Final Reflection

Ok, so now this course is over and I'm supposed to know everything I need to about teaching with technology, right? Obviously, no--and even if I did my knowledge would be outdated 5 minutes ago because technology changes that fast. I guess the big take away I have from this course is that you need to keep yourself educated and updated in the field of teaching with technology, like you do with everything you teach. Teachers have to be lifelong learners if they truly want to make a difference and be amazing teachers.

So that's one of the reasons why I feel that one of the most useful technologies I've learned this semester is Google Reader. It makes everything so much more efficient and it really is a big timesaver and lifesaver. As long as I stay connected to it and I keep doing the work of finding new tools, then Reader will keep working its magic.

I think all of the technologies I've learned this semester are all helpful! I think learning about blogs and wikis is crucial for anyone teaching in this day and age, and it's important to know the advantages and disadvantages to both. I really also really enjoyed making my own class website and I can see myself using that.

Lastly, I loved making the mindmap on mindmeister. It was so much fun and it was a really cool tool to work with. I can see using mindmaps in such a variety of ways in the classroom; students could use them to take notes and they could also use them as a final project.

With all of the technologies, especially blogs and wikis, I want to emphasize that students are their own creators of knowledge. I think these two technologies offer much potential as forums for students to interact with others, to share their own knowledge, and to make connections between what they learn in class and what they experience in life.

I want to teach students that even though I am the teacher, I'm not the one with all of the answers, or that everything necessarily has one right answer and one wrong answer. These technologies will help students to see that learning is about seeing possibilities and then exploring these possibilities.