Reflection of EDU 314

This class was really interesting.  We covered some of the most used programs that are used in any field that requires a computer and we covered some programs that I have personally never heard of.  All of the things taught and learned within this class are useful not only in the field of education but also many other fields.  Computer and technical skills are becoming more and more demanding in all types of jobs.  For instance I was in the grocery store the other day and just happened to notice the cash register, these new cash registers are now actual computers with keyboards and touch screens!  Computer competence is a must in todays society. 

I personally am very familiar with computers and most of the programs that we used in this course.  The one program that I was unfamiliar with was actually one of my favorites to work with.  The project of digital photo story telling was  fun and interesting.  The program was very easy to navigate  through and the end project looks very professional.  PhotoStory 3 was the only program that I did not have a prior knowledge of.   I am sorry to say this, but I did not really gain much from this course, as I have had experience with all of the other programs we used other than photo story.  I might have picked up a new trick or two but this course really just covers the basics of what computers are actually capable of doing.

The whole frustration thing with technology is a given.  Technology is always going to have its problems.  These problems alwasy seem to come at the worst possible time as we are going through school and trying to complete projects.  Luckily for me, I did not run into any frustrations with this course or any complications with the programs being used.  I was able to help some other students out with their problems. There was actually one small  problem that I had, and that was that I could not get one link to work properly.  I was able to fix this problem myself after working around with it for a couple of minutes. 

In working with technology and particularly computers, it is hard to do group work.  Each group member is getting information from a different computer and then trying to get all of the information together on to one computer.  This is a hassle.  When it comes to computer work, I would prefer to work by myself.  This way, I am responsible for anything that happens and there is that much less of a chance of information getting lost in transition from one person to another.  I do believe that group work can be a great thing though.  I just have had experiences where technology and group work leads to more problems than needs to be. 

Group work is great for sharing and expanding ideas.  I am a firm believer in the idea of students learn best from other students.  If I am asking students to work in groups and they decide to do a power point presentation for example.  I would have concern on the fact that 1 student from the group may do more than their fair share of work, because they are better with power point, or they have more time to work on it.  If I were to do a group project like this, I would have each student sign in on the computer and have them write me their contributions to the group.  This I believe is the only fair way to do this type of work.  I also like the idea of students grading each other, as long as they are honest.  If one student feels like they did more work than the others, than on the next project, they are less likely to partner with the same group.  This would give me some evidence that they did not work well with the past group.

To sum this up, technology is not going to stop, or slow down any time soon.  We as teachers need to make sure that we are capable and able to demonstrate competency in this area.  If we are able to teach with technology, our students will be more likely to use technology to do their home work, or create presenations.  This should be a goal for us as educators, to promote going beyond what is expected.  This is one of the ideas that I have taken away from this class.  The promotion of technology is very important, and that technology is a very important part of our lives.

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Final Reflection

After each semester, I feel that I am becoming more prepared to take on the career of education.  There are no incidents that really stick out to me for this past semester.  This was my only education course.  My last semester on the other hand, there were many things that stood out to me to make me think that I am growing and evolving in my teaching habits.  My one moment that seems to stick out for me from last semester happened during a lesson plan share.  After creating a lesson plan we would get in front of the class and share our lesson and tell why and how we would do different things.  The professor and the class just really seemed to be engaged and after class, I had recieved many compliments on how interesting and creative the lesson was.  From that point on my lesson plans kept getting better and more interesting.