Looking Back at the Semester
When I stared the semester,
and read the syllabus
I thought “O-M-Gosh, can I do this?” But then I took a deep breath, pulled up
my big girl pants and gave myself a ‘pep talk’ to relax and take things one
week at a time. So here I sit, typing my last blog post and I can say I did it!
There were weeks that I spent much more than the 7.5- 10 recommended hours of
work to get the tasks accomplished, and times where my husband chuckled as I
‘spoke rather harshly’ to my computer (a.k.a. cursing the ‘evil thing’) because
it wouldn’t do what I thought it should to complete an assignment.
All that said, I’m
sitting here now reviewing the learning out comes detailed in the syllabus. Lo
and behold I did: ‘evaluate and
critique various software and hardware tools’; ‘evaluate and critique legal and
ethical issues for using technology’; ‘create a portfolio with samples
reflecting ways technology can support…’; ‘analyze and summarize the features
of applicable websites…’ and ‘analyze and evaluate a selection of technological
tools for assisting students who are English Language Learners’. And I tried,
but sort of missed the mark a bit with ‘analyze and evaluate a selection of
technological tools for assisting students with special and/or diverse needs’
(Coleman, syllabus pp.2-3).
Learning Outcomes Accomplished - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires;
While I took this
class online because I was planning to be traveling mid-way through the
semester and didn’t want to miss any classes, I know this is ‘exclusively’ and
online course. For me personally I would
have appreciated having a ‘physical class’ perhaps every couple of weeks to
explain things like the various Web 2.0 tools (which often just confused the
heck out of me), or just to allow students to ask questions. Sure, e-mail is
there and the Professor was awesome and timely about getting back to me, but
there were still subtleties that I misunderstood. I am more of an auditory learner and that
coupled with being a relative ‘baby’ in terms of tech savvy made for some
confusion.
The two
collaborative projects (the Wiki and Lesson Plan) as well as the discussion
boards were a lot of fun. Even though at the outset I had some apprehensions
about the collaborative projects, I found that my concerns were unfounded and
all the classmates I was grouped with were wonderful. But again, just me being
a social creature, I prefer ‘live’ discussions. This being an online format, the
discussion boards were a required means to an end and were not as fulfilling to
me. (But that is not an insult to either my teacher or any classmates.)
As the semester winds
down and I reflect on reading throughout our textbook about all the ways
technology can enhance a student’s learning, I want to be out there on the
front line leading the way and wearing the super-teacher cape. Then I read the
insightful critique from my professor who reminds me that I didn’t ‘get’ the
point of web quest is to direct the students, not give instructions to the
teacher, and I realize it’s a process, but I’m also eager to learn from my
mistakes so that I can do better next time.
Resources
Coleman, M. (2011, September 20). EME 2040 Syllabus.
In Florida Southwestern State College. Retrieved December 8, 2016, from https://fsw.instructure.com/courses/1061472/files/62028383/download
"Just Do It" Motivational Speech (Original
Video) [Video file]. (2015, August 15). In YouTube. Retrieved
December 8, 2016, from https://youtu.be/ZXsQAXx_ao0
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon
A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New
Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Woolf, R. (8 December, 2016). Slide
Presentation. Created with use of haikudeck.com. https://haikudeck.com/p/625de526a3
Woolf, R. (8 December, 2016). Blog
Presentation. Created with use of canva.com. https://www.canva.com/design/DACGyol94DI/