On my first day of teaching, it became blatantly obvious to me how integral technology has become in school. I was immediately given a crash course in how to operate the school’s website, Echo. The gist of the session was that lessons are to be created and accessible via the website. Students would then complete the assignment online, and submit their work back to Echo, where I would score and publish my students’ grades. It was a lot to absorb in my first 30 minutes of being a teacher.
This is not imply that I am technologically insecure. I like to think I grew up within the cusp of 21st century technology entering the classroom. I remember when my elementary school received a single Apple computer per classroom and everyone being very excited. In middle school, we were required to take typing as a class. In high school, while we completed practically all of our work offline, we were offered computers as a class. When I started college I realized that while I thought I was computer savvy, I realized how little professional experience I had with technology. Thus, my 3 years of teaching has provided me with both a need to improve as well as a perfect environment to do so. Working at a PBL school that emphasises digital learning, I feel increasing supported on my journey to grow with technology. A regular day for me involves accessing Echo, creating multiple lessons, each complete with hyperlinks to an array of assignments and resources all created on Google docs. I use a digital projector to present my lessons, as well as a document camera. While I have a whiteboard in my classroom, I have had opportunities to work with Smartboards. Most of all, I have become very familiar with Gmail and all of its many applications such as Docs, Drive, Forms, etc. Since taking this course, I have a broader perspective on the application of the many digital resources that are out there. For instance, I have become very interested in the notion of the Flipped Classroom as well as Challenge Based Learning. While my school is a fully committed to Project Based Learning, I see the potential for me to create a library of digital resources and activities for my students to complete as homework and allow us to utilize class time for more engaging and hands on activities. This course has also opened my eyes to the means necessary to accomplish such as task. One resource that I have quickly adapted to is Screen-o-matic. This is a resource that allows the user to record themselves and their computer desktop in order to create videos. I have already started to use this resource and even teaching my students how to use it as well. It will make my job easier as I only need to record a lesson once, and then all my students can watch and rewatch for years to come. Screencasting is just one of the many new resources and concepts I have gained from this semester. I look forward to implementing many new methods in my future teaching. I can already tell that my students next year will have a significantly different experience than my current students and for the better.
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AuthorThe best teachers never cease to be students. Archives
December 2017
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