Final+Reflections+EDLD+5364

1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?  Before beginning this course, I believed that it was going to be about using technology in the content I currently teach. Although I gained a lot of knowledge, I still do not feel that at I really got what I envisioned. I envisioned going away with tools I could use on a daily basis. I think that the course outcomes did not exactly align with what I had been thinking. There were too many tools mentioned without enough practice on ones that I specifically would find the most useful.   2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?  I did appreciate the introduction to many Web 2.0 tools that I can use. I also gained a lot by having to create sample technology lessons. I think I would have preferred to have to work with more of them. I found the UDL lesson builder to be very time-consuming and impractical because of this fact. I did like the bookbuilder and since my contribution to our team project was a book I feel like I am now very comfortable using it.    3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?  I feel like I only got a cursory knowledge of way too many of the tools. I think that the course tried to give us so many things I came away not feeling proficient with any. I have become much more comfortable with Wikis since we had to update ours weekly, but I wish that we had done the updates to our blog instead, since I feel for me that is a more useful tool.   <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you? <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I was successful in completing the course assignments. Although I often felt overwhelmed, I was able to turn everything in on time. It was very helpful that I worked with a wonderful group. The only thing that discouraged me was I did not feel like the directions for each assignment were clear. There were often times our group thought one thing was expected of us, but in questioning the Professor during the Webinar, we found we did not have the directions correct, even though all of us thought it said the same thing. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes? <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I learned about some great tools that I could use. I think using the Google Wiki site is easy and I like it much better than wikispaces. I also enjoyed learning about learning theories. I think the weekly reflections we were required to do were a great way to solidify thinking on the subjects we learned each week. The group project required me to do something way outside of my comfort zone. I do not enjoy working in groups and it really stretched me. I learned that collaboration across the state is not only possible it is rather easy with the Web 2.0 tools. With every course I take, I learn how much I really did not know. I am being stretched as an educator, and a learner.