This is the first course where I had an opportunity to
improve my grades after the initial submission. In addition, the professor had
more of a moderator role, offering the different learners in the course to
assess their own understanding through multiple means. Despite not taking full advantage of the
opportunities of improvement (due to my own laziness), I know and truly
appreciate the value of the process. Working on the assignments on continuous
bases required me to evaluate the progress of my development. Several
assignments required resubmission, proving I was not putting my best foot
forward. These resubmissions made me
“face the music”, and evaluate my thought process behind the concept.
Now, I know to
productively provide feedback to encourage my students, peers, or
subordinates I have to making sure the task they are pursuing include active,
constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative activities. Supporting
this process with the use of technology will require students, peers, or
subordinates to actively think about the information, make good choices, and
execute the task on their own rather than in a typical in teacher led activity.
As this course comes to a close I will carry several things
in the classroom. First, I will use technology to improve my writing
skills. The creation of concept maps is
a gem I do not use often. When I am working on an assignment, I will admit
there is little preparation. I created a concept map on a few times and noticed
not only were my assignments flowing better, but my grades improved. Secondly,
this course has motivated me to personalize learning activities to address
students and their diverse learning styles. I believe learning goals should be
the same for all students. However, students’ progress through the material at
different speeds according to their learning needs. Some students might take
longer to progress through a given topic, and I am not going hold this against
them. Instead, I will search and find tools to support their development.
Lastly, I will use technology to build collaboration among students. My
favorite part of the course was interacting with my classmates. Seeing their
work often times sparked an idea in my head, or helped me when I was lost during
the process. I was also introduced to people in various areas of education. As
I did, students working together will learn from one another and extend their
interaction and learning outside of classroom. When properly applied, I know
technology can eliminate hurdles, such as work schedules and self-esteem, to
stimulate collaboration.
