Post 6: My A-Ha Moment!
With this being my last technology class of my Master’s Program, I’m going to apply my A-Ha moment not only to this particular class, but to all my technology classes as a whole. I have discovered that technology is not just another “hoop” for us teachers to jump through and try, but it is a gift to truly enhance our students learning. Starting off in my technology classes, I looked at it as just one more thing to incorporate in my classroom. New applications and tools scared me, and I felt like I didn’t have the time to create all these new activities for my students using something they (and I) were not familiar with. But, as I have gone through these classes, specifically this final class and ReDesigning my instruction, I have seen just how much technology allows for learning opportunities for my students. For example, as I was ReDesigning my unit I looked at ways that allowed more student independence through technology by allowing them the choice in how they wanted to obtain the information and they will also have the choice in how they want to present information to their classmates. At the beginning of this “technology journey” for me, I didn’t give my students enough credit. I thought that teaching them one more tool would do nothing but distract them and I would be troubleshooting more than exploring, but I WAS WRONG. Does student us of technology have it’s challenges, of course.. but so does the Teacher’s Lounge copy machine. There will always be challenges, but I truly feel that incorporating technology is far more a positive than a negative. I feel that through this crazy year that we have endured, I have also gained so much. I have learned that the unknown is scary, but rewarding. That not all technology tools for students need to be super creative in order for them to gain a lot out of it. And most of all, I learned that students + technology = a whole lot of positive learning!