Danielle

Danielle

Final Reflection: Technology for Learners. At the beginning of the semester I was quiet anxious to see how I would be able to incorporate technology into my classroom and to learn more about the digital world. To be honest I had never even heard to digital citizenship and since I have now been more aware of the current issues and trends in the digital world I notice it everywhere! I was ignorant to the digital world and I have come to realize as an educator this is unacceptable. I was also very curious at the beginning of the semester to learn how I would personally use technology while teaching math. Besides using the smart board I would not use technology frequently in the classroom. I will admit the first class we had I left pretty scared. I was thinking I don’t want a twitter or a blog, who needs this? One of the most fascinating ways of collaborating come to find out is through twitter. When Maryalice came in to talk about twitter I left with a whole new perspective on twitter not just the thoughts I had about it being just like facebook or anything other social network. This summer when I have more time on my hands, I plan on exploring and making a twitter account, it doesn’t seem so scaring anymore. I was also hesitant to create a blog and especially as a first year teacher in a private school to get permission and ask. Not only did I have to get permission I had to write and modify a contract for the students and the parents to sign before getting started. Creating a blog seemed completely out of reach and out of my element but it came together. The students are enjoying the blog I found this very helpful to continue learning at home. Whether the students are continuing to read about what topic we covered in class or they play a math game, either way it is a win-win situation. I was very impressed with my students and their use on the blog; this has taught me many things. The students are eager to learn and explore new technology and it keeps them engaged. I was astonished with the creativity the students had while on the blog. The students are the ones that found out they can create their own page on the blog too! Learning about digital citizenship over the course of the semester made me realize how important to it is to educate our students on this topic. Not only about the benefits but also about the dangers and there are way more dangers using technology than I first suspected. Learning about the nine elements of digital citizenship made me compelled to inform my students of this. They are freshman in high school, if they do not know or learn this information now when will they? I felt it was my duty to educate them on the topic to the best of my ability. Over the course of the blog and the semester my students have learned as much as I have if not more about being an appropriate digital citizen. Writing this and looking back at the beginning of the semester I thought I knew about technology, I was wrong, I have learned so many new things this semester. Assistive technology is a topic I have never even heard of. Going to NEAT was in particular my favorite class of the semester. I never would have though a pen grip on a pen could make a difference to a student or was even considered assistive technology. Being able to incorporate different forms of technology in my classroom has improved to a great extent. I have used livebinders, blogs, wordle, taxgedo, prezi, this week in rap (which my students loved), templates for power point included jeopardy, smart exchange and a few more. I am amazed by how user friendly most of the applications or websites are and how much my students and I benefit from them. Overall this has been a class where I can use what I am learning in the classroom in my own class room and actually applying what I am learning in an actual setting. This has been a great experience and I feel I am a better educator. Thank you for all your encouragement, ideas, and help along the way.