Reflection is essential for growth. As I look back at
everything we have covered throughout this course, I can see areas where my
views have stayed the same, areas where I would like to change, and an opportunity
to create goals for the future.
At the beginning of this course, I wrote a paper discussing
my personal learning theory. In it, I stated that that my belief is that past
experiences have a huge impact on student learning, learning is deepened when
students are actively engaged, and collaborative activities are highly
beneficial. These ideas fall under the constructivism, cognitivist and social
learning theories. After looking back at this paper and reflecting upon what we
have learned throughout this course, I would say that my learning theory has not
changed. I would say, however, that this course has deepened my understanding
of each of these theories and strengthened my opinion related to their
effectiveness. With relation to technology that falls under these learning
theories, this course provided numerous examples of tools and programs
available related to my personal learning theory that I can now incorporate
into my classroom to enhance student learning.
As stated previously, this course has examined a wide
variety of technology based tools that are both instructional tools and
learning tools. It is important to note that instructional tools are technology
based tools that are teacher centered while learning tools provide opportunity
for student engagement (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Before exploring these
tools, my technology repertoire consisted mostly of instructional tools. I am
excited about the new possibilities that I see now with the use of learning
tools. I would like to utilize SpiderScribe, WebQuests, and VoiceThread in my
classroom often in the future. I found these tools to be highly effective and
great tools for enhancing student learning.
Looking into the future, I would like to set two goals
related to my use of technology in the classroom. First, I would like to
include at least one technology based learning tool per month that allows for
student creation and engagement. Students learn best when they are actively engaged
in their learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). With each unit, I will find
a way to incorporate technology in a manner that allows students to be in the
driver’s seat of their learning. To achieve this goal, I will have to
strategically plan my lessons to include these activities and explore the
various tools available related to the content we are covering. My second goal
is to set up an online gallery/website where I will display students’ work. I
will post new work monthly. This will provide great recognition for my students
and hopefully result in greater motivation.
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Technology: instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video
webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819318_1%26url%3D
www.spiderscribe.net
www.voicethread.com
