As I began this course I had no idea what to expect, I obviously assumed that I would learn what it means to teach technology, but I have to confess I had no idea of the complexity of the matter. More so, this was my first time enrolling on an online-based formal course and even though I had had classes online before, I knew this would be different. Put those things together and you get a blast! In all the meanings of the word, I was blown out by the amount of information, ended up exhausted but gained a lot more than I had imagined possible and thoroughly enjoyed the ride!
If my expectation was to end the course having a better understanding of what Educational Technology implied... boy, was I off track? I never imagined this to be such an eye-opener! There are so many lines of thinking, issues to take into consideration and roadblocks in the implementation of technology that I had never thought of. My vision was narrowed by my confidence in my technological skills. Now I feel I have a long way to go before I can truly say I am a “techie”, and I see that as challenge to keep learning and discovering all the wonders of this technological era we live in.
Since the outcome of this course surpassed my expectations to no end, I believe what needs to change now is the relevancy of my work. It is of upmost importance that all we learned is implemented in our classrooms, in our campuses and in all other educational areas. The world is catching up and we are now challenged to keep up!
I have a greater understanding of where our educational system is heading, or where should it aim to go. It is my goal now to help my peers realize how our world has changed, and how we have to “keep moving to go find our cheese”.
I would only wish we had more time to deepen our knowledge of concepts and tools for educational technology. I feel 5 weeks was not enough. Even though I was able to complete all my assignments pretty much on time, I think there were moments were I wished I had two weeks to work on a specific assignment. If one thing was discouraging it was the amount of work for the amount of completion time. Some activities were easy and fun and I wanted to stay working on them, others were so difficult my brain just needed more time. Either way, time was a constriction. But we prevailed!
I foolishly started the course thinking I knew what all that was about, just to realize by the end of the first week that I knew very little. There was so much to be learned and so many experiences to be had, that now I feel I don’t want to stop. I see that my way of looking at technology has changed, I am now more careful about all the details implied in the use of technology in the school setting, like copy right laws or cyber safety, or even administrative decisions that shape the course of our digital path. I guess I was a user, but not a teacher, and definitely a leader to friends, but not to the community at large. I hope all this new knowledge helps me change my attitude towards the implementation and use of technology in the classroom and my approach when helping others obtain knowledge.
It was a great adventure and I enjoyed it to the max!
Reference:
Johnson, Spencer. Who moved my cheese?: an a-mazing way to deal with change in your
work and in your life. Random House Business Books, 2002. Print.
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