I have slammed more information about the Internet and networking in my life in four months, than I have my entire life and I find that extremely disappointing. Why haven’t I covered any of this information in other classes? Or learned about this much technology at all? It may be true, if I would have known about it I would have researched them myself. At least some of them. So, now that I know they exist and the semester is coming to an end, it is my job to keep researching and learning about these amazing ways to navigate and network with people all over the world. Prior to this course I used Skype and Facebook on a regular basis. I knew there were more out there, but I did not think it would interest me. I see now that I am wrong. If possible, when I become a teacher, I would be more than willing to use much of what I have learned in my own classroom. My favorites are the given: blogs, presentations, Google Docs, podcasts, videocasts, Google Earth, YouTube, Twitter, iTunes, movie making, and comments4students and teachers. How awesome would it be if I could teach everything I have learned this semester in my class one day. Although I learned many new things in my EDM 310 class, I would have liked to have had more class meetings. I am very hands on and seem to retain knowledge better this way, thus leading me to the conclusion that I would want to meet in class more often to talk about and go over the new task or assignment. I found the class very exciting!! There is not anything from this class that I wish I had not learned. I am appreciative of everything that was presented to me. I am a huge fan of learning new projects, especially if I am good at it!! Although I am still new to everything we have learned, it excites me to use blogging in the future with my future students. I love the idea of having my own class blog and giving my students the freedom to work on their own. Once learning the task at hand, there was not many assignments that were difficult. There was never a time during this class when I was bored, except maybe during some of those hour long videos that did not keep my attention:). As far as being Technologically Literate…I definitely feel as if I have a ways to go. I know that I have learned quite a bit in this class, but I would like to be more secure in what I know in technology. I really love how the class is set up and have enjoyed Mr. Sullivan. He is a great professor and person, but one thing I would like to see a change in is how we get our answers. Because the course is new and there have been many changes, I feel many students felt mislead because they were receiving different answers. Maybe you(Dr. Strange) could get someone to help go through and answer all your emails from students so that they get an answer in a timely manner. That is probably the complaint that I heard the most. I know I will learn from my future students, however I plan to continue my technological journey to learn and explore for my own knowledge and teaching career. I am very excited for the future!!
Sam, Thank you for your honest reflections. You have made some good points in a constructive way and we appreciate the feedback.
ReplyDeleteThe big picture here that I think some absolutely miss is that to be a good teacher one must also be a good student. All of the technology aside, provably the most important thing we do in EDM310 is to help students learn to manage their own learning. As with any learning process that is useful this can be uncomfortable at first but once the learning has taken place the student will realize the value of the exercise.
I watched you take charge of your own learning and I must say, I think you have done a fantastic job. I'm not sure if you realize it yet but being able to to manage your own learning is something that will benefit you for the rest of your education and the rest of your life.
Keep up the good work Sam. I know you will be an awesome teacher one day. SS
" How awesome would it be if I could teach everything I have learned this semester in my class one day." Awesome indeed. Do it!
ReplyDelete"Because the course is new and there have been many changes, I feel many students felt mislead because they were receiving different answers. Maybe you(Dr. Strange) could get someone to help go through and answer all your emails from students so that they get an answer in a timely manner." I am not sure I understand the problem. Is it that my assistants did not all give the same answers that I did? Or that some requests did not get answered in a timely manner? I think that I only missed responding to a very few requests for help promptly (within 24 hours - 6 if possible). Maybe my assistants missed more. I hope not.
But Mr. Tashbin made an excellent suggestion this morning. We are establishing ONE email address for all questions, as well as ONE telephone number where messages can be left. (I hope. The phone bit is trickier than the email). We can all then respond as needed. And I can monitor the responses to see that they are consistent. Would this be a solution that would address the issue you raise. If not, please send me more information! Thanks!
Good luck!