Reflection on Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society

I have always been fairly technology savvy but did not have the time to explore some of the new items such as blogging, wikis, creating videos, podcasts etc. on my own time. This class created the environment that I needed, with just the right amount of guidance to start investigating blogging, rss streaming, wikis and podcasts. The one activity that had the largest impact on my skills was creating a wiki with others online. I had not thought of a group project online before and it really opened my eyes to fact that technology is truly not limited by physical location.

I plan to continue to expanding my knowledge of integrating technology into my classroom through a variety of methods. My first is in continuing to take courses through the Masters program. I also want to continue to follow blogs through goggle reader such as the thinking stick (Utecht, 2007). The variety of blogs often have ideas of how to use technology in the classroom, its affect on students’ achievement or current trends in technology. My last intention is to continue using the technology I learned this semester so I become proficient in it and can use it with my students.

I have two long term goals in which one of them is to learn how to integrate the smart board into the classroom. I just received a smart board and currently use it daily even if it is to explore the files so I can become familiar with it. I would like to get to the point where it is as natural to use the white board as it is the document camera currently. My second goal is to develop generic formats with technology that can be used within math regardless of the grade or concept that is being taught. For example I have thought of having the kids develop podcasts of vocabulary that they then download to their iPods to help them learn. The reason for the generic formats is that my class assignments have changed from year to year and I would like to be able to utilize the technology that I have learned without starting over each time my class changes.

This class has been challenging and very enjoyable which is what I love. I look forward to continuing the technology classes in this program and applying them to my classes.