Final: Reflective Post

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/