Tech Reflections

Earlier in the semester we wrote a set of guidelines for utilizing technology in our classroom. I wrote a set of questions that I go by before I embark on a new technology adventure.

Do I need Professional Development to use this equipment?
Can I teach myself how to use the equipment?
Will the number of preps for the courses that I am teaching decrease my ability to properly utilize the new technology?
How many of my students will be able to utilize the new technology or software?
How expensive is the technology? Will my administrator blow his or her wig when I make the sales pitch?
How user friendly is the software?
How user friendly is the manufacturer of the technology or software?
Do I have time to integrate the technology or software into my existing curriculum?
Will the new technology or software enhance my students learning, or is it just the bells and whistles version of what I am already doing?
Will the technology help to prepare my students for their future in the workplace or at the collegiate level?

I cannot say that I changed my questions during this course, in fact I utilized these same questions when I pondered what project I could do that would be practical for usage in my class room. I debated about making separate blogs for each of my courses, but I threw that idea out as I felt that I could not keep up with all the blogs and my teaching assignment. I tried to design a classroom blog that I would use and that I could build upon as my confidence and technology strength improved through the usage of this blog. I also designed the blog to be appealing to my students and for their first look at a poster on glogster was aesthetically appealing, yet simple enough for them to be able to feel they could learn to design their own posters. I plan to use these posters in all of my classes for presentations, rather than the tagboard that I have always used in years back.
Overall, I feel that technology is a wonderful tool and it can be as overwhelming as you allow it to be. It is important for me to remember that I need to allow myself time to figure out the bells and whistles when I attain a certain level of confidence with the particular type of technology. I still do not know why I cannot get the links on the blog posts to show up correctly.( I was only successful once. :)) I suspect that there is something blocking my view because the link code shows up in my original posts. I am hoping someone at school, possibly one of my students will be able to figure that one out.
I am looking forward to getting approval from my administration to use the blog that I designed for the class. I am not sure what kind of consent form I will need, I am hoping that the tech guidelines that the kids have to sign at the beginning of the year will cover my blog posts.
As a parting note, I am very glad that I took this course, even though it was a very humbling experience; it was also took me on a huge rollar coaster ride of a learning curve. :) Good bye for now. Cynthia