EDU 585- Week 1 Reflection

Week 1 Reflection

The first week of EDU 585 sure did sneak up on me quickly! Typically before a new class starts, I get a slight case of nervousness, as I do not know what to expect. A student in a past class of mine did tell me this class flows right along and the instructor is very understanding, so that helped to know going into it. However, I can tell you that I was not thrilled when I learned each class will be a weekly 3+ hour video chat style class. Video chat anything is not my favorite at all. I do not like to use FaceTime even with family or friends, and was not comfortable going into a new class where I do not know anybody, and having to be on video. It was reassuring knowing that we do have the option to not have our face on screen all of the time. Impersonal, I know, but more comfortable, yes!

When I initially think of educational technology, one immediate thing that pops into mind are the potential frustrations of learning curves, for both the teachers and students. Learning new technologies can be a hard process initially. Many times, it seems it is the norm to have frustrations while learning new technologies. 

Another thing that comes to mind when I think of educational technologies is how they can serve as additional tools to help teach a unit. They break down the monotony out of both teaching and learning a unit. As an elementary school instructional assistant, I have worked in many classrooms. In most grades, I do recall seeing the use of educational technology during math stations. During math stations on a particular unit, students will rotate from station to station, participating in different activities or assignments that help to teach them that math unit. There could be a worksheet station, a game station, a teacher station, and an iPad station. All of the stations are related and teach the same concepts, but just in different forms. It's great!

I also appreciate how educational technology can be used as a form of assistive technology, and adaptive technology. This can be helpful for students with certain learning needs or even behavioral needs. Learning can be tailored and individualized on technology (such as iPads), and students of varying levels can still work side by side. 

One point that was made during our first EDU 585 class was that educational technologies MUST be driven by the instructional goal, and the technology is used to enhance that goal (and not driven by the technology alone). New technology can be very exciting, but as exciting it may be, it can be useless if that technology is not driven and influenced primarily by the educational goals and standards.

One thing I was wondering after our class was whether or not we would be required to have access to students and to have interactions with them while using educational technologies. I was given the response that we are not required to, but of course it could always help. I am not too worried about this. as I do already work in an elementary school. This year it is with kindergartners, so I am unsure yet of how much technology they use/know/will learn.

As far as setting up the blog, it was pretty simple. I just followed along and paused it when I was working on a next step. Initially, I started off a little worried, as I did not see Blogger in my Google apps like the tutorial states, but I was able to go right to the website itself. I was also a little distracted while watching the instructional video, because the whole time in the back of my head I was trying to figure out exactly what we were building the blog to talk about. I wasn't sure if we were to base it around one type of educational technology, or if we were to blog about our interactions and experiences using educational technology with students, or if we were to create our own idea of an educational technology. I did get clarification that it is mainly for reflecting on our previous class, reading from that week, etc. 

I look forward to gaining more knowledge on various types of educational technologies, and how I will be able to use them to help me with my instruction in my future classroom (of hopefully 2nd or 3rd graders)!

I am still in the midst of going through the instructional video, so I am hoping I will finish this correctly, and that I have met all of the requirements for this assignment!