Program Reflection

I still laugh about my initial experiences/feelings 4 and a half years ago when I started back to school. I was absolutely terrified by terms that are now VERY familiar. I need to remind myself that some of my teachers have these same feelings about technology. I have found that enthusiasm for what technology can bring to the classroom, along with offers of help in lesson planning, has been helpful to overcome some of this trepidation. This program has helped me learn how to extend my comfort zone of the social studies classroom to really see how to help other content teachers utilize technology effectively. The opportunity to discuss projects and tools in a variety of different age groups and disciplines has been extremely valuable. My two favorite parts of this cohort were the Digital Storytelling and the individual project. I really felt that I learned the most in the digital storytelling class. The textbook was fantastic. I loved learning more about the power of a good presentation. This was a skill that I felt I had once been very good at. However, interestingly enough technology had made my presentations much more flat. I had fallen into the "death by powerpoint" trap. Instead of using technology to make my presentations better and more interactive, I was allowing them to become mere bulleted lists. The individual project allowed me to spend some time focusing on a topic that is really interesting to me. I have been intrigued by the potential of gaming in education to truly extend a student's learning by reacting to and dealing with real world scenarios to really apply their knowledge. I still wish I knew more about the actual workings of a computer. This an area that I often find frustrating. I know how things are supposed to work, and can use them when they do, but I often don't know what to do when things go wrong. I could use more troubleshooting tools in my toolbox. This is something that I will need to continue to work on individually.