Final Course Reflection

This summer has been my most challenging semester, possibly ever. Although I knew it was a heavy load, I took on four online courses. I have had my ups and downs, but have made it to this end. Because of this class, I have learned the implications of telecommunications in education. More specifically, I have gained knowledge and experience in using blogs, different search engines, Twitter, Diigo Social Bookmarking, Google sites, Webquests, and Eyejot. I also participated in discussions about blogging in education, web design and development, web-based instruction, using Webquests, and acceptable use policies and filtering software. These discussions gave me the opportunity to collaborate and learn from my peers and their personal thoughts and experiences.

The tool that I feel is most beneficial to me as a third grade teacher is the Webquest because it allows students to complete a problem-based task in simple steps using Web and non-Web resources. I also feel that Diigo Social Bookmarking tool has a practical use among the third grade teachers at my school as we learn to collaborate about technology content. Furthermore, I will use my newly-created Google site as my classroom website to communicate weekly information to students and parents.

The strengths of this class are the following: it included a variety of useful educational tools, it gave me an opportunity to collaborate with my peers, it was well organized, and the blogfolio provided an opportunity to self-reflect. Upon completion of this course, I felt that I received a well-rounded exposure to telecommunication tools and how they can be used in education. One weakness I found in this course was the lack of sufficient examples for each of the assignments. In former classes, examples helped me to understand exactly what the professor expected, and I felt more confident as I worked on my assignments. The lack of examples cause me to be unsure of myself as I completed coursework.

Personally, because I had three other classes besides this one, I had difficultly completing assignments early, as I am accustomed to doing. I found myself constantly beating on the door of deadlines to finish on time. To improve on this weakness, I will not only be more prudent in selecting my course load, but also better organize my time to complete assignments early. I have two semesters remaining in my Master’s in Instructional Technology degree, and I plan on learning from my weaknesses to make myself a better student and teacher.