Now it’s time to say goodbye…
Who would have thought that I would make it out of this class and be able to say that I can now successfully create and maintain a blog, find useful articles, use Google Reader and know what an RSS feed is. I know I did not think I would.
I was seriously intimidated for the first few weeks of class. I thought that everyone knew what was going on and how to do all of the things we were going to have to do…and that I was the only one technologically deficient enough to not get it. Professor Rozema sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown for quite a while to me: ”Wah, wah, wah….”
Somehow, however, I learned. Inexplicably. And not just how to use wordpress and Google Reader and all of that, but also how to really bring technology into my classroom effectively. I’m not going to account my sudden knowledge and lack of fear all to my blog (because those were the things I was trying to discover); that would simply be a lie. While I did learn so much about useful integration from finding, reading, and commenting on articles, I took just as much, if not more, from class discussions, readings, and ideas presented by Prof. Rozema.
What so many schools and classrooms in America are lacking is being open to having technology in the classroom. So many teachers are stuck in their ways, believing that the way they have taught in the past is just fine, or being too scared to learn these technologies themselves. What so many people do not realize, or choose to overlook, is that technology is everywhere…except in our schools. The students that are being taught use technology everyday; it is not something we, as teachers, have to teach them, it is something that we have to integrate – there is an enormous difference between the two. If we were teaching them how to use technology, we would show them how to find resources online or how to set up an email account. These sort of things are engrained into our students. What we have to do instead is integrate technology so that it is a member of everyday curriculum.
Is it really so hard to see why kids these days are bored with school and the things they are being taught? They do not want to sit and here a lecture all hour about Romeo and Juliet. They want to make videos and podcasts and websites (or uber-controversial MySpace accounts) about Romeo and Juliet; how much more interesting is that than taking a written exam? Exactly; it’s a whole new ballgame…can you even accurately and fairly call it a comparison?
I will miss this class, but hopefully I will see some of you in 311 next semester (Sorry Tami that I won’t be joining the summer session…here’s to hoping it doesn’t close!!)…where we will learn countless more about bringing the technology to our students so they can interdependently learn and have fun. Whoo-hoo (the only way to end a semester)!
