4.2 Areas of Growth Reflection

What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?
Since I began this MAET program, each class has really provided an abundance of excellent resources. More importantly, I've learned that it's not just enough to integrate technology in the classroom just for the sake of incorporating it. When the integration of technology makes for a more effective and enlightening learning experience, then it's a worthwhile addition. Aside from integrating technology, it's important to ensure that effective teaching strategies are being applied. This year I have really focused on providing exercises with scaffolding, modeling, and collaborative projects. By applying these strategies, I'm able to get more consistent feedback from my students which allows me to see where they are at in the learning process and to tweak my lesson plans for future use. When creating new lesson plans that integrate technology, I think more about how to scaffold my instruction and receive frequent feedback at each step of the way.

How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?
As a result of this course, I've become more comfortable using Google Documents for collaborative projects and for sharing work in general. Over the past several months, I've really become a fan of most Google applications especially Reader, Scholar, and iGoogle. These tools are great time savers and they assist with finding relevant credible information. I don't know how I functioned without these applications before.

How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?
Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
With technology, I've accepted the fact that I will never know enough to satisfy my curiosity. I constantly set new goals for programs and applications that I want to learn. As much as I'd like to think I'm keeping up to date with new technologies, my list continues to grow. At times it seems never ending. Over the past few months I have learned a ton from podcasting to Photostory creation. As challenging as it can be to integrate technology into my lesson plans, courses like this are very inspiring and really motivate me to improve upon the things I'm currently doing to make the learning experience more effective and enjoyable.