Final Project Reflection: E Portfolio

Click here to access my Electronic Portfolio before reading my personal reflection related to my overall experience of creating it.

With the completion of course R503 Instructional Media Applications (Indiana University South Bend), I feel as if I have gained a significant amount of knowledge in regards to technology. I was unaware of the course material and content prior to my enrollment. I have not had any course work in technology since 2000. So, for me, this course has been valuable, forcing me to reflect on my own teaching and question whether or not I am meeting the needs of my students, especially in reference to acknowledging skills of the
21st century. I had such a negative view about technology and instruction, mostly because of my own frustrations within the building I teach. Computer labs are limited as well as the amount of time we are given to teach required curriculum throughout units within each semester. It does not help that I took on the challenge of this class as the school year ended and I was exhausted from the chaos of end of the year activities. Once I was able to immerse myself into the course-reading assigned articles, viewing videos, and blogging my reflections, my attitude and willingness to accept new ideas suddenly changed. Although I am still opposed to concepts related to student motivation and differentiated instruction, I do believe that other theories discussed in this course have encouraged me to consider new strategies to implementing student-centered learning through technology. As a learner myself, I still need to motivate myself to maintain my awareness and knowledge of the daily changes happening in the world of technology. I fear that after this course concludes, I myself will lose the connection to technology that I have gained unless I continue to utilize the resources and ideas presented through this course.

My strengths as a teacher is the fact that I am willing to change. I have been teaching for ten years-it would be very easy for me to refuse or ignore the demanding needs of technology education and experience in the classroom. But for me, I understand from the perspective of both a professional, a graduate student, and a parent that it would be ridiculous not to acknowledge the need for change. I know that our students today have so many other issues they are coping with and that there must be alternative methods to inspire and motivate, especially with technology. As a result of this course, I have gained first-hand experience with open course software and programs that will enable me to be a stronger teacher in the classroom due to my open-mindedness and flexibility.

Within my portfolio, I noticed that I created the theme of a "personal journey". I wanted my pages to appear simple and easy to read. My introduction page currently contains 2 sub pages that summarize my biography and graduate work completed thus far. I would also like to add a page that profiles my soccer accolades and coaching experience as well. As time progresses, it is easy to lose track of all the additional accomplishments one has achieved. I think these achievements are just as important because they reflect one's true character.

Overall, this course has challenged me in a variety of ways. I was not very excited to "blog" my ideas with every class reading or video reflection. As I started to create this portfolio I realized how important my Blog really is to my reflection and understanding of material within this course. I was able to review each blog and recall important concepts. I believe as an educator this would serve as an excellent way for students to reflect over their own individual performance at the end of a semester. It is clear just how much effort and time a student puts into the class through their blog reflections-this truly encourages me to try and integrate blogging into my own classroom instruction. I feel more knowledgeable about the tools and resources available to me as a student and an educator. I think about the remaining courses I have left in the Masters program and hope to implement what I've learned at some point in future projects. Pod casts will definitely be valuable to me within my own classroom instruction-especially when integrating current events into class discussions or even assigning them for homework or extra credit. I have always wanted to utilize technology and the Internet more efficiently. At this point, I believe with the help of this course, I have the ability to begin this process as an educator.