Final Reflections on EDU 314
This computer class has been all
together eye opening and worthwhile. I learned so many things that I
can use in the classroom, and I have taken much from this course in
terms of understanding computers. At the beginning of the semester, a
computer link was a mystery to me; however, I now have the power to
actually make an educational web page in which all of my students can
learn from.
I think I have
grown a lot in this course. I barely knew what to do with computers
before! I liked exploring Microsoft Word 2007, but I wanted to know
what more was in a computer, what else you could do with one in order
to improve the lives of others through teaching. I learned how to make
links, publish a webpage, put word documents as well as other documents
on a webpage for all to see, publish a digital photo story that I made
myself, make a website for a pretend school, make puzzles, even make a
print shot and establish it as a link on my website! I have learned so
much in so little time, and I believe I have grown professionally
because of all my new learned skills, and am now a technology savvy
prospective educator. I am not completely comfortable with NVU, the
technology used in this course, but for the most part, I am extremely
comfortable in the making of websites and all the rest of the
objectives we have accomplished. I am not really comfortable with the
html codes and the java encryptions; however, I am not a professional
web site designer! I would really like to know how these codes work,
but I know that I have not mastered them.
I believe that
every bit of information that was learned in this course was very
important; I can further enrich the learning of my future students in
an intense way. Through this course I have acquired a general
understanding of web pages and how they work, but I have also done many
projects, which I now know how to do, and I will forever use my new
technological skills for the betterment of my student’s learning.
The one thing that
I was frustrated with was the links! I had the hardest time with the
pretend school website. It takes a lot of time to go through each link
on every page! When you finally finish the whole website, and you check
the links again, you think that all the links work. However, when you
actually check them again, they do not, and now you have to check it
all over again! That increased my level of stress a little bit, but
once I mastered the links, everything was fine. My exciting experience
was making the digital photo story. That was my favorite thing,
something I am very proud of. I feel like I have directed my own film!
I like both
learning by myself, and in a team. I think there are valuable skills to
be learned in both instances, and I think that I will definitely use
the skills that I have acquired in this class, both working alone, and
in pairs, throughout my personal life and professional career. I worked
with Lauren Rich for my school website; however, I worked by myself for
all other projects. I believe that I make myself more accountable this
way, and achieve intrinsic motivation through this manner. Working in
groups is powerful because you share your intelligence and knowhow with
another person, and vice versa. By sharing our knowledge base, it is
easy to make a project not only high quality, but meaningful in every
way. I exchanged ideas with others in this course through discussion of
the qualifications of the course material, and by helping others.
I believe that
every one of these projects can be used to help the children that we
will teach to succeed! Group work is always successful because it
fosters a sense of community in the classroom through cooperative
learning, which is working together as a group towards a common goal,
and in this case, our goal was to complete the qualifications of our
e-portfolio. I believe that if everyone just listened and waited to
speak their mind until after their team mates were done talking; it
would make a world of difference. If you listen, and I mean really
listen and understand the problem, you will always be able to find a
great solution.
I think that if you
really wanted all the students to accomplish a goal of one project in
every area of computer technology such as web design, power point
presentations, and the like, then you would have to set up either
stations, or have a certain amount of time in each day dedicated to
teaching technology and useful technology skills to your students that
they will need. Everyone will have an individual grade, but part of
their grade will be how well they worked together as a team as well.
Every project in
this computer class is something that I can teach to and share with my
future students. We as teachers should be a very important resource
that children actively use to build upon their learning through real
life experiences. Children were, are, and will always be totally
diverse, each one matchless in their personality and learning
capacities. I have learned that education has certainly changed
positively over the course of history. Throughout my college career, I
have realized that I am a strong advocate for children’s rights,
and that I will use the best of my abilities to enhance
children’s educational experiences, but also their lives as a
whole.
At first,
education was seen as an obligatory practice; with teachers at the
center of the learning experience for children. As a result, most
historic teaching practices were ordinarily boring; and also
ineffective for most children, simply because they were not
developmentally appropriate. Modern thought has moved away from that
centrist theory, advancing towards more developmentally suitable ideas.
The child is now the center of the learning experience, and we as
teachers build upon their previous knowledge through active learning!
It is a wonderful goal of mine to enhance the lives of my students
through computers and technology, and to greatly enrich their learning
experiences through this awesome means of communication.