My journey continues, but now for a little reflection at the end of this leg of the journey. As this course comes to a close, I will be reflecting on the following questions as honestly as possible. So, here goes ...

What do you see yourself using in the next year? Next year, my classes will not have 1:1 devices, therefore, I see this as an opportunity to explore and examine more of the applications, programs and activities available before actually using them in a classroom lesson. I also would like to work more with My Big Campus, Symbaloo, and Google docs as I am still a novice at using these applications, and investigating what others remain to be discovered. I am also really interested in learning more about creative visual tools like Movie Maker, Vimeo, etc. My students seem to  enjoy using these programs and I feel that I need to learn to be adept at using them as well.

What will be most helpful in your professional situation? I found the suggestions for different apps very useful, however, I think I got the most out of the discussion about classroom management in the technologically innovative classroom. Keeping students on task seems to be one of the more frustrating classroom management problems in the digital world, but I found many good suggestions for possible strategies to alleviate this problem.

How can the information you learned over the past 18 weeks be used in the rest of your school and/or corporation? I find that it is very important to share resources with my colleagues and this class has shown how constructive that process can actually be. I found so many good ideas and I think that if we all consider passing new knowledge on, we will all benefit in the end.

I have learned a lot in this course, but I know that there is still so much more to learn. That is what keeps things interesting! :)

How can we teach students to learn by using technology?



In answer to this question, I must answer with another question. How do we teach students to think? Only then, will we be able to teach them to learn by using technology. The application of knowledge is no different now than it was in the time of Socrates. It does not matter if you are using a computer or parchment paper. What made Socrates a great teacher was that he made his students think. He inspired their curiosity and encouraged critical thinking skills. The devices that we use are not going to do anything to improve student learning unless we also teach them to think. Therefore the answer to the second question,"How can we teach them to demonstrate their mastery/understanding when they aren't given explicit requirements?" is easily answered. If they can apply the knowledge in a real-world situation, then they have mastered the skill. Education in the United States today could take a lesson from Socrates. It does not matter how many facts a student knows. What matters is how they can apply those facts to solve problems. If they are not taught to think, question, and create, then no device in the world is going to help them to learn.

Freedom, digital distraction and control

I would currently consider myself at the second level, control through technology. Students are allowed to use devices for very specific tasks, and they know that if they abuse this privilege, then they are banned from using electronic devices for as long as I see fit. So far, this strategy has worked pretty well, however, I do not consider myself at level three yet. Ideally, I want my students to self-check their personal device use, and use self-discipline to know when it is appropriate to use them and when it is not. I do not know if that will ever happen, but I like to think that I am attempting to instill these values into my students. That being said, I think that this reliance on technology is not always for the best. Students really need to take a step back from them sometimes and experience the world in a non-digital way. I found this video on the internet yesterday. You can watch it and make your own opinions. However, it really made me think and realize that I am just as guilty as anyone else.

http://blog.petflow.com/this-is-a-video-everyone-needs-to-see-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-im-speechless/?utm_source=ilmd&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=speechless