Bob Carl’s Personal Learning Reflection

As someone who always thought of himself as a “technology geek”, I am overwhelmed at what I learned in CEP 810 during these last two months.  I do know a lot about technology, but I never really ventured into Web 2.0 applications in the past.  What a rush to be able to learn so much about Web 2.0 in such a short period of time!  There were times that I was totally overwhelmed and wanted to give up – and that is not like me!  I realize that part of this anxiety was caused by recovering from a recent house fire and theft, building a new home, starting a new job, and the never ending growing pains of raising two small children; but I had to push forward with graduate credits to be able to renew my teaching certification next June.

I have had a web presence in my own classroom over the years, but it is exciting to share the newer technology available – and at mostly zero cost!  I am very excited to learn more and to help implement many of these technologies into my wife’s classroom first, then into my building where I recently started as the Technology Integration Assistant.

Effective teaching strategies require adapting lessons to individual student learning styles.  Technology can be a great asset in this endeavor since many of these web tools available at little or no cost can cater to these individualized needs.  Audio and video are two of the major technology tools that can help students succeed!

Web 2.0 tools are so easy to use, that integrating lesson plans with them is a “no-brainer”.  Collaboration is a huge asset from integrating the internet into the lessons.  Collaboration helps both the educators share ideas, and also helps students learn group collaboration skills while helping each other learn the lesson.  The internet and Web 2.0 tools greatly enhance this collaboration.

One of my favorite tools I learned about is Twitter!  Twitter is fast and easy to use and can help any educator keep students, parents, and other assisting educators updated to class activities, due dates, etc.  I have been recommending Twitter to all colleagues.

I believe I am doing well at achieving my goals established in my personal growth plan.  I am trying to learn a new technology a week and share at least one a week with staff.  So far, I have been successful!  I hope I can keep this pace!

One new goal I have is to set up some of these technologies for my wife’s classroom.  This will give me an opportunity to have real experiences and also have concrete examples to show my staff how they work.  We are moving into our new home the same time this class ends, so I will hopefully now have some time to dedicate to accomplishing these goals!