Final Post

21st Century Learners 

Critical Thinking, Cooperation, Communication, Creativity

Technology Integration II

Coming into the course I already had an understanding of several of the tech topics we covered. This course gave me the opportunity to practice and improve upon these tech skills and concepts. TPACK, NETS, Web 2.0, Google products were areas of tech which I was already familiar with.

Creating an infographic at the start of the course was something completely new for me, and the information about tech use by generation was very useful. Considering the reasons for motivations was an area which was interesting and if not new, help to remind me of why it is difficult to integrate technology. Learning about virtual libraries was a completely new for me, having not really understood them before.

Creating a technology budget using different tech tools was completely eye opening, I understand how BYOD is so attractive to educational institutions. Creating lesson plans for before technology and then after integration with technology helped me to see how challenging it can be to integrate technology across the curriculum. Reviewing technology policies and creating one of my own felt like we are on the edge of a sea change around this.

I loved creating a technology training schedule because for most of my career, training has be a forced march, and this exercise allowed me to have a chance to experience planning a technology training (Meltzer, 2012).

Web 2.0 tools are familiar to me, but there are always new ones coming, and different ways to integrate them into the classroom. Learning more about Blooms New Taxonomy was fantastic! Aligning Ipad apps to the different levels was particularly of interest to me (Marzano, 2007).

Continuing to develop my technology craft is paramount for my career. Really for my pedagogy, and for my student’s experience. Teaching 21^st century skills to 21^st learners is where schools have to be. Learning more in the area of technology integration has always been up to me. Taking a leadership role in my district is the next step. Leadership in a more formal way. I will be giving my voice to the administration in terms of what professional development need to be. This course has given me the foundation to understand what really needs to be done for professional development to be successful.  

Marzano, R. J., & Kendall, J. S. (2007). The new taxonomy of educational objectives (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Meltzer, Sarah T. Step-by-step Professional Development in Technology. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education, 2012. Print.