Reflection on CEP 810

To say that one class changed your life is a bit hyperbolic. That said, my teaching has changed dramatically since I started CEP 810. I feel like I’ve learned so much, and I’d love to integrate all of it into my classroom. However, what I’ve learned is that effective technology integration requires a lot of time. The steps I’ve learned to use are:
(1) Identify a need
(2) Find potential technologies
(3) Evaluate them based on cost, effectiveness, and suitability for setting
(4) Make a plan of implementation
(5) Test it, test it, test it, then test it again
(6) Implement
The most important thing I’ve learned, however, is not to implement technology if it doesn’t fit a need. Using technology for the sake of using it is often ineffective and frustrating for both the teacher and student.

The Internet is a great help in finding and evaluating potential technologies. Through resources such as MACUL, MERLOT, and my classmates, I was able to discover new technologies and get recommendations on which ones to use and how to use them. In addition, the Internet was incredibly useful for trouble-shooting. Whenever I had a problem, I just googled “technology x not doing y” and was able to find the answer almost immediately. Perhaps the only difficult part was then having to sift through the wealth of information to find the best answer. One thing that will definitely be necessary to teach students is how to evaluate the validity of websites.

Of all the assignments I completed in CEP 810, I liked the personal technology plan the best because it forced us to reflect back on what we’d accomplished in the class. It was a great way of bringing together all the lessons that we’d been working on over the courses of the session including having us use technology to develop the plan. In addition, the plan made us set concrete goals for the future. At first, I felt nervous about setting goals because then I’d feel responsible for accomplishing them, which I realized was the point. Thus, I thought this assignment really exemplifies good teaching with technology because it helped the students to draw together all of the things they’d learned and to look towards the future.

In my Personal Growth Plan, I had three goals:
(1) to usefully integrate technology
(2) that I was specifically interested in educational video games
(3) that I wanted to help my coworkers learn more about technology.

Since then, I have found several ways of integrating technology including Jing tutorials, Voicethread and Voxopop for speaking classes, Prezis, and Delicious bookmarking for keeping track of research.

My most interesting goal, at least to me, was to learn more about educational video games. Coincidently, one of my boss’s friends came to visit our school and mentioned that he had just such a game. We’ve kept in touch, and he’s offered to give me a copy of his video game to adapt and develop on. This was the one goal I didn’t expect to fill but am very excited about.

My final goal has been hit-and-miss. Some people at my job are very excited about technology and we’re working together to integrate it into our classes. Others are less interested, but more and more they’re willing to listen to new ideas. In addition, I’ve been making Jing tutorials for anyone who asks how I do something on Moodle.

I now have some new goals including using QR codes more frequently and going paperless. I’m currently working towards going paperless by uploading all my worksheets to Moodle. I’m also doing more research on how other teachers are using QR codes to get ideas on how to use them most effectively. My long term goal is to graduate with an MAET which I’ll working towards by taking CEP 811 next month.

In short, this class has helped me to develop my technology skills, reach goals I had set for myself, and show me how to continue developing and attaining my goals. Thanks again to my teacher, Sue!!