Reflection

     I have always enjoyed learning about technology and using technology.  I love using technology and feel that it has made my life easier in some aspects.  I grew up using technology, and now days it surrounds us.  Before children go to preschool, they are able to use a smartphone to navigate to play games, and use computers or play video games.  
     By taking this class, I have been able to learn how important it is to ensure that the students are able to learn with technology.  The technology has the ability to help the students acquire the skills that they need in order to survive in a complex, high technological knowledge-based economy (Edutopia, 2008).  When the students learn these skills, they will be able to succeed academically or career wise.  I have learned that it is up to us educators to teach these students the 21st century skills, as they will not learn them on their own.  One of the 21st century skills that I deem to be important is for the students to be able to collaborate with each other.  If you are unable to work together in the job force, then the chances of you receiving a promotion are slim to non.         In order to get students to work together, I plan on using a wiki, podcast or a blog.  The students will use these resources to do their class projects, and I think that will really help the students learn how to work together.  When I was growing up, the teachers didn't make us work together, so when I got to college and had to work with others, I despised it.  Now I realize how important it is to work together on a project to finish it.  I want the students to realize this as well, and not grow to despise working together.  
     This class has also shown me that podcasts can be a lot of fun to do and they can be beneficial to the students.  By doing my own podcast for the class, I have realized that they can be extremely helpful to the students.  A teacher can create a lecture podcast and post it on the class blog.  The students will then be able to listen to the lecture again if they don't understand something, and the students who were absent will be able to listen to it and not fall behind in their studies.  
     Throughout my journey here at Walden, I have come to realize that I play an extremely important role to the students.  Every class that I have taken, has shown me things to try in the classroom, along with some ways to solve some classroom management problems.  This class has shown me, how important it is to ensure that we are not just lecturing the students, that we are talking to them and teaching them skills to succeed.  This class has shown me that technology is important to have in the classroom, and how the students will be able to thrive by using it in the classroom.  
     When I was growing up, the teacher stood in front of the classroom and gave a lecture most of the time.  I still see that used today in the other classrooms, which I feel isn't great, as the students are not as engaged in their learning.  When the students are not engaged in their learning, they will not be able to learn the material, and then have the chances of failing, which in return can make many students give up.  By having the students engaged with their own learning, they are taking charge and beginning to succeed.  I have learned that it is important to encourage the students to participate in the class discussions, and giving them time to think about their answers before calling on another student.  I have also learned that a lot of students do better by doing project based learning, such as creating a podcast about an event that happened in history.  
     By continuing on with my education, I feel that I will be able to expand my own knowledge, which will then help me transfer that knowledge to help the students.  I plan on continuing to learn about the different kinds of technology that is available and decide which ones would really help the students become more engaged in their learning. 
     One goal that I would like to accomplish is to have new computers in the classroom for students to work on.  The computers that are in the classrooms now are about ten years old and are constantly crashing and breaking down.  The district is really poor, and therefore it would be hard to convince them to direct funding towards better computers.  The new superintendent is younger and is all for technology, so I know that he would be a big help in talking to the school board to help get the funds.  I feel that by having newer computers, the students will be able to work together to create podcasts, go on virtual field trips, work on a wiki, or contribute to the class blog.  
     Another goal that I would like to accomplish is to have Ipads or some kind of tablet for the students to use.  Right now the textbooks are getting really outdated in the classroom, and once again the district has argued that there isn't enough money to replace the textbooks.  Therefore it will be hard to once again convince the district to part with money in order to achieve this goal.  I know that there are grants out there to get technology in the classroom, and I know that Apple is big on education.  I might be able to contact Apple to see if they could help get Ipads to the students.  By having an Ipad the students, will have access to updated textbooks to help with their studies.
     Looking back at the checklist from week one, I have noticed that some of my answers have changed now that I have completed this course.  I had checked the rarely box on modeling appropriate integration practices having a technology rich classroom.  I feel that answer is now to often, as I am so excited to incorporate the different kinds of technology I learned about in a classroom.  By having a technology rich classroom,  I will be able to help more students become successful, and I know that I will be teaching them the 21st century skills that they need.  
      The other one that I checked rarely on was providing the students with multiple opportunities to use technology tools to help support their learning.  I can now say that I can put my check in the often column, as I have learned how important it is for the students to use a variety of technology.  I’m excited to have the students start using podcast, especially for history, as I feel that it will make it more interesting to the students and that they will have a lot of fun making one.
     In conclusion, I feel that this was a great class to take.  I had a lot of fun in it and have learned so much on how important it is as an educator to teach the students the 21st century skills that they need.  I also enjoyed about the different kinds of technology and ways the technology can be used in the classroom to help enhance the students learning.  
    
References:

Edutopia.  (2008).  Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are Many.  Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

Podcast

Here is my first podcast.  It is about profiling the students of today.  Enjoy and let me know what you think.




Link to podcast in case there are problems with the embedded player.
https://archive.org/details/Podcast_201402

Music in Podcast:

Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor "Moonlight", Op. 27 No. 2 By: Ludwig van Beethoven Retrieved from: https://musopen.org/music/278/ludwig-van-beethoven/sonata-no-14-in-c-sharp-minor-moonlight-op-27-no-2/ 
Public Domain: This work is free of known copyright restrictions.