Metamorphosis of my Technology Goals...
"After taking the CEP 811 or Adapting Innovative Tech to Ed class I found ideas that I could use year after year. I discovered audio and video ideas for my assessments."
http://dean-311.blogspot.com |
I first started taking the Master's of Educational Technology MAET grad classes to fulfill my teacher recertification, so at the beginning, my goal was to keep my certification current. However, after the first three classes I was impressed with the program and the classes I had take;, it was then that my goals started to change. I went from taking classes because I had to, to taking classes because I wanted to integrate more technology into my classes and change the way I taught.
I have always liked the technology part of teaching. At my school, I was always the first one to try out new web 2.0 tools or ways of doing things electronically. I would see the perpetual teenage eye roll when I introduced a new project saying, “OK this is the first time I am using this web tool so you get to be my guinea pigs.” After a while, my students became used to it, and I was starting to be called the techie teacher. But following the latest tools became a bit old because I never used the same one twice. I wanted something more permanent for me and my students. It was at that time that I started taking the MAET classes. After taking the CEP 811, Adapting Innovative Tech to Ed, class I found ideas that I could use year after year. I discovered audio and video ideas for my assessments. From that point on I have had my students doing video and podcasting and they love the variety. Since I have done it for a couple of years, they are no longer my guinea pigs and I can help them out a lot more to give more validity to my lessons. My teaching totally changed once I started using Schoology. This learning management system (LMS) was the answer to all my school prayers and the best part...it supported all the technology I wanted to use in my classrooms. With Schoology I was able to put all my assignments, quizzes, and readings on-line for my students. I also love the fact that students then submitted everything to one place for grading. I believe I was in the middle of my MAET classes at this point. With each class I was able to revise, tweak, and rethink a lot of what I do in the classroom. My assignments had more “guts” to them now. I am able to put research behind what I do and how I assess. Goals for the future? Quite honestly I am not sure. I am a bit afraid that I won’t be able to keep up on my own! I am going to miss these classes because the professors and the students always have such great ideas and insight into technology and how to use it in the classroom. One of my goals is to instill student pride in their work. I want students to be able to reflect and see how far they have come in a semester. I also want students to take some of the technology they have learned in my class to college and use some of the tools I have taught them. Education is changing so dramatically that I might want to venture out and see what this degree can do for me outside of the educational world. But for now I am comfortable where I am. My goals are to keep up with the technological advancements and to keep improving what I do online. |