Week Six: Reflection

I was very nervous about creating a Jing presentation this week...simply because I have never tried to do this before. Now every time I happen to catch a glimpse of the little sun at the top of my screen, I feel the overwhelming desire to capture whatever I am working on to show other people. Unfortunately for me, I really don't have a need to use Jing on a regular basis, and I figure my mom will quickly lose interest in the emails I send her with a Jing presentation of me typing her an email. ☺ But because of the excitement I feel for this new-found knowledge I have with this type of technology, I can see why students get so excited when they learn that they can use technology to present what they are learning in class. Technology in any form is a great way to get our students actively engaged in their learning. As teachers, it is very important that we remember to step outside of the box of "traditional teaching" and use technology to reach and teach our students. Teaching with technology is (or should be) the new teaching tradition. Our students have grown up with computers and iPods and video games, so we need to teach them with these things in mind. Presentations through podcasts and Jing are a great way to accomplish this.

I know that when I was still teaching, the 'thing' that held me back when it came to incorporating technology into the classroom and daily lessons was my lack of knowledge. I am only just beginning to learn how to use many different types of technology that are available to me. I find it hard to step out and try something new--I still don't own an iPhone or an iPod--so trying to think of how to teach a lesson was enough stress for me sometimes. I didn't want to have to learn how to teach a concept and learn how to use a new form of technology at the same time.

If I had a magic wand to wave around, I would use it to change my technology skills and abilities ::poof:: just like that! Part of my problem is that I often feel like I don't have the time to learn a new trick. Had it not been for this class, I wouldn't know how to use and create a wiki or an audio presentation such as Jing. As a teacher, we are expected to know how to do it all (at least I always felt this way) so admitting to a group of students that I don't know how to do something that involves computers and such is a bit hard for me to do. BUT what I should do in a situation like this is let my students become the teachers and teach me how to use these "newfangled" computer concepts. It would become a learning experience for everyone. I'll have to keep this in mind when I return to the classroom someday.