This post is a reflection on what I have learned in MSU's technology class CEP 810.
The best thing for me during this class was that it gave me the time and space to look at how I am teaching with technology and reflect on where I have been and where I am going. Often I find myself moving forward at great speeds, treading water and galloping through units of teaching. The reflection that this class gave me allowed me to see what is working in my classroom and what I am not doing to the best of my ability. It also gave me so very many excellent examples and ideas from my peers as to exemplar teaching and lessons. Ben Bailey sent me a copy of his Google doc entitles Break Them In. I spent hours thinking up great projects with his list of ideas- priceless!!
I have a real love/hate relationship with the internet. My husband says I am addicted to Facebook which makes me feel like a 16 year old... This class made me join Twitter and that sure took me out of my comfort zone. For some odd reason I found myself making fun of Twitter without really knowing what it really is. Now that I know what a flexible tool it is, I am fully impressed (although officially not addicted). I enjoyed how the class made me look at different ways of filtering information through the internet, I tried so many incredible forums, feeds, social networking sites and collaborative sites. I have found several where I was very comfortable (Google Reader) and a few that push me to think outside of the box (Twitter).
Our SIG presentation was not only a lesson in podcasting but a lesson in collaboration with unseen people. At first I was a little frustrated by the communication lines but our group soon embraced Google Docs and we started to really fly! The SIG proposal was decided while I was sleeping and I have to say at first I was frustrated that podcasting was chosen. I had no interested it podcasting. I am a gamer, a video expert, a lover of all things that move fast. But it gave me a chance to learn, not to be the expert, to be the learner. And I learned, played with podcasts, attempting to embed things I never knew existed and had a great time learning from a group of experts. This group project exemplified good teaching, excellent integration and incredible collaboration. In this lesson I was able to partially meet one of my goals, that of using collaboration tools effectively. This assignment put me on the side of the collaborator, not just the assigner of work. Now that I see that side and have experienced a few of the frustrations and successes of working in a group I am better able to teach digital collaboration.
New goals are hard for me at this time of year. We are taking things off the walls, looking towards summer, saying goodbye to friends and students.... But I will keep going, keep improving, keep looking for new ways to express myself in technology and keep teaching and inspiring the best I can.
