Final Reflections - Workshop 8

According to Dr. June Main (2003) the question is, “How does technology change your teaching?” The emphasis needs to be focused on the transformation of teaching and learning. The focus is on researched, proven teaching strategies; technology is a tool.
It is only when teachers really plug into the ideas and strategies, try them in their classrooms and find that they work that it makes a difference. (Woodbridge, 2003, p.295)


• What teaching strategies used during this course compliment integration of technology?
This course would not be possible without technology. It is based from online work and allows teachers from all over the globe to share resources and ideas. The international school system must be founded on technology because of the diverse needs and backgrounds of students. Technology integration allows for a world of resources previously unavailable. It is fitting that this course would integrate technology in its methods and ideology.
• How do you personally define technology integration after completing this course?
Technology integration is the use of programming, devices, and digital resources as a tool for learning. Technology is a means to an end of understanding and communicating concepts in other subject areas. It deepens and colors instruction and allows for new lenses in which to understand our world of processes, of people, and of cultures.

Love to My Wiki - Workshop 7

I have written quite a bit about my classroom wiki site. I introduced it at the end of last year for one class’s use in a final group project. This year, I tried using it in all my classes. Yesterday, I proposed the idea as a school-wide effort, that all teachers should have websites. This class’s timing was a helpful tool in that two of my cohort members also worked on websites. I had their models to show the administration. I have already seen a huge number of affective outcomes from the use of the wiki. Students who are creatively and graphically inclined have been able to learn elements of basic graphic design, and to try their skills out on web page design. Others, who have technical skills, have learned how to post a video or pictures to a website. In fact, students figured out how to shrink the size of one video we created so it would upload to the page. They showed me how to do it. Through these technological tools, students achieved the bigger content goals of and English class – how to analyze and present text, how visual media is a powerful medium of communication, how to reflect on past work and to set goals for future work. I anticipate next year in new wiki experiments.