Final Blog – Personal Reflection
What did I learn about Ed-tech this semester and why it is important going forward in my teaching journey?
This semester allowed for several opportunities to experience tech that I had not used in the past, and I have been exposed to a lot of technology in my educational journey thus far! Before I entered the Education program, I was in Early Learning, and there is a lot of chance to work with apps and technology in pre-school classrooms. While I cannot say that all the technology that was presented to our cohort would be something that I would seek to add to my classroom right away, I appreciate having the first hand knowledge of so many different apps, and online resources that I am sure will be beneficial in the future.
I do feel that some of the apps and programs that were presented were more orientated towards Elementary students, and so as someone training to be a Secondary teacher, that presents as a challenge, how do I differentiate the resources presented in the best way for my older learners? Or, is there an equivalent program or app that is geared more towards older students that I could access instead? However, being given the chance to play with FreshGrade, Spinndle, Pic Collage and Skitch means that I now have new skills to take into my classroom in the future and that is awesome!
During this course and semester, I learned that EdTech is adaptive and can be changed and adjusted to meet the needs of the learners in your class as needed. I learned that technology is always changing and growing and there will be a program created for anything you imagine and if it hasn’t been created yet, it will be soon.
I learned that technology helps to make learning accessible to a wider variety of learners, by reimagining the way in which assignments are done, marked and presented. Being able to take a picture of your work and then submitting it electronically helps to support those students who are drawn in by technology who might struggle without the support. I for one love the idea of being able to submit work in a way that supports both the learners and the teacher. Technology lends itself to so many different variations in terms of assignments and the way that they are completed and or submitted which gives students voice and choice. They can decide what works for them and as a student this makes me excited, because I know when I have the choice to do things in a way that works for me, I become much more engaged. I want to share what I am doing and what I am learning because it speaks to me or because it is my ideas and that is so powerful.
I think the most important thing that I have learned is that technology is all around us within the classroom and the world in general, what matters is what we do with it. Having the most advanced EdTech is of little value if not used in a manner that is intentional and supports all of the learners who are accessing it.