Final Post

1. What have you learned in this class? What are your major takeaways?
The biggest takeaway I have is the idea of a flipped classroom. I never heard about it until this class, but I can see the value of it when it's done correctly. It was great to experience it as a student and explore the idea of how to use it as a teacher. The possibilities are truly endless with the types of lessons and activities that I can do using technology to help my students use higher order thinking skills to better learn about literature, writing, and many other valuable skills. Something else that I learned is how fast new technology appears. It's hard to keep up with it! There's always something new and even with the technology that we're used to, they have updates with new and better features that we have to learn. We can't be afraid of technology, but we also can't fully rely on it to teach our students. There's still a teacher in that classroom and we can't replace it with a robot. 

2. What has your attitude toward educational technology changed, if at all? Why?
I've always enjoyed technology and I use it most of the day, every day. I never really put much thought into how I would use it in my own classroom. I just assumed we would use a computer when writing a paper and a few YouTube videos to enhance a lesson, but THERE IS SO MUCH OUT THERE FOR ME TO USE!  I'm very excited to continue exploring technology tools that will help me in the classroom. 

3. How will you and your students use technology to improve instruction and learning? Provide a few specific examples. Why will you use technology in these ways?
I really like the idea of having a class website. This can help me better connect and communicate with my students. They can easily find assignments/worksheets/presentations that they missed or go over again if they had trouble understanding something. I can easily post videos, presentations, or notes that they might find helpful or interesting. I will use the class website as a class archive so they can find things easily. It's a great way to gather knowledge (using google forms) to know what they need help with for next class or what I can do better. If I see that a lot of my students got an answer wrong on one of my quizzes, I can create a lesson that will go in depth for them to better understand the concept. 

4. How might I improve this class for future students so that it is more meaningful?
It was my first time experiencing a flipped classroom so it was hard to remember to check canvas for videos. Maybe getting a little reminder during class would have been helpful for me. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this class. I'm so glad I decided to take it this summer, because I feel like I learned a lot and I have definitely gained a lot of ideas for my classroom.