R/D9

I have honestly enjoyed taking this course. I love multimedia design and tinkering with new technologies so the tasks that involved brainstorming applications of technologies. I found all of the web applications that we learned about to be very easy to use, and I can see many teachers in my school using them with some training and continuing support. I am hoping that I can construct and teach a workshop on one of our professional development days this school year to share some of what I have learned in this class. What I liked about this course is that, while I already knew how to use many of the applications we talked about, it was still a rich learning experience because I learned to better analyze the effectiveness of technology. The article on computer imagination best summed up a repeating theme that I saw in this course: that we, as (future) leaders in the area of education technology need to start seriously evaluate whether a technology is really going to raise the quality of instruction to a new level.

With curriculum frameworks changing, being asked to incorporate new instructional strategies, and having to take on a broad range of other responsibilities, I do not blame teachers for not being quick to warm up to the latest technology. And I definitely do not fault their hesitancy to try out a new technology if they have had a history of being introduced to technologies that served as nothing more than a different instructional medium, “eye candy” as Siegel referred to it. That is why it is so important for us to seriously evaluate whether a technology is computer imaginative before promoting it. Equally important is the process of showing teachers how to effectively integrate the technology into their lessons and to convince them that the long-term value is worth the extra time it takes to make changes to their current teaching practices.

Some of the key areas of technology application that I have grown in as a result of this course are blogging and RSS feeds. Prior to this course, I would have probably never used these web technologies, but what I have learned from experimenting with them and also listening to the great ideas of my classmates has me excited about using them. It also has got me thinking about using Web 2.0 technologies to create mashups (a combination of content and functionality from multiple Web sources) that will generate dynamic content for my class website and for districtwide collaboration websites. I think a website that is constantly being updated with new content will attract teachers to use the website on a more regular basis.

I would say that after having this as my first course in the education technology master’s program, I am optimistic about the quality of future courses I take here. The only thing that I might add to this course is at least one collaborative project. Maybe instead of only creating our own wikis, it would have been helpful to create a class wiki. This would expose us to some of the issues that may arise when students work collaboratively on a wiki so that we can better ensure that the process goes smoothly fro students. I think having students work on the same page and editing each other’s content provides an awesome lesson in teamwork that without a doubt will be used in the workplace. And if a technology can clearly demonstrate usefulness as a tool for developing career-level skills, it will undoubtedly be seen by district administration as a smart investment.