New and Emerging Technolgies Reflection (6715)

Throughout the duration of this course, I have learned many things. Each new piece of information will be valuable in my future as a teacher. Being able to explore and discover new and emerging technologies allowed my mind to shift from what is already available to what will become available to teachers. It is imperative to keep looking forward at what may or may not be a mainstreamed technology because, as a teacher, I need to stay ahead of the curve in order to best accommodate my students' needs. I have learned that 21st century learners require a variety to methods to help them learn and exposure to technology is one of them.

Now that I have been exposed to the importance of staying up-to-date with technology, I am able to become an advocate in my own school. The Horizon Report was a very useful resource because I was able to see new technology in a different light. It spoke directly to teachers, giving examples of different technologies that may be implemented in classrooms in the near future, and how long the adoption of them might take. I feel that the Horizon Report would be a valuable tool to use when talking with administration about adopting new technologies. When advocating for new curricular elements within schools, administration wants to see proof that they are going to be worth the money and the Horizon Report allows that.

Another important component to advocating for new technology in schools is the ability to show what the technology is replacing and what it might be replaced by in the future. As teachers, we look to the past and try to predict the future with various types of curriculum. Technology is no different. Looking at the past, we can see a trend from the past to the present. Then from there we are able to predict a future change based on that trend.

From the learning activity in weeks 6 and 7, I learned the importance of covering all bases when recommending a new technology. What I mean by covering all bases is that I need to give an example of how the technology will be used with students, explain how students will benefit from the change, and create a rationale behind it. Together those things will help influence the decisions around its adoption. The completion of this assignment has demonstrated my learning in this course because I was able to effectively support my recommendation of implementing Sloodle in a classroom.

At the end of this course, I have been able to reflect back on all of the new and emerging technologies, along with how to implement them in a classroom. I am very excited to use them in my classroom as soon as school starts up in the fall. One fear that I have is not having the financial resources to support them. However, throughout this course, I have discovered many valuable one's that are free. I plan on thinking about my students 21st needs, and teaching to those needs more than I had before. I now see the importance to adjusting what I do to meet their unique needs.