EDTECH 501 Reflections

EdTech 501 Reflections

WOW! I really can't believe that this class is over.  I've learned so much in this course and hope that the rest of the courses in the MET program are just as rewarding.  I am glad I will have some time to focus on the up-and-coming school year and incorporate the new skills I have under my belt.

The main challenges that I faced during this course were time management and interruptions.  I am the kind of learner that needs it to be quiet to comprehend anything! (I don't remember being that way in school, maybe it's my age!)  Needless to say, my house is not quiet.  My 12 and 6 year old girls "just want to have fun" every second of every day! I tried to overcome these challenges by completing my 501 coursework in the early morning or after my children went to bed.  This was difficult for me because, I'm not as energetic as I used to be. Staying up until 1am and then  getting up early with my children was difficult. However, the success I felt when I turned in my assignments and received an excellent grade was worth the exhaustion I felt.    In early July, I also needed to help my mom for a couple of weeks as she had knee replacement, and it was also difficult to get my assignment completed when visiting with her. One thing worse than seeing your kids in pain and helpless, is seeing your parents in pain.  Once we got through the first couple of days, and figured out what worked and what didn't, it was much better.  Also, my mom talks a lot.  Even with pretty strong pain killers in her blood stream, she was still talking.  I love her so much and really don't get to see her too often, so I asked for extension on the due date for my EdTech research assignment, and enjoyed the time I had to spend with her. 

I have two artifacts that are my favorite.  The Digital Divide the Evaluation are two artifacts that I can actually take back to my district and use again.  I learned so much about my district from each one of those artifacts.  With the EdTech Evaluation assignment, I was able to talk to my curriculum supervisor about technology.  This was a very rewarding experience because I felt like my ideas were taken seriously, and that I may have actually helped our district move in a positive direction with technology. 

Upon my return to school, I plan on taking the skills I have learned in this course, and pass them on to other teachers in our district during instructional coaching time. I would also like to work with my students on using blogger to post assignment like we did for this course, once they receive their Chromebooks. I will also incorporate many of the Google Apps I learned about when researching tech trends.  Finally, and most importantly, the research I did on gender inequalities has literally changed my thinking forever.  What I learned when doing this research will affect how I teach and what materials I choose for my classroom. 

I appreciate all the feedback that I received, and I hope that my comments were positive and helpful. I look forward to taking more classes with all of the wonderful people I've met as we journey through this program together.