Final Thoughts: Reflecting on my learning

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash

Part 1: Course Reflection    

    EDTECH 541 has provided the time and space to dive more deeply into intentional technology integration for more effective and engaging learning.  Because my role is to support teachers, and I am not currently a classroom teacher, I do not currently teach one subject.  I selected Fifth Grade Computer Science as my focus for this class, and I am happy that I did.  This is a curriculum that we just finished writing and is being slowly adopted in our district.  I will serve as one of the primary professional developers for Elementary Computer Science in years to come, and the topics covered in this class have provided me with a stronger foundation for how to integrate a variety of technology into this course, not just to satisfy the the curriculum requirements, but also to support 21st Century skills.  Examining a variety of software and Web 2.0 programs allowed me to design learning activities that our CS teachers will be able use with their students to promote a valuable skillset that will transfer into their other subjects.

    One of the course outcomes for EDTECH 541 is to "identify current issues in all content  areas that will impact the selection and use of technology, describe key strategies for integrating technology into those content areas, and identify example software and Web resources required to carry out each integration strategy". Because I support all content areas, I found the weekly Blog posts to be extremely informative as I learned from classmates and how they select and implement a variety of tools in their content areas.  Authors Hughes and Roblyer (2023), share the importance of leveraging technology to support the teaching and learning process. Each week,  I loved digging deeply into these topics on my own, and reading about how my classmates are accelerating the learning process by leveraging technology to create authentic learning experiences in their content areas.

    My biggest takeaway is the valuable tools that were shared in our textbook for each content area.  Because I support teachers in all content areas and in all grade levels, I found myself exploring the various tools that were shared and making plans for how to share these tools with others.  This gave me an opportunity to dive into several of our district curricula in order to support the learning that is taking place all school year.

Part 2: Self-Assessment

    I'm naturally an "all in" student, so the opportunity to share my learning through a blog was a welcomed opportunity.  Each week, I took time to connect the reading assignments to my blog post in order to reflect on my current practices, as well as areas for growth.  When I was a classroom teacher, I continuously blogged.  I loved the opportunity to reflect and celebrate.  My blog allowed me to connect with others, as well.  It was through my blog that I connected with a teacher in South Africa, and worked with teachers in the French Ministry of Education to harness flipped learning for language acquisition.

Content:  I feel that my strengths lie in the content of my weekly posts.  I am passionate about technology integration and the impact that technology can have on preparing our students for their future.  In my weekly posts, I shared how the topics relate to my role and my experiences, while also connecting them to current trends that were shared in our assigned readings or articles that I had come across when researching the topic. I am most proud of my video blog.  I had a lot of fun researching, developing, and recording that post. I would give myself a 70 out of 70 for this criteria.

Readings and Resources:  An opportunity for growth for me is APA formatting.  I know that I have a lot to learn in this area.  The blog posts were especially difficult for me because each week I was excited to share my learning, and careless about taking the time to stop and format correctly.  While I was intentional about connecting my claims to research or articles in the field, I know that I am not always diligent about making sure that citations are formatted correctly.  All in all, I enjoyed the opportunity to dive deeper into these topics, and I feel that I did a good job of supporting my claims throughout my posts. I did take time to correct mistakes that I found in the area of APA formatting and at this time, I am not aware of errors that I might have made. That being said, I would give myself a 20 out of 20 for this criteria.

Timeliness: Learning takes time.  While I did meet the posting deadlines for each blog post, I was close to that deadline each week.  I know that it would have been ideal for me to post earlier rather than later, in order to provide more time for feedback and replies.  However, before I wrote each post, I wanted to consume as much information on the topic as I could.  Because of this time-consuming process of researching and drafting, my posts were usually completed just one day before the deadline.  I did post in time for commenting and received some great comments for each post; I would give myself an 18 out of 20 for this criteria.

Responses to others:  In hindsight, I think I could have been more thorough in my responses each week in order to provide supportive references for my classmates. However, I feel that I did a good job of sharing my own experiences as they related to the topics of other students' posts.  I am more passionate about some topics, and I shared a lot more on those topics than others.   I read far more posts than I responded to because I enjoy learning from the experiences of others. I would score myself as proficient in this area. I would give myself a 26 out of 30 for this criteria.

My final numerical grade for the blog posts would be: 134/140.