Course Reflection

 

Taking IT 365 has taught me that there are so many new technologies that can be incorporated into the classroom and make lessons and such easier, engaging, and creative.  I was able to practice old skills and learn new ones. When it comes to technology, I can catch on new things pretty quick. I am able to explore and understand a bit about what I am doing. When I did these assignments, about half of them were new concepts for me and after a while I could get used to using the new ones. The problem that I had is the tediousness of some of the assignments, such as the website. That happens to be my weak point with technology. I am fine with tedious assignments and projects that are hands-on and have the patience to complete them, but with using the computer and trying to manipulate things in a one dimensional format frustrates me. I am the type of person who cannot sit still for long periods of time in front of a computer. I like to move around and do things. I do think technology is amazing and can do amazing and beneficial things, but it is something that I need more patience with. For the future, I hope to get more patience with using such things as creating websites. Many things, though, were not tedious and did make some processes quicker such as the web tools. Technology is meant to make things faster and easier, and I understand that there are tedious and quick processes with everything. As a future teacher, I would definitely use as many different types of technology in the classroom. It does enhance types of creativity that cannot be accomplished with regular old materials such as paper and pencil. I really liked the idea of using digital stories and it is something the student could have fun with. I would definitely use assistive technology for the children that need it and try to accommodate as much as possible. As time consuming as it is for me, I would use a class website because I do believe that they are extremely useful. They make classroom communication easy and are a great way for parents to understand my practices in my classroom. Using a blog in the classroom is also another great tool for the classroom. In my past classes in high school, we had used a class blog and it was great for getting opinions on the books we were reading, ideas, and communicate them to the teacher. Parents were also able to witness their children interacting in the classroom. Technology is a necessity in the classroom in order for children to become successful students and people.