EDUC -6710 “Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society” has helped me develop my own technology skills beyond what I would have ever imaged. Creating a personal blog, wiki, and podcast are tools that I would have never thought I would be using. To be honest, it has been challenging and exciting all at the same time. I look forward to incorporating these tools in my classes.
I know that today’s students’ must learn how to be productive in a workplace that is structured around the use of technology. Now with the sudden expansion of new technologies, the nature of student literacy is going to change. Today’s students’ have to know how to learn, comprehend, and interact with technology in a meaningful way. Students must have technology skills that allow them to communicate with others, access information, and understand how to evaluate new information. I feel that I must make an effort to acknowledge technology and structure opportunity for students to interact with it. This course has given me the tools to make this possible. I now have a better understanding on how technology can have a powerful and positive effect on student learning and achievement. The insights that I have gained in this course have without a doubt enhanced my effectiveness in the classroom by integrating technology into my curriculum.
There are several ways that I’m going to continue to expand my knowledge of technology integration with the aim to increase student learning. I’m going to take the initiative to take more classes, complete tutorials, go to workshops, and read literature on integrate technology tools in my classroom. Furthermore, I plan on investing more time in learning how to use and incorporate the technology tools that I have learned thus far in this master’s program.
Using technology to assess student learning is one long-term goal that I have for transforming my classroom environment into a place where technology is integrated. As a physical education teacher I teach hundreds of students every week and documenting their learning can be real challenge at times. I would like to use technology to efficient and effective record and analyze assessment data. I know that technology can definitely help make assessment an easier task. I would like to use technology and integrate the use of authentic assessments, research and reports, student’s projects, PowerPoint, blogs, wikis, and maybe portfolios in physical education.
Using technology to improve my instructional strategies and processes is another long-term goal that I have for transforming my classroom into place where technology is incorporated. I know that there are assessment tools for teachers that can improve their performance. I would like to create a professional portfolio to demonstrate my teaching effectiveness. I hope to gather evidence of my growth through this masters’ program and share it with my colleagues and administrators. I believe that by trying to attain this goal will keep me abreast of new strategies, techniques, and assessment tools that will provide me feedback on my instructional effectiveness.
I plan on accomplishing these goals through this Master’s Program and through my own research. I’m really amazed with what I have learned so far. As I stated earlier, I never thought that I would be using a blog or a wiki to access and contribute to in the World Wide Web. I really look forward to using and incorporating the use of technology in my classroom. I believe that it will help me become a better teacher and help my students’ achieve more!
