Wrapping Up the Semester and Reflecting

Boy have a had a busy semester. My calendar was crammed:

But it was a pretty good one. After tying up a couple of loose ends and completing last minute details, it is time for a break.

But now for a little reflecting...

I came into CEP 811 with some concrete goals for areas in which I wanted to grow. I wanted to learn more about mobile technologies such as cell phones. I wanted to become more creative when it came to repurposing various technologies. I wanted to create more web material for myself. And finally I wanted to get better at being a cloud computer, and facilitating cloud computing.

I accomplished some of my goals, but not all. With the help of various friends and coursework in CEP 811 and TE 831, I was able to explore mobile technologies. I created a lesson in which cell phones were the main source of response for students. One friend helped me do research using a free service, and the other bought into the idea and paid for an expanded package. What was discovered was that the $50.00 yearly fee is well worth the enhanced functionality. But I found that overall using cell phones is an engaging and earth friendly way to illicit student responses. In that sense, I was also able to accomplish my goal of being more creative in regards to repurposing technology, although it is certainly a skill I wish to enhance quite a bit moving forward. A huge area of growth for me was in terms of website creation and web site design. I have for some time been a creator of websites, but most of the material I used was borrowed, and the designs were simplistic. Through course work in CEP 811 I learned more about website design and how to create inviting web sites. I then reconfigured some existing sites, tested our other web hosting platforms, and even created a weebly for my own personal hobby of building. In regards to cloud computing, I did not make a tremendous amount of gains there, other than having worked with using off site servers to host web materials. I did however see some gains with sing web 2.0 tools and working with collaborative sites such as wikipedia. It was interesting to put myself into that realm, and my contributions felt meaningful and made me excited to be part of the process.

As I mentioned earlier, I do not feel I made great strides in cloud computing. Part of that may be because in the first half of the semester I worked a lot with cloud computer and had already made significant gains on the year. Another reason is because CEP 811 is not as involved in regards to group working, meaning that one can exist more within their own personal domain as opposed to sharing all their work and materials with others in live time. Rather, I simply made available finished products. I do not see this all together as a failure though, as it is not really an element of the course.

In the future I do wish to continue to grow as a cloud computer, and particularity as an educator on cloud computing. Clearly the biggest obstacle for me at this time is the fact that I am not presently in a classroom. That gives me valuable time to learn more about cloud computing. I also want to continue to grow and develop as a creator of web material. I have found hosting a blog and creating sites about my own interest to be an interesting study. I do not share this blog with others, but I would strongly consider making a classroom blog in the future. I also am keen on my weebly and think I may share that with friends and family. The experience actually makes me quite interested in working with students in a tech setting as well as a social studies classroom.

There are many excellent resources out there, be they through MACUL, MERLOT, or other site. Putting these resources into perspective, as well as UDL and philosophies on assistive technologies makes it near impossible for an educator to deny the benefits of integrating technology into both their creation of material and implementations of teaching. I plan to use shared resources in the future to inform my teaching on a regular basis. I think this is a practice which can keep teachers grounded and give new perspectives. As far as integrating technology into instruction itself, I want to keep taking advantage of the resources that are provided in the classroom, utilize the technologies students have such as cell phones, and adapt other technologies to also allow their use in the classroom.

The frame works for which I have evaluated my learning, and for which I will continue to evaluate my technology use and teaching is TPACK framework and UDL. It is important to consider the major components of my teaching (pedagogy, content and technology) while also keeping in mind the functionality and accessibility of my teaching through UDL.


I am proud of my progress over the course of the semester, feel I have made progress, and look forward to refining what skills I have, and conquering and adopting those which I have yet to tackle.