1.) I feel that I have learned a great deal of new information in my first graduate course. I envisioned at the very beginning that I would form a new outlook on technology and become familiar with more terminology in this field. I can truly say that I achieved positive outcomes with being able to create hands-on Web 2.0 examples as well as understand terms that I did not have any idea about at first. I can recall from the very first self-evaluation in this course and not having much of a background in a lot of the terms that were used. One thing that stood out that I learned is how to copy a website and embed it to a document. I had always seen this done, but had no idea how that was actually done. I feel a lot more comfortable with the new material I used and am looking forward to the courses to come.
2.) I feel that everything that I was introduced for can easily be used in my classroom. For example, I had no idea what a Wordle was. Currently, my students are preparing for midterms. I had the students answer a set of questions as a review and then typed the answers into the Wordle. This gave the students a new way to visualize the important words or phrases over a particular topic. My students also brainstormed other ways they could use this program in the future. I also felt that as I learn new skills and become familiar with new terms, this gives me another gateway to be able to teach my students about technology. I also believe it opens doors to new ways for students to understand information. Even though technology can provide both a positive and negative assessment to learning, I feel that it has brought nothing, but positive reinforcements to my classroom and school.
3.) I truly believe that overall I was able to form positive outcomes from this course. I was able to get a new outlook on different tools used and become familiar with terms that I had never heard before. One outcome I hoped to achieve in this course was to be able to use other tools and not just read about them. I was already informed about blogs and wikis, but never created a podcast. I would have enjoyed learning a little more about the tool as well as apply it to my classroom. Another outcome that I felt would be achieved is from the first week’s assignments. I would have really enjoyed getting a lot more out of the evaluations about our personalities and interests. Those topics always caught my attention when I was in school. I believe they can give you a true assessment of yourself and your future.
4.) I believe I was able to carry out the course assignments successfully. After three years of teaching, I felt I was ready to get back in the swing of things with school. I think the most important priority in graduate classes is time management. I was able to make sure I looked over assignments the week before they were due. This allowed me to see what I needed to get done and set up a time frame for achieving the necessary assignments. It was important to be able to know what I needed to check off once I completed it. The first week was the biggest challenge since I had not been in a school for a few years and it seemed like such an overload of things to do. I believe what has guided me through this first graduate course is knowing from the beginning that Mrs. Borel laid out the expectations at the very beginning as well as informed us how fast it will fly by.
5.) Finally, this course allowed me to learn more than just technology, but a lot about myself. A technology facilitator is a role that I probably would have never thought I would aspire to be right now. I always felt that those skills could only be achieved through numerous years of teaching and not someone who was only twenty five years old. As this generation of students continues to use technology as a main component of their life, I believe my background can really help them. In the 90s, the main reason we used computers at my school was to type a paper or take a quiz on the Accelerated Reader. Eventually, as I got older, I learned a lot more about basic applications and programs that went beyond Microsoft word or paint. I am looking forward to sharing new ideas with my students and other teachers as I go through this journey through Lamar University. I believe it will help me professionally to learn how to be leader in my future endeavors as well as bring a positive outlook of technology to my school.
