Course Self-Evaluation

Mary McGrath

Course Self-Evaluation

EDUC5701-Technology Integration

December 16, 2011

            Throughout this course I have learned a great deal about where technology has been, where it is going, and where I can take it in the classroom.  I find this incredibly valuable on many levels. 

            Personally, before this course I had never heard of “Web 2.0,” let alone been able to define it.  On a very basic, yet abstract level, I did not understand how the internet had come to be, and that there were/are varying levels of communication that have been integrated over time.  All I really knew was that there were things I had to learn how to do well so as to get by (i.e. how to use Word-Processing tools and the Internet), and through experience, I have become very good at these things.  I like to equate this sense of how, but not why, with what my mother told me when I was learning Calculus in High School: “Mary, you don’t have to be able to understand it.  Just memorize it so that you can use it.”  I knew how to use all of the technology I had to know how to use, but I had no reason to know why it worked the way it did.  As a result, my ability to fully implement technology in the classroom was limited.

            Thanks to this class, I feel much more capable of integrating technology because I better understand the “why”.  With that understanding as a foundation for myself as an educator, I am able to help my students build skills by slowly introducing different technology-based tools that challenge them at different levels.  Starting small with lessons that focus on the proper use of Microsoft Word and Email, can easily lead into the use of Google Docs and/or Blogger, as a means of publishing and sharing ideas because the two blend the written word and the internet.  From there, one can begin to share different types of information other than text (like visuals, audio clips, videos), through different forums like Voicethread, Flickr, Youtube, Edmodo etc. 

            If a teacher than wants to move beyond using technology as a means of communication, they can then shift into the realm of virtual interaction with their lessons.  I think this can be a fantastic learning tool because though it would be ideal for kids to be getting their hands dirty when learning about the Water Cycle, or running around on a farm while learning about the Food Industry, the reality is not every school has access to either the money to get out of the classroom, or the money to hire thorough and experienced educators who know how to teach lessons outside the classroom.  Using different interactive technological tools and games helps students to create the reality they are learning about and then interact with it.  Gizmos, for example, is a Web 2.0 tool that I am very excited to use with my students in our 6^th Grade Science class.

            Overall, I am incredibly grateful to have taken this class.  I think my portfolio is a strong reflection of the pieces that I have aided my learning the most.