EDTECH513 Learnings

513 Reflection

It would be very difficult to narrow down three things I've learned in this course, because I feel I've learned so much.  EDTECH501 and this course have been my favorite courses so far in the MET program.  I love to create usable instructional materials, and this course has provided me with the opportunity to take what I have learned back to my students.  My students are the reason I'm enrolled in this program, so any time I can bring back what I've learned for their benefit, it an awesome thing. 

I'm going to lump my learning into three categories: tools, principles, and course design.  The digital tools I was able to learn this semester were tools that I can use directly in my classroom.  Creating on PowerPoint, recording on Audacity, uploading to YouTube, discovering podcasting, and struggling through Adobe Captivate are all lessons I can say I've had fun with and had to overcome.  I will be adding these tools to my educational technology tool belt for years to come. The multimedia, contiguity, modality, redundancy, coherence, and personalization principles have transformed how I put together a digital project.  I especially feel these principles are important because they are backed up by solid research. Not a presentation goes by without my critical eye.  I've been able to take three unit presentations to new heights by eliminating extraneous text, and adding graphics that truly support learning.  In the future, I would like to add narration to my presentations as well.  Finally, I really felt this course was laid out well.  I'm working on my k-12 online certificate and feel that the way this course was delivered was seamless.  Every topic had great supporting educational materials, the text was easy to read and follow, and the course itself was easily navigated.  I can thank Dr. Dianne for that!