CEP 811 Final Reflections

Its hard for me to separate the questions from CEP 810 and CEP 811 since I was taking them at the same time and much of it blended together with only the assignments making a distinction between them for me.  This was actually a good thing as I could apply what I was learning in one course to the other and my studies and readings flowed back and forth between the classes.  So, my answers for CEP 811 are similar to CEP 810 :)

Some of the things that I have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology are:

• to provide guidelines
• to make lessons valuable to students
• to select technology lessons that enhance the curriculum
• to make technology fun
• to not worry about knowing the technology perfectly

Integrating web-based technologies helped me think about and evaluate uses of technology by:

• helping me be aware of resources that I didn't know about (like Merlot)
• helping me think about the quality of the different web-based technologies
• helping me know how to evaluate the quality of the resources

I have met my own personal goals for learning about technology integration by:

• becoming more aware of new types of technology that are available
• learning how to use new types of technology
• implementing some of the new technologies learned for personal use (I have set up my own website) 
• introducing some of the new technologies with students.  I have shown some of my projects to students who then have decided to try them too
• assisting other teachers at my school to use some of the technologies too (they love Google Docs now and one teacher wants me to help her set up an online resume).

My plan for reaching my goals is to complete the next 3 CEP courses I need to get the NP endorsement. My long term goals will be to continue learning about new technologies and search for other opportunities to advance my educational technology education.  Since I already have a MA in Educational Technology I'm not sure what my next step will be but through the networks I am now connected with I will be able to see if new courses, new degrees, or workshops become available.  Also I will be kept up-to-date on what's new in the world of educational technology and can pursue learning on my own which taking this class has reminded me I really love doing! I plan on continuing using my Wiki and my Website for both professional use and as an example for students in my classroom.