Reflective Blog #8

"Aha!" - ETEC 524 has been an eye-opening, hands-on, fast-paced, life-changing class for me! After being out of college for 13 years and out of a regular education classroom/campus for 5 years, every week was an "Aha!" moment for me. I had never seen, and only vaguely heard of, the Web 2.0 technologies we used in this class. However after 8 weeks, I not only learned about wikis, blogs, etc., but created and applied them to my learning. I must confess when I created the first technology project, my blog, I got frustrated and almost cried. (Okay...I cried.) In part because I was nervous and worried that I would not be able to learn the technology skills required for this class in such a short time. However, I am a visual and tactile (hands-on) learner and I was able to catch on quickly and create the projects because Dr. W. provided great information and examples. My confidence in my technology skills have increased so much that I started looking forward to what we were going to create next.

I really enjoyed this class and hope to continue developing my technology skills. ETEC 524 is the first of many technology classes on my degree plan so I hope I will have Dr. W. as a professor again.

Once I graduate and I become a school librarian, I plan to help teachers and students integrate technology in their classrooms.

Reflective Blog #7

Mini-Lesson - I did a lesson that incorportated Google Earth. It is one of the few Web 2.0 tools I was familiar with before taking ETEC 524 and I chose it because I wanted to explore it more. I had to think outside the box for this assignment because I currently teach students with severe disabilities. My lesson plans do not include higher order thinking skills and the only technology I incorporate in my class are assistive devices. I wanted my lesson to be fun, interesting, and relevant. My lesson was written for early elementary-age students about the 2010 Winter Olympics. The objective was for them to research, gather and organize information/images using the Internet and Google Earth. The final project was that they create a brochure using that information.

My view on instruction has changed a lot in the past 7 weeks. I look forward to creating projects that are interesting and incorporate technology. When the time comes for me to leave the Special Education field, I plan to share the knowledge I've gained in technology with teachers so that they can improve the way they teach and the way their students learn.