Personal Learning Reflection

• What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?

Students learn by making connections.   The Web 2.0 philosophy is an effective way to for students to make multiple connections by not only reading information, but interacting with it.  Giving students the opportunity to respond or represent learning in multiple ways allows students to show the complex connections they have made while learning.

• How did integrating the Internet help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?

I learned more from the videos in this course than I could have learned from years worth of reading.  The opportunity to begin to use a blog also got me thinking in new ways.

• Which of the assignments that you turned in do you feel really exemplifies good teaching with technology and why?

I believe the RSS Reflection and Lab represented good teaching with technology.  First, this was a new technology for me.  Scaffolding in a virtual world can be complicated.  Meeting the needs of both beginning and advanced learners within a single assignment can be overwhelming.  By giving me specific tasks to accomplish, I built my own skill base.  I feel that this lab was particularly good because I then had to use the new skill in my everyday life.  I have often felt overwhelmed by the amount of content out there.  This lab actually filled a need for me and probably many other online learners.  This is a great example of a tool that will actually make my life easier and one that I will continue to use.

• How have you met your goals established in your Personal Growth Plan?

I am excited by what I have learned.  Before this class, I was not really part of the Web 2.0 world.  I have spent lots of time interacting with various IB blogs and am beginning to participate regularly.  I have continued to monitor the RSS reader, but need to spend more time fine tuning what I truly want to follow realistically.  Combining my interest in blogs with the RSS reader has saved time. 

• Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?

I have used Twitter regularly for about a year.  I would like to expand this type of communication into a blog.  I am still debating what kind of topics I will throw out for parents to read about.  I am also still thinking about how to manage the feedback.  I plan to continue to grow my personal learning network.  I am struggling with managing the number of people I communicate with and follow.  Once grad classes are done, I hope to have more time to focus on the PLN.  I would like to expand online collaboration to my school’s faculty.  I plan to post school documents on google docs and attempt to hold some of our book club conversations on google docs as well.  This course, combined with 811 has reinforced many things that I have been doing and opened my eyes to many new learning and teaching opportunities.