Reflections

EDLD 5352-Rachel Bradley
When I first started this course and took the pre-course assessment, I became very nervous. I had just realized that I knew very little about instructional technology and what the uses of it were. At that point, I was determined to be successful and learn as much as I could about technology and blogging in the 21st Century Schools. I can honestly say that now I feel comfortable about designing technology presentations and even making a flow chart, which I had never attempted prior to this class. The course outlined very specific skills that I knew very little about. Going through this class and doing my best I am confident that I will be successful in guiding my fellow staff through ways technology can be used in and out of the classroom.
The outcomes of this class have been and are relevant in the work that I am currently involved. I am able to apply what I have learned to help others. I am currently involved in helping others on my campus become better at incorporating technology into their classrooms. I am also actively involved in designing staff development that focuses on technology and the uses for our students. The more I am able to use technology the better I will become and find more uses for it later. I am also able to use this technology as I complete intern hours in the office. I have currently set up an excel spreadsheet which categorizes our “At-Risk” students by their coding, among other things.
There are areas of technology that I am still not proficient. I am definitely not a “techy”, but I am more comfortable including technology into my everyday life. I will still have to call someone to fix my computer when I break it. Just today, I was typing in Microsoft Word 2003 and couldn’t find where to locate the amount of words typed, so I still have learning to do. I am glad that I have set out to be a lifelong learner!
The course assignments were at first glance very overwhelming. As I listened to the lectures and read the articles I became clearer of what was being expected. Overall, I did very well on the assignments. It might have taken me longer than the average student to complete the assignments because I was not as familiar with the different technology programs, but I wanted to ensure that my work was of good quality and that I learned as much as possible through these assignments. With our classes only being 5 weeks long I feel it necessary to do your very best work and do as much research as possible so that you can become as knowledgeable as possible. As far as the assignments being discouraging, I did not feel that. The assignments all had attainable goals if you understood where to look for the information and then what to do with the information that was found from looking at the different articles, reports, and analysis from the campus and district.
Through this class and completing the assignments I have learned a great deal about technology and how to implement technology on a school campus. I also learned that technology isn’t as scary as I once thought it to be. I am not an old teacher per say, but I did graduate college earlier than most. Doing this I haven’t had the experiences that some have had when dealing with technology. Technology has begun to shift its way into the schools and classrooms and I have not been prepared. I can say that if I am given a challenge with technology I am confident that I will be successful in completing the task. This is a great personal growth for me. My attitude toward technology has always been closed minded, but now that I have a greater understanding of what is available for me to use in and out of the classroom I am actually excited to learn more. One of my favorite things to learn to do while in this class was blogging. I had never been brave enough to try to set up and use a blog and now that I have that experience I am starting one for my own personal growth.
Although I am excited about starting a personal blog I am not sold on the idea of blogging openly at school. Blogging in the 21st Century come with many concerns especially when blogging is occurring within the realms of education in schools. Some of the concerns are for the students and teachers safety. When a blog is developed anyone can post comments on the blog. Blogs must be heavily monitored when being used in schools. Although there are concerns about blogging, it would benefit student growth. It allows students to write about their feelings and thoughts about different topics as well as factual information that they have learned. Blogging is another way to allow students to express what they are and have learned.
Blogging can also be used to communicate with school stakeholders. Blogging is a great way to for others to see what is going on in the schools. It represents an active learning community that is open for others to view and grow as well. Schools can also use blogging to provide information to the community. For those who have access to the internet this is a great way to save on the use of paper and allows real time information from the schools to the stakeholders.