My Final Thoughts on Integrating Technology

In the Beginning....

This is it, the final week of my Integrating Technology Into Programming, Services & Instruction class. The past eight weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, and I never realized how fast time flew by. In the first week, I was excited but also overwhelmed with everything we had to do. I thought, “How can I create Wakelet collections, weekly blogs, a Trends in Tech presentation, a professional website, a Twitter account, and participate in at least one chat on top of everything in my other graduate classes?”

While Blogging...

I was mostly nervous about blogging. I was hesitant about publicly writing for others to see and comment on. I wrote a blog for a previous class, but I was analyzing and reviewing books rather than providing my own opinions and experiences. As time went on, I gained a better grasp of blogging. I generally enjoyed being connected to my peers and reading about different perspectives I did not consider. I might blog after the course to keep track of my thoughts and library and technology lesson plans.

Out of all the things I explored, I loved Active Learning, Gamification, and Assistive Technology the most. I appreciated the suggested active learning techniques and strategies to make a lesson more engaging and fun. Yes, direct instruction has its time and place, but teachers need to balance it with active learning. Active learning uses individualized learning and interactive activities that make students feel like they want to learn and explore. One of the active learning techniques is gamification. In this course, I talked about Interland and Breakout Edu. At work, I realize that we use gamification for engagement and retention of information. For example, the 5th graders are doing a 40-book reading challenge, where students discover, choose, and read 40 books across various genres. To help them differentiate between the characteristics of genres, we created three stations with genre games: Jeopardy, board game, and card game. The students take turns matching the description to the correct genres. We also challenge them to create their own game. We hope that by using active learning, they can retain the different types of genres more. Another activity is a GimKit game called The Floor is Lava! Math students work together towards a common goal: build a tower by answering math questions. They have to stay above the lava as long as they can. They lose if the lava overtakes the tower. This game was an engaging way for students to apply one and two-step multiplication and division questions. All the students had a lot of fun with both activities. I also like getting the chance to explore the built-in accessibility features on students' Chromebooks. When I get the chance, I will do the same for the iPads and my MacBook Air. Learning about these built-in accessibility features can make my students’ learning experience easier and help me troubleshoot any technology issues better. 

In the End...

Gif Source: www.gifer.com

On my first blog, I posted the GIF above. I still feel the same way. However, I am also ready and excited to apply the knowledge I learn to my current and future lessons. I learned about various software and programs that I can use to help my students. Technology is here to stay, and I need to be able to teach others the benefits of technology and how to be safe and responsible users of the Internet. On top of that, I also learned the importance of understanding trends and the generational habits of the students I am teaching. In the end, I feel comfortable learning, using, and analyzing integrated technology. There is much more to learn, but I am not as nervous about learning and staying on top of technology.