources and decide for themselves what credible information to what is not. By being taught the tools to distinguish between valuable information and non-valuable information will help students the future because there is such a range of resources; you cannot trust everything.

Continuing my knowledge of technology is going to be a never-ending process. One way that I can expand my knowledge is to continue taking courses on new technology that is available to teachers and learning how to incorporate it into classrooms. My district offers a five day retreat to learn about Activboards and how to integrate them into the everyday classroom. I am scheduled to go on this retreat in August. Once someone has attended the retreat, they are invited again in a couple years for a refresher course. The district I am in has been excellent in offering technology based summer courses to help teachers keep up with the many changes and needs of our students. Another way to expand my knowledge base is to do my own research. There are some amazing articles on integrating technology into a classroom and some even better books. Since technology has come so far in the past decade many people are interested in improving their own knowledge base; therefore the resources to do so are readily available. I feel that if I put the time and effort into making myself more knowledgeable about technology, it could greatly improve my students’ achievement.


My primary goal for integrating technology into my classroom is to use a blog for communication between myself and students. I think that more times than not, students choose not to participate in class discussions because they know it is not required of them; most of the time. A blog would allow them to still participate in a discussion, but on their own terms. They can participate within the comfort of their home. Blogs have a lot of possibility in the classroom. I think I would use it to introduce everyone to each other at the beginning of the school year, or continue a discussion that was started in class but never finished. With everything, there are going to be obstacles and one major obstacle for blogging with students would be the access to Internet at home. This year I found out that most of my students had access, but a couple did not and needed to go to the library for Internet use. Before I implement blogging, I am going to do a survey of my students so that I am aware of the their Internet access at home. Once I have an idea, I can decided whether or not to use the school computer lab for this activity or assign it as homework. Either way, I will try to integrate blogging. Prior to this course, I had heard a little about blogging, but never took a good look at it. Now that I have had time to experiment on my own with blogging, I feel that my students would love it!


My second goal is to integrate a wiki into my classroom. As a fourth or fifth grade teacher, we are teaching our students how to do large research based projects. Sometimes they work with others, but sometimes they are working as individuals. A wiki would be a place they can work together, or alone to share the information they have found. This past year, we did a project on the Pacific Rim. Each student had one country to research. At the end of the project, they turned in a typed report and did a presentation to the class. I believe that by changing the final product to a wiki and sharing that wiki with their classmates, more students are going to remember something about each country. One obstacle for creating a wiki goes with responding to a blog; does a student have access to the Internet? However, with this idea, there is also another obstacle; do the parents feel comfortable with helping their child create a wiki? Most of my students' parents are within the age range of a digital immigrant, however they are learning multiple technology uses. I feel as though most of them would not be comfortable creating a wiki with their child. This could cause a problem for assigning work on it at home. I think to avoid this problem, I may offer a training for the parents who are feeling uneasy about a wiki and how to help their child with this assignment. By doing this, I am showing them what to do and that I am easily accessed with any questions they may have. I feel it would have a positive outcome for both parents and students.

I feel as though my knowledge of technology and how it can be used in a classroom has grown. I have had my eyes opened to a range of different programs and methods used to integrate technology into a classroom. This course has ultimately taught me to keep an open mind to new things and to implement new technology into my classroom; even though I may be unsure of it, my students will respond positively to it.

Profiling the Students of Today

Gabcast recording of questionere answers from my 4th grade students about the use of technology at home. It was very interesting to hear their responses to some of the questions I had asked and to listen to what they had to say on their thoughts about technology. Fourth grade students are a lot more insightful about technology than I had anticipated. I was expecting some standard responses, but not much elaboration to support what they were saying. After they took the questionerre, we had a conversation about their answers and dove deeper into their ideas about using technology. It was an extremely fun discussion with my class and I found out a lot more about them than what I had known prior to this activity.

http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=30414&cast=142176&castPage=&autoplay=true