Course Reflection

           My first course with Lamar University comes to an end and I feel like it was very beneficial. When I first started with the masters program in Educational Technology Leadership, I was not sure about the outcomes or if I would continue with the program. The first week was especially demanding and strenuous. Initially, I didn’t see the purpose in taking six self-assessments. As I continued reading and learning in the following weeks, I started to appreciate every assignment I was completing.

            In the beginning of my “5306/5311 Concepts of Educational Technology” course, I expected to study curriculum related concepts concerning technology in the field of education. These expectations got covered as well as practical knowledge regarding implementation and hands on experience with tools I will be using to inspire teachers and administration during my internship.  For instance, the “Multiple Intelligence Inventory” assessment will be an excellent tool to use with teachers and students in the beginning of the school year. The hands on projects incorporated into our weekly assignments helped me to broaden my horizon. In examining tools like wikis, blogs, and Web 2.0 elements, I experienced the full benefits of technology used in the (virtual) classroom. In this regard, I learned more than I anticipated and the outcomes were greater than what I have envisioned.

            Although I do not have my own classroom yet, I believe that my learning outcomes in this course will help me with my future career. I have discussed and shared the course content and my enthusiasm for the newest educational technology possibilities with my side mentor and staff at the school where I will be doing my internship. Everybody, including myself, is very excited about the upcoming prospects. My assistant principal and I have for example talk about technologies like wikis and the usage of cell phones as educational tools. Among other things, I will be assisting teachers to integrate technology to support learning and implement new strategies and/or ideas for the 21^st century classroom. Our district just disbursed iPads to all middle and high school students and many teachers have difficulties implementing this technology into their everyday teaching. I’m looking forward to be able to smooth the path for those teachers and students to increase learning outcomes for students.

            The internship following right after the very first course took me by surprise. I realized this in the second week of our Concepts of Educational Education course and was in a shock/ panic like stage for a few days afterwards. After all, I was planning to start the internship at the end of the masters program and not in the beginning. However, the first fear subsided after contacting my site mentor and talking with her about my upcoming internship, she was thrilled to hear that I would like to conduct my internship at her school. Now with completion of my internship plan and the principal competencies chart, I’m looking forward to this new challenge. During the internship, I’m planning to work on my leadership skills. I do not think that the course prepared me in a way that it strengthened this ability.  Looking back at my Leadership Skills Assessment, I don’t feel that the course improved any of the abilities where I am lacking, like formal pubic speaking or project budgeting. Of course, I will have the opportunity to focus and work on those skills during my internship.

            Regardless of my beginning struggle with the accelerated speed of this program, I’m looking forward with confidence toward the next classes and my internship. From the “Keirsey Temperament Sorter,” I’m aware that I’m an idealist. This means that I have high expectations concerning my future as a teacher and myself. Therefore, I can say that I did everything in my power to succeed in this course. Even if that meant to stay up late at night, ask my in-laws for help to take care of my 11 month old or eating suppers at my in-laws house. The workload was immense but still doable. What took some tolls were details within the assignments but I was pleased with the results. The feedback's (regarding the assignments) by Ms. Littrell-La Puma, the instructional associate, were very helpful. For the most part, I will have to examine my APA Publication Manual Book. I’m not proud to admit that there is still some room for improvement concerning the correct use of the APA style.

            Overall, I’m very pleased with the learning outcomes of this course. In the beginning of the course, I learned a lot about myself from the self-assessments. I now know that I’m an idealist with the ability to learn best with and by music. I’m aware of my deficiencies in leadership skills, like project planning. I also know that I would like to improve my knowledge in network and database skills. From the “Digital- Age Work and Learning,” I will need to refocus my classroom lessons and use higher order thinking, engaged learning, authentic connections, and technology within existing lesson plans. With the help of blogs, educational technology websites, and other relevant publications that I discovered on the Internet during this course, the knowledge about my inefficiencies will lead me to improve those skills in the future. I’m not a professional yet, but I feel that the course has broadened my horizon tremendously, which will enable me to succeed in my future 21^st century classroom. 

References

Adaptive technology resource center (2001/2002). Multiple intelligence inventory. Retrieved from http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/ 

Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Retrieved from http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2.aspx?partid=0

LoTi connection (2011). Loti digital-age survey. Retrieved from http://www.lqhome.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/lotilounge.woa

Mills, L. B. (2007). The next wave now: Web 2.0. The Education Digest, 73(4), 4-5. 

Scott, P., & Mouza, C. (2007). The impact of professional development on teacher learning, practice and leadership skills: A study on the integration of technology in the teaching of writing. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 37(3), 229-266.