REFLECTION-WEEK 8 EDUC 6715-FINAL BLOG POSTING

I cannot believe that this will be THE final blog posting for this program here at Walden! It seems like so long ago that I began this program and was not really sure what I would get out of it. Now that we are almost done, I am so glad that I enrolled in this program. I feel that I have grown both personally and professionally, in the areas of technology, but also in many other areas as well. Throughout this program, I have realized the importance of being able to reflect on my own work and the work of my students, as well as learning how to reach all types of diverse learners. I have learned many techniques to engage my students and enhance their learning. I have learned so much about today's technology that I do not believe I would have had the opportunity to learn about any other way.

I have learned that in order to make a change in the way that teachers approach technology and use it to best benefit the students is a role that I can greatly influence. By taking these courses I have learned a wealth of valuable information on technology, such as the impact that it plays on student achievement and all of the twenty first century skills that technology addresses so perfectly. I have been able to experiment with technology such as Voicethread, Moodle, MUVE's, Glogster, Wiki's, etc... Before this course I had no idea these items ever existed!

In weeks six and seven of this course, the assignment was to create a learning activity and implementation plans for the use of some type of technology. I chose to create a learning activity for a MUVE, even though I was not extremely successful when experimenting with virtual environments. But it just seemed like such a great way for students to explore so many different ideas while immersing themselves in an artistic learning environment, not to mention having fun! When I began writing the plan, I did not expect for it to cover so many different curriculum or technology areas, but as I wrote and thought about it, the plan became larger and more advanced. I am really excited at the possibility of actually creating the ideas that I put into the plan. It has become my next goal when this program is over to complete.

This program has introduced me to so many new and valuable resources. I know that I cannot sit back and expect the information to be given to me, because by that time it is old news. I need to be constantly searching for the latest technologies and reading up on what the emerging technologies are. The Horizon Report is one resource that I will be sure to keep an eye on, as well as many others. I have many valuable blogs that I now subscribe to that give me the most up to date information on technology in education as well as many websites that I never knew existed before.

I have become a greater advocate for technology in education since taking this course. In most of my lessons, I attempt to incorporate some type of technology into each one. As time progresses, I hope to have some type of meaningful technology incorporated into every single lesson that I do teach. I want to expand the walls of my classroom for my students out into the rest of the world and open up possibilities to them that did not exist before, such as being able to talk to other students and artists from around the world and share their artwork and thoughts with others.

I know that I still have much to learn about technology and that it will take time to be able to become really good at it, but now that I see the value and potential to my students I know that it is a very worthwhile endeavor. And I plan on sharing everything that I have learned and will continue to learn with other educators so that they may be able to use technology to give their students a greater education.

Congratulations to everyone!
Susan