I was
very nervous at the beginning of this class because I am not very creative and
I am easily frustrated with technology.
I felt these constraints would work against me and I would be terribly
unsuccessful. However, each week I
learned a new skill or about a concept, including the C.R.A.P. model, personal
branding, Bloom’s digital taxonomy, and animation, which made designing the
group website and completing this class a little less stressful. Using the basic design principals of C.R.A.P.
was a great starting point because it provided a creative outline for me and
helped me make improvements along the way.
I am already applying those principles when creating things for my
school, such as flyers and posters. I
now have a better understanding of and relationship with technology and I am
excited about using it to enhance and improve my instruction.
I was responsible for completing the Cyber Ethics page
for the group’s website. I started by
researching copyright laws and Internet safety and found a wealth of resources
for both parents and educators. Once I
decided on my resources, it was much easier to design my page using the
C.R.A.P. model. As I worked, I checked
the progress of my fellow members and made adjustments to my page to make the
entire website align with the principles of C.R.A.P. My group members and I communicated mostly
through email to decide who would complete each page and get feedback and
advice from each other. They were very
honest, supportive, and helpful throughout the project and I was satisfied with
the final product. However, I think it would have been much better if we had
worked more collaboratively on the home page to get a central design and then
worked on our individual pages.
Honestly, I was unsure how this class was going to prepare me to be an effective
educational leader. However, the weekly
assignments, readings, and videos have given me many tools that will help me
lead others. I am more comfortable with
technology and have already started using it more in my instruction. I learned that trying new things and taking
risks can help me grow and will encourage others to do the same. I experienced how the success of a group
project is directly related to how the group members collaborate and
communicate with each other. I have also
experienced the power of reflection and how it can be beneficial to teachers
and students. “The most powerful learning often
happens when students self-monitor, or reflect.” (Gerstein,
2011). I agree with this statement and
plan to share this with my teachers to get them motivated to use reflection
more regularly.
These are important skills that most of my students
(and sadly some teachers) do not practice enough but will need to be successful
life-long learners. My challenge will be
to expose my teachers and students to more group projects and reflection
situations so they can develop these skills.
Every teacher on my campus has a website, but most
teachers use them for communication with parents and not instructionally. I think teachers are missing out on a simple
way to increase student engagement and reflective practices by not using their
websites with their students. Barrett
(2005) suggests many classroom uses of websites from assessment to reflection
for students of all ages. Teachers could
also use the websites to differentiate instruction for all of the levels of
learners in their classes. Since
technology is and will continue to be a huge part of our students’ lives, I
feel that teachers need to start implementing at least a few of these ideas in
their classrooms.
Barrett,
H., (2005). The reflect initiative. Researching electronic portfolios and
learning engagement, collaboration, through technology. Retrieved 02/16/2014, from
http://electronicportfolios.org/reflect/whitepaper.pdf
Gerstein, J. (2011, August 16). Where is reflection in the
learning process? Retrieved 02/16/ 2014, from User Generated Education: http://www.usergeneratededucation.wordpress.
Williams,
R. (2008). The Non-Designer’s Design Book. (Overview PPT) Third edition.
