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EDLD 5364 Final Assessment

1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?

As the name of the course implies, I envisioned learning how to use technology as a teaching tool in various situations. The group scenario served as an authentic assessment of my knowledge of how to use differentiated instruction with technology integration, and the experience of professional collaboration. I relied on my seventeen years of teaching experience, information in the reading and video assignments, the UDL Lesson writing experience, and my group’s valuable experience while completing the scenario project. This was a real experience and proved to be an effective way for me to rely on what I know and the input of a group to achieve my goal of learning to use a variety of technology as teaching tools. As a result of this course, I feel prepared, as a technology leader, to assess teacher technology needs, implement a training plan, and assess the outcome of the plan in order to encourage successful technology implementation to meet teacher and student needs.

2. To the extent that you achived the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

My experience in this group scenario is relevant to my day-to-day work in the classroom and as a technology leader. I now have more resources to which I can refer for my students’ needs and for other teachers. As a special education teacher, I now have a multitude of valuable online sources and strategies to use in my classes. The Universal Design for Learning Lesson assignment forced me to evaluate how I teach all of my students as individuals, rather than teaching all of my students as classes. I currently assist other teachers with technology resources, and this course has provided me with the experience and tools to help teachers with widely varying student ability levels. While reading assignments and watching videos, I found myself thinking of ways to help my own students and other teachers. I have tweeted, and will continue to tweet, the videos and resources I have found in Edutopia and Universal Design for Learning.

3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?

The one outcome I did not achieve was the goal of communicating with my group in a capacity that would not only lead to successful completion of the project, but establish a professional collaborative community. Busy personal schedules and holidays prevented us from forming the professional relationships necessary in a true collaborative effort. While I believe we very successfully reached our goal of assessing a teacher’s needs, training the teacher to implement appropriate technology and assessing the success of the implementation, I do not believe we acted as a cohesive body of professional technology leaders. At the beginning, it seemed as if we were five individuals who had the same assignment, rather than a team who shares a common goal. By the end of the project, communication and collaboration had somewhat improved. Had the timing of this course been different, our group would have more successfully established a professional collaborative community.

4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?

I had to call upon strict time management skills to complete the assignments in EDLD 5364. Particularly during week three, I had to carefully plan daily goals and set aside more than enough time to complete each task to reach my goal. I believe this is a realistic reflection of the educational technology leader’s job so I was not discouraged by the amount of work and time involved in the course. I was discouraged by the technological difficulties I experienced when attempting to submit my assignments. On several occasions, I had to resubmit the assignments. While I was temporarily discouraged, I did resubmit and consider the problem a valuable learning experience. While I may not have the same difficulties again, I may find myself in a situation in which I can fall back on the experience to solve a related problem for myself or another teacher.

5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

EDLD 5364, Teaching with Technology, has taught me that I have untapped experience as a teacher and technology leader. I recognize that I teach in a situation that enables me to access technology other teachers would like to use, but do not have the means. While I have access to various technologies, I am not utilizing the resources I have to benefit my students. The UDL Lesson taught me to think in terms of addressing every student’s learning needs by using the best technology tool for the job. In addition, I understand that integrating technology for technology’s sake is not appropriate and I feel prepared to assist other teachers with this dilemma. I am eager to rewrite lessons using UDL and integrate appropriate technology into those lessons. After completing the group project, I am able to see the vital link between technology integration, teacher training, and individual student achievement. I am excited about helping my fellow teachers find the answers to their instructional needs.