EDLD+5364+Final+Reflection+Assignment

 **Final Assessment: Course Reflection Responses** 1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned? I am currently an instructional technology coordinator for a district, and it is my job everyday to help teachers add technology to their lessons. I am also in charge of all technology professional development, and the webpage development. I was hoping this class would give me more examples and new technologies to use with teachers. I do not feel as though I achieved those goals. I wish the we had been given many different educational scenarios and been challenged to infuse those scenarios with technology. This would have challenged me in the way I am challenged at work. With the project we were given, we picked our own subject, grade level, and even lesson. In my day to day work, I don’t get to pick anything. I work up several possible technology solutions to any given class from Pre-K social skills to High School Physics and everything in between.

2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

I did not learn one new piece of technology that I did not already know about before starting this class. I was able to give quite a few new web 2.0 sites to my teammates, so I am happy that I could help them. I have been in Instructional Technology for a long time and do trainings all over the state and have even presented nationally. The information presented in this class is still relevant to what I do, and will continue to be relevant in the coming years. I am glad to know the direction I have been trying to take with professional development being ongoing and revisited each six weeks was supported through the readings and videos watched throughout this course. The demands for a teacher’s time continues to rise and every year it is more of a challenge and a fight to find the time to get them the training they need.

3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

What I really hoped to learn from this class was how to implement technology into the difficult content areas. I was hoping for multiple scenarios in which we would have to figure out how to integrate the technology. There are subjects that always challenge me more than others. I can add technology to any Science or Social Studies class. I do okay with Math because I taught Math, but Reading, ELA, Sociology, and Kindergarten tend to challenge me. I would have loved to be able to brainstorm ideas with a group of people. While I could have suggested one of these topics for our group project, why would I want to make things harder for the entire group because I need help in those areas. We as a group picked a subject we felt everyone could find information to support our plan. Only one member of the group has experience teaching science, but I know from experience working with teachers that Science is by far the easiest subject to infuse with technology.

4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I believe my group was very successful in completing all the assignments. We had five very strong people in our group from varying backgrounds. When one of was struggling with a concept or how to get our part completed, someone from the group was able to step up and help out. Diana was a great leader, Roger knew the Science curriculum, Elizabeth has a gift with words and edited the material, Karen gave all kinds of creative ideas and kept us on track, and I add technology to teachers lessons all the time and have many technology resources available. We met through [|__www.tokbox.com__]  several times to discuss options for our plan and for everyone to get on the same page. I think at times, we tried to make the assignment more difficult than what was required. All members of the group contributed and in a timely manner which helped keep the team on track to finish the project.

5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

I never give myself enough credit for my abilities. This class has been no different. I was reluctant to join the group I did because in all our other classes, they seem to have way better ideas than I have had. I found that I was just as important to the group as they were. We all had very different strengths which meshed really well. I had technical knowledge the others did not have because I work with these technologies everyday at work. I was not the actual leader, but I believe all five individuals were leaders at certain times within this group project. I tend to have a defeatist attitude which I thought ironic that it was in our readings the last week. What’s odd about that is my attitude is only directed toward myself. I have a very positive, optimistic attitude toward others abilities. I do think this helps me be a better instructional technologist. I have complete belief in my teachers as I use to have in my classroom.