As this course comes to a close I have taken some time to reflect on how my theory on learning and teaching has changed as a result of the knowldge I have gained. I feel that students need to be somewhat in control of their learning and be able to make connections to what they are learning. When learning has meaning to students they tend to be more interested in what they are learning and as a result have a better chance of remembering the information being learned. I feel that the most succesful classrooms are primarily student centered where students are actively engaged and interactive throughout the day. This makes for enriching, successful learning environments. This course taught me just how important it is for students to be actively engaged and interactive in the classroom. Educational technology is a great way to keep students engaged and interactive. Through educational technology students can connect and communicate with other students and teachers all over the world boradening their horizons and making them aware of world issues. In addition, they will become more informed of their surroundings and the different cultures that surround them. I think that through the use of educational technology students will become more accepting of diversity and it will lessen the ignorance some people have to the melting pot of cultures we live in.
As a result of this course I plan to integrate technology into my classroom immediately. I plan to start this school year off with a class blog for parents and students. I also plan to use Voice Threads in my classroom as a way to introduce lessons in a new and interactive way. It is my goal to use educational technology to make my classroom interactive and keep my students actively engaged.
Two technology tools that I would like to use with my students are Voice Threads and interactive white boards. I think that these tools will support and enhance student learning because they will provide students with 21st century skills as well as keep students actively engaged. I feel like a broken record when I say, "keep students actively engaged and interactive," but that enhances student learning and success. Incorproating Voice Threads, interactive white boards, and other forms of educational technology into the classroom will take the focus off of the teacher and put it where it should be...on the students. Giving students the opportunity to be in control of their learning will keep them interested and motivated in learning, therefore leading to success.
Before this course I stuck to the basic forms on instruction such as drill and practice, homework, recite and recall, etc. In recent years I started integrating collaborative learning into my classroom as well. After this course, I realized how important and beneficial cooperative learning actually is and I plan to use it much more in the future. I won't give up on drill and practice and homework because I feel that they are an important part of a student's education and definitely enhance learning, however, using the instructional strategies that I have learned in this course and others that I haev taken can only make me a better educator and lead to higher success rates among my students. My repertoire of instructional strategies has grown as a result of this course and it is my hope that it will continue to grow and I continue to be a life long learner and educator.
As I continue to grow as an educator I would like to make educational a part of our daily classroom routine. I want my students to use technology everyday the way we do calendar everyday; it's easy and can be done without even thinking about it. I would also like to be able to communicate with my students and their parents more through technology such as blogs. I plan to start this school year with a classroom blog in palce and I hope that it catches on with my students and their parents so I can keep the lines of communication open and let my parents know what it going on in our classroom on a daily basis. This will also help me acheive my first long-term goal, which is make technology a part of our daily classroom routine. I would like my students to blog about books they are reading or educational web sites that they enjoy. I think that the use of educational technology such as blogs can create a close classroom community, keeping every class member and they families involved and interactive.
In conclusion, it is my goal to continue to incorporate educational technology into my classroom to create a modern, up-to-date, learning environment for my students. Through the use of educational technology I hope to enhance student learning by keeping my students engaged and interactive. In addition, educational technology will help me to meet the needs of diverse learners increasing the success rate of all of my students, which I think is every teachers ultimate goal!
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