Course Reflection

IT 365 has been one of my most useful classes this semester. I really think that in my career as a teacher I will make use of the skills that I learned in this class. I learned how to collaborate efficiently with others using Google Groups, how to maintain a website and a blog, and how to create concept maps, movies, and online quizzes. Most importantly, I learned not to be afraid of incorporating technology into my classroom. In the future, I will definitely create and maintain a website for my students and their parents to keep up with. I will also probably create online quizzes for my students and allow them to play computer games that are related to the learning material. In addition, I will find age appropriate educational videos that help students connect lessons to real life.

This class helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses within the realm of educational technology. First of all, I learned that fearlessness is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, I am not afraid to “jump into” a new software or activity. I learn how things work by messing around with them instead of waiting for someone else to teach me. On the other hand, it is not good for me to be so willing to “jump in” without looking at possible risks. As a teacher, I need to be sure of the safety and security of a website or application before allowing it into my classroom. Another strength I have is a good set of leadership skills. I am more than willing to take charge and organize group endeavors. One of my weaknesses is inexperience with troubleshooting. If I experience a technical difficulty, I am nearly always dependent on someone else to solve it. If I am teaching in a classroom, I will not often have time to call for help when I cannot get things to work as I please. Hopefully as I spend more time working with education related technology, I will figure out how to fix problems on my own.

One of the main things we did this semester was keep a blog portfolio of all our assignments and reflections. Looking back at it is a good reminder of all the things I learned from this class. It is my hope that when I start teaching, it will remind me of useful or convenient websites, apps, and software that I got experience with this year. In the same way, I can look at other teacher’s blogs for even more ideas and reviews of other, new lesson ideas. Blogs are truly a fantastic way to network and share information among teachers. I look forward to keeping one, as well as “following” my friends and colleagues when we start actually teaching.