What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
I originally thought EDLD 5306 would give me an idea of some of the things that an instructional technologist does at the campus and district level. That is some of what we learned in this course, but we also learned how to use some of the Web 2.0 tools and how to evaluate them which is important if you are in the instructional technologist position. I hoped to gain knowledge of more tools and hopefully be able to share them with my fellow teachers and help them implement them into their class. I feel that I have achieved that in this introductory course. I think the course outcomes did not align with my expectations, but actually encompassed much more than what I had envisioned. I think having an introduction to the Texas Long Range Plan, StAR Chart and E-Rate was extremely helpful.
To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?
I think everything I learned in this course is extremely relevant to my current job. As a teacher, I want to know how to use these tools so that I will eventually be able to come up with a way to use them with my students. As a math teacher, I find it extremely difficult to find practical ways to use technology in my classroom, but I’m hoping that the more I learn and study for this degree; I will be able to implement more. My other goal is to help other teachers, especially math teachers, integrate more technology into their classrooms and lessons. I’m not sure that I’m at that point yet, but I can see that I will get there eventually. Some of the things we learned in this course are not necessarily relevant to my current job, but are still very interesting and helpful for the upcoming courses and internship.
What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
As far as outcomes I didn’t achieve, I didn’t really have many preconceived notions about what this course would be about, so I feel like I achieved more than I thought I would. Not that I had low expectations, but I felt like I wasn’t completely sure exactly what we would learn so everything we learned seemed useful to the course and relevant to the degree. My goal with all of my coursework is how I can enhance my own teaching with it or how I can use it in my classroom with my students. I feel like this course didn’t really help me too much with that, but given that it was meant to be introductory, it makes sense that it did not help me with that goal.
Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I didn’t have a really hard time completing the course assignments, but I did often wait until the last minute on some things. As everyone else in this cohort, I am busy. I am a math teacher and assistant drill team director with after school practice every day plus football games every Friday night. I squeeze in these assignments whenever I can. It does take some time-management skills and you do have to start early in the week. I also learned to read the assignments carefully. It seems like at least two weeks I didn’t read carefully and on Monday afternoon I realized there was something more I had to do. The thing I had the hardest time with was reading the assignments. For some reason, I waited too long to start reading, when really I should have been reading ahead of time since all of the material was there. I suppose that is something I will need to work on in the upcoming courses.
What did you learn from this course…about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
I did learn some things about myself during this course. One thing is that I really enjoy helping adults as much as I enjoy helping students. I feel very comfortable when working one-on-one with my colleagues or with a small group. I also learned that I know a lot more about technology than I thought and more than many of my co-workers. I have become the “go-to” person in my department as far as when something goes wrong or someone has a question about software such as our district grade book or Forethought which is our new lesson planning software. I am also really excited about leading a professional development for my campus colleagues to get them started with certain Web 2.0 tools.
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