Course+Reflections+TwT

**Course Reflection**  ** 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? **

 I have been waiting for this particular course for months. It is my passion for technology and deepest conviction in its ability to promote and transform education that lead me to choose this program. So, I came in to this course hoping to achieve the following outcomes: - Design rigorous lessons using technology as a tool for teaching and learning - Implement technology strategies to solve problems in the classroom and promote student achievement - Assess student effort, growth, and achievement using technology The course outcomes extended beyond aligning with my personal outcomes, to cover research related to learning theory, collaborative problem solving, and the use of technology to communicate information in a variety of formats for diverse audiences. Every week's assignments allowed me to gain deeper knowledge of these issues, practice new skills, solve problems using technology, and reflect on my learning. Which, helped me further understand and master new teaching with technology skills and the implications of technology in the classroom. This process culminated in the final scenario-based project that I collaborated on with a great team of 4 people who contributed in helping me learn about new digital tools and resources, as well as show me how to more effectively use some of the resources that I am already familiar with.


 *  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? **

 This course did not disappoint me, and was worth the long wait. It is a project centric course that equipped students every week with new tools to utilize in order to complete the project. Since, the project is a classroom scenario, every skill and every strategy learned is relevant to the classroom. As a matter of fact, I started using some of the strategies in my own classroom as soon as week 1 of this course. According to Pitler et al, (2007), “teachers should encourage students to personalize the learning goals the teacher has identified for them”. This quote reminded me that my learning targets in the classroom could be more flexible and more effective if I involved students in personalizing their goals using the available word processing software. I took this strategy back to my classroom, and I experienced more success with students who did not try hard when we did a KWL activity on paper. Those same students were highly engaged when I presented them with the same form in digital format. Technology made the difference and gave the same old activity a new life when it addressed the affective networks of those particular students. All in all, the relevance of this course outcomes is derived from  research that has proven the effectiveness of technology in helping students make more sense of what they learn, achieve higher mastery, and raise their levels of motivation and engagement through strategies that address their recognition networks as well as their strategic and affective networks. 


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

 This is one of a few courses that I wished could have lasted longer, because I wanted to learn and practice more strategies from Pitler et al, (2007) book. I also, wanted to learn more about e-booking and differentiation. Unfortunately, due to time constraints this course has to come to an end, and I will have to carry on my learning journey equipped with the strategies, skills, and resources that I acquired in this course. Other than that, I have achieved more than the outcomes that I came into this class with. Coming out with an even stronger conviction in the vital role of technology in educating our children today and tomorrow, and a greater understanding of the importance of technology specialist on campus to lead and guide teachers in their migration from traditional classrooms to technology-rich learning environments. That said, our scenario-based project could have been improved by creating real activities on kidspiration.com. Unfortunately, the free trial offer on kidspiration.com involves giving school- specific information to gain access to the download, but I wasn't very comfortable giving that kind of information without permission from my principal who has not been available. In addition, I felt like making a 4 page e-book could have been harder for me had I chosen a secondary level grade for the project as opposed to 3rd grade which made it easier to make a relevant e-book. So, from that perspective, I still need to practice my e-booking skills that I feel are in still in their infancy stage.


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

 I was successful in completing the course assignments thanks to long hours of work and the dedication of my group members to our collaborative tasks. Every week was a challenge, especially the first two weeks, then the pacing was a lot more manageable. My team members have great work ethics, which made it easy for each one of us to complete individual tasks as well as group tasks, knowing that if one needed help, he or she could rely on other group members to provide the needed assistance. Collaborative tasks in particular, owe their success or failure to the mutual support by members of the group. As a matter of fact a group is only as strong as its weakest member. Fortunately, our group was made up of disciplined individuals who shared a common vision and a common goal which have translated into our final project published on the team's google site.


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

 I learned from this course that my passion for technology and my deep belief in its effectiveness as locomotive that can drive instruction in the classroom while keeping learning fun and relevant, are well founded, and strongly supported by research. Also, I realized my areas of opportunity in terms of technology implementation in the classroom, and I was glad to explore new dimensions of technology use that the course readings and my classmate discussion posts revealed to me. This course allowed me to examine my current level of mastery in teaching with technology, and how far I have to grow as an educator and a technology specialist to achieve my goals of supporting students and teachers in my school. I have been able, thanks to this course, to design activities that are not only objective focused, but also, strategy focused. I have developed through this course from a teacher who brings individual technology based strategies to complement classroom lesson plans, to an educator who approaches lesson planning and technology from a universal design perspective where technology use is intentional and systematic to help students learn through inquiry, collaborative projects, games and other activities that guarantee students an exciting and meaningful learning experience every time. As to leadership skills, this course strengthened my belief that strong leaders lead by example and action making everyone in the team better as a result. I followed my belief in the way I tackled every week's group project taking the lead in contributions and research to raise the bar for other team members who in turn consistently rose to the occasion and set the bar even higher pushing each other to learn more and get better at UDL lesson design as the weeks went by.  This kind of experience is valuable in assessing my ability, as a technology specialist, to work on projects with a group of diverse individuals with different skill sets and different perspectives, and be able to lead by example, utilize each members strengths and support them in the areas where they need support. To ensure the project's successful completion.