Final Reflection on Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society

"Today's schools are faced with a difficult dilemma that pits a student body that has grown immersed in technology against a teaching faculty that is less facile with the tools of the trade" states Will Richardson (p. 6). Being a new teacher to the workforce, I feel that I have grown up in the era where technology was a large part of my life. However, I still feel that I have a lot to learn in order to best teach my students. This course has helped open up my eyes to many Web 2.0 features that will help my students learn and grow.

This course has helped me to learn and reflect on ways to use blogs, wikis, and podcasts educationally. During the past couple of months, I was able to create my own blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Then, after I created my own, I was able to reflect and discuss with my classmates how to best use these features of the web for educational purposes. Not only has this course shown me about these features of Web 2.0, but it has also made me more curious about what other features are available to use in my own classroom. I have been reading educational blogs and informational sites that help me to utilize technology into my everyday teaching. All of these technology and web-based ideas have helped to enhance my teaching. As I have began to utilize blogs and introduce podcasts into my classroom, my students have become much more intrigued in their learning. They love discussing things in their blogs. They love when I give them time to get onto their blogs or to read each other's blogs.

This course has also taught me to teach in a more student-centered way. By this, I mean that I let the students lead the learning. Instead of myself being the source of the knowledge, I allow the students to find the knowledge. This will help them now only now as they are learning, but also when they are older. They will also teach them to become life-long learners, as I am teaching them ways to find the answers to their questions.

I am going to continue to learn how to better teach my students by continuing my education and completing my master's degree. I am also going to find professional development opportunities that will enhance my teaching. As I do these things, I am going to continue to implement new ideas and teaching strategies and monitor how they impact student achievement.

I am going to set two goals to help me integrate technology. My first goal is to begin using podcasts in my classroom. I want to teach the students how to use podcasts educationally. I have already started using other aspects of Web 2.0, and this is one that I think will greatly help my students in their learning. My second goal is to help education my colleagues on the aspects of Web 2.0 that are helpful to student learning. By helping to educate my colleagues, they will then be able to use the tools available to them while teaching.

Resources:
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.