My Personal Learning Summary
As I reflect on what I’ve learned throughout the course, there are so many things that pop into my mind. Some things I learned from ground zero, having no knowledge beforehand, and other things I took my knowledge and skill set to a new level be learning more about something I was already familiar with, or thought I was anyways.
Wikis for example, was one of those areas in which I had little (to no) knowledge. Ten years ago, the word itself was unheard of! My learning goal within my learning plan during this course was to become proficient with implementing and using a wiki, and that I feel I did. I would confidently say that I now am very skilled at opening a wiki and navigating and editing pages. I now see the advantages of a wiki and the ways in which an educator could utilize such a tool.
Diigo is another little tidbit that I will take away from this class. I had heard about this sort of book marking website, but this course was my first experience with one first hand. I love it! You can share, share, share! And borrow and steal! That’s what we teachers love to do, and what makes us better! Two brains (or several thousand!) are better than one after all!
I also learned how to use a wonderful website called slideshare. This website allows you to upload and share powerpoints and videos. Then, I learned how to embed the powerpoints from slideshare into my blog! Ha! Look at tech-savy me! With that said, I’m very proud of all that I’ve learned and picked up throughout this course. It was a long road, but now that I look back I see what a collection and wealth of knowledge it has added up to!
The final and most lasting learning impression that this class has left on me, may have forever changed my teaching philosophy. I was impacted with the power that digital web 2.0 technologies have on student excitement, attention span, achievement and overall learning. Somewhere during the course of this class I remember reading a quote that said something along these lines, “Are you doing what’s best for your students or what is most convenient for you?” Wow. Continuing with that theme, Dr. Thompson said, “If you’re completely comfortable with your teaching and what you’re doing, you must not be doing something right”. Whoa. This drives home for me the fact that you cannot consider your comfort zone, but you must consider what is best for the children. They are technology natives who have grown up in a world of MP3 players, digital cameras, video games, and the internet. If we’re going to catch their attention, these are our competitors. I have learned about, and intent to, incorporate digital technologies, and web 2.0 technologies to ensure optimum success for all my students!
