Overall Reflection: IT 648

I thoroughly enjoyed taking this course. Each new tool we explored was added to my arsenal, and I feel much better prepared to assist K-12 teachers, faculty, and other graduate students in the use of these and other tools to convey their educational content. Hopefully, once I gain a position in faculty development, I will be able to instruct my colleagues in various ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms and teaching. Everything I learned was immediately relevant for me. The conclusion of IT 648 this summer leaves me feeling confident in my abilities, and ready to share what I have learned. As I mentioned in the previous blogs below, some tools may be more useful than others in different learning environments.

If I had to choose, I'd say that my favorite assignment was circaVie, where I was able to relive and share my St. Croix vacation. My least favorite would be the Eyejot video message, since I felt I looked far from my best. I performed my best work in my final presentation, feeling most confident in the information I gave, and in my method of delivery. I feel least confident in my WebQuest, because I am still unsure if I was able to create a task that reflects the educational value that I hoped to convey. As I continue to study pedagogy and instructional design, I hope that I will be able to design my instruction with the learner's goals and outcomes in mind.

The weekly discussions were quite stimulating, although I believe that they would have been more so if we did not all agree. If at all possible, perhaps we need to have sides chosen for us that we argue, to incite a true debate. As it stands, we all acknowledged nearly all the same positives and negatives for each telecommunications tool we discussed. (Great minds think alike, eh?)

The assignments themselves were well-chosen to increase in difficulty and challenge over the course of the semester, and kept me from underestimating the time that would be required to complete each. I am happy to have participated in a course with such a great group of colleagues, and hope to see some of you (virtually) this fall.