Final Reflections on ETEC 527

As I have journeyed through this Web 2.0 technology class, I can honestly say that I have learned about new tools and how to incorporate them into my career. I have a new found outlook on web 2.0 technologies as I have only scrapped the surface with them, I am looking forward to advancing my skills with them. It is incredibly nice to be out of this bubble of my comfort zone and willing and wanting to research new technologies. I have always had the mindset of looking at technology and just focusing on it in my classroom. I have found that this is so limiting for my future. Of most of the technologies we have utilized in this course, I mostly will not be using in my classroom. They will be used for professional development and professional communities. The power of teacher word of mouth is amazing because we all have a main goal and that is to want to help each other. Also, what better way to learn about new technologies than by those who are utilizing them in their classrooms and how. I can say that I have found several useful tools and website via Twitter based off of what others have shared. Another great thing that I have really looked forward to with Twitter are those conferences that I may not be able to attend, but can stay up with "whats new" via tweets. I have a new-found love for Twitter whereas I have always told myself I will never use it...I find myself on it almost daily, as it is a work in progress. With using Protopage, I have introduced it to my campus, but also to my district with plans to assist there with incorporation. This will be used not only for professional communities, but also for my classroom. I plan on introducing it to my students and creating pages for my student organizations. This is a great way to organize important pages and widgets for my classes based on what they are involved in. In working with YouTube, I am blown away with all that can be done with YouTube as my only involvement previously were to look at funny videos and videos to teach math. I really enjoy creating channels and playlists to share with students as they can subscribe to my channels. I plan on incorporating this in my Math intervention class because students can use the videos in there for extra assistance. A major outcome with this course is my involvement in Schoology. Not only was it being introduced into our district as the time I was beginning this class, but I have engulfed myself in the program. While doing some research for my final project I spoke with their customer service to answer some questions. I told the representative what I was doing and she encouraged I send my video to them so they could view it and share amongst their community. With all of the experience I have had in this classroom, I am encouraged and excited to get out there and learn new technologies. My prior thoughts on professional communities had been that I have to search through masses of posts just to find maybe A helpful tool, whereas now I am wanting to search those communities and share and I don't find it as a waste of time. I can say that this class has taught me a lot about technology and it's uses not just for the classroom. I have learned to use resources that are out there and I have a new vision for my future career as a Program Director.