Blog Assignment #16 Final Reflection

Looking Back

This has been a very interesting semester in EDM310, I was very intimidated at first because of the amount of work that was required for this course. However, after taking the time to really learn about the technologies used and the many different programs my whole mind set on technology in the classroom has changed.

For this final blog post, Dr.Strange has asked us to look back at our first post written in EDM310. This post required us to think about what our dream school would look like and how we would teach our students. In this original post I was very general in terms of explaining how I plan on teaching my students. I was not aware of the many different devices and programs available to me as a teacher. When I wrote this original post, I believed that a more hands on approach would be the best form of education for my students. Now, after completing EDM310 I still believe in a hands on approach at teaching, but I now believe that the different technologies available to me as a teacher should be used as much as possible.

Tools

In the beginning of this class, I highly underestimated the affect technology could have on a students education. I have come to know that there are many different tools I can use to enhance my students learning. During EDM310, I learned about google and the many uses inside of the site. Before I had only used google as a search engine. Now I know that Google can be used for storing documents, sharing documents,creating sites, and even creating presentations. During my years in school, whenever we had a presentation we always had to use powerpoint and not every computer had powerpoint. Also, you had to save the powerpoint on a flash drive if you planned on working on more than one computer. With google docs, it is free to create a presentation with as many slides as you wish. The presentation can be viewed from any computer and does not require a flash drive.

Another tool I found useful in EDM310 was Prezi, These are interactive presentations that are again free to use. These presentations can be edited on any computer and can be easily shared on blogs. When I came into EDM310 and DR.Strange started talking about blogging and using all of these different tools with elementary students I thought he was out of his mind. My thought was, "What young elementary student could use a computer let alone these programs that I was struggling to use myself". However, after taking the time to learn how to use these tools and reading the students blogs I now realize how technology literate todays kids are. I have even begun to notice with my own sister, who went to Gulf Shores elementary when the mac book program began, how technology literate she is.

Another tool that I was not aware could be used in the classroom in so many ways is the iPad. I do not personally have an iPad so I was not aware of all of the different educational purposes it could be used for. The iPads can be used to create podcasts and videos as well as access the internet and allow students to view sites like iCurio and DiscoveryEd. In our final group assignment we created and iBook that had all of our work for this semester on it. While creating this book I learned all about the iBook software and how to use it. This would be a great learning tool to use to enhance my students learning and allow them to have a hands on and interactive text to read and explore. Many textbooks offer a digital version that comes with interactive games and diagrams for the students to view.

Final Reflection

With EDM310 coming to a close, I do not see this as the end! I see this as the beginning to the career I have always wanted. Having a new outlook on teaching and technology in the classroom I plan to use every type of technology offered. I plan on using google and the many aspects of it, also using computers and the SMARTBoard to the fullest. I am so excited to become a teacher and to continue to learn and grow in my use of the different technologies I learned about in EDM310.