This course provided me with many takeaways for my career. The first takeaway is that there are many ways to integrate technology in the classroom. This can be done with lessons, assessments, and research. As technology evolves, it is crucial to have students become more comfortable with technology. The next takeaway is that technology is a great way for students to collaborate. Collaboration is a huge trait for students to have and there are so many ways to use collaboration with technology. Students can do projects and even conduct research together while using technology. The next takeaway is that technology can be a great a way to assess students. Students can be engaged with many games while also assessing their knowledge. I feel as if many people believe technology is a bad thing for education but I believe it is a great tool to incorporate for students.
There were many great assignments during this course. I esepcially enjoyed learning about assessment tools as my students loving playing new games to assess their knowledge. My favorite assignment was the podcast/ audio recording tool. I have already started using this in my classroom. Many of my students are on low reading levels and there is not enough time to read aloud to every student for every assignment. I have started uploading my reading aloud texts for students to listen to as they work on independent work. This allows me to be able to help more students as I do not have to spend as much time helping students read. This assignment truly provided me with such a useful strategy for my classroom. I also enjoyed getting to read aloud the story. My students, also think it is funny getting to hear my voice read aloud texts for them. I thought it was really special to be able to see something I learned in your class being used to help my students. This has really been a great tool in my class so this by far became my favorite lesson. I also enjoyed getting to learn about AVL. This is such an awesome tool and I cannot wait to incorporate it in my classroom.
The first way I plan to incorporate a tool that I have not done prior is blog posts. There are many times we do discussions but I feel as if my students would enjoy making blogs. It would be a fantastic way to let my students create and design their blogs however they want. It would also be a great way for them to learn how to use more technology and work on their typing skills. I will also have students reply to each other in the comments. My students love using social media and this could provide them with the feeling of a social media platform by being able to like and comment on each other’s posts. I also plan to incorporate the google sites tool. My students have chrome books and it is easier for us to stick with google platforms. I had never heard of the google sites tool before this course and I really enjoyed the layout of it. I think my students would enjoy exploring it and figuring out how it works. I would then have students collaborate on a research project together and use the google sites platform. The students could be creative and also work together on a project. This would be something different for my students than just using google slides and provide them with more opportunities and experiences.
Overall, I have really enjoyed this class. I have gained so much information on technology and tools that I never knew before. I also learned so much about tools I have already used. This tool has really benefited me as a teacher and has provided me with so many ideas for my lessons. It is so great that I have already been able to see the tools I have learned in this class be used. I have also already used the assessment tools that I created for this class with my students. This class has truly made me a better educator. I am able to engage my students with more new and fun tools to change typical lessons into more engaging and collaborative ones. There are so many ways to integrate technology in the classroom. I am so glad that I have been provided with new strategies to implement. I feel as if this course has not only benefited me but also my students. I cannot wait to see how my students now grow with their knowledge of technology.
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