Week 1 Blog Reflection

Reasons to Create an Educational Technology Philosophy
Creating my educational technology philosophy helped me to open my eyes to what I really am—a "digital immigrant". I realized after reading the assignments, that I have learned to use new technologies as a means to automate instruction rather than using it to informate learning. I have always loved learning innovative things and new methods of teaching, but I have got to rewire my train of thinking to think more like the students in my class. I have got to learn their digital language. My teaching philosophy has not drastically changed—my objectives have remained basically the same, but my methods and role as a teacher have changed to include the benefits that technology can and will create and to give students the opportunity to learn "their way". I want the digital natives in my classroom to be excited about learning. The only way to achieve that is to allow them to use the technologies they are familiar with as well as introduce new technologies to them in the learning process.

The Potentials for Blogging
The potential uses of blogging according to the article, “Educational Blogging” by Stephen Downes, seem to be endless. The ones that stood out the most to me were being able to create a chronological archive for publishing student work as well as the ability to create a non-threatening, equal communication space between students, parents, and the world. Because of their accessibility, ease of use, and because most are free, blogs could be an essential part of every classroom. However the disadvantages stated in the article do merit consideration, and I think it is those disadvantages that school administration focus on instead of the many advantages. With the technology restrictions that schools place on students as well as teachers, the full potential of using blogs in my opinion have not been reached by many schools. I do not know of any teachers in our school district that utilize the use of blogs. To be honest, I have not used blogs. This is the first time that I have ever blogged, much less created a blog. So I am very new to all of this. But I think that I could really utilize blogging in my classroom. I’ve even begun to think of ways to implement blogging for next school year—of course with the administration’s approval.

November Learning: "Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning"
Several of the six changes in education and technology that were highlighted in the article really caught my attention, but the one that made me feel that my ideals of technology really must change was #5 “Automating vs. Informating”. In my CTE department, I am usually the one who steps out first to try to incorporate new technologies in my classroom. But the technologies I’ve incorporated really have only helped me to automate my teaching methods. I really didn’t realize that was what I was doing. This has made teaching a lot easier for me, but I haven’t allowed the students to really utilize the latest technologies themselves for their own learning. I really like the idea of creating an “information communication community network” and offering entire courses online at the high school level. This to me would drastically broaden technologies use in education and heighten students interest in education.