Final Reflections

As my summer course comes to an end, I have to admit that many of my perspectives about technology integration in classrooms has changed. At the very beginning of the course, I did not feel comfortable with using anything that wasn't my HP laptop, Powerpoint, or Google. I thought that technology integration was the switching over to a full-on technological based learning style in classrooms, where writing in print is shunned and students only learn from videos. I was pleasantly surprised that despite my lack of patience for technology, I was able to successfully create some pretty great projects. I think the most important lessons which I have learned from this course has been about the various laws and acts which I have to comply with as a teacher and how to make any of my digital work accessible for all students. I think that I will look further into how social media might be more effective in primary grade levels, and how to effectively teach them and parents about their digital footprints. This class has introduced so many new concepts and tools, many of which I will forget about if I don't write them down or actively continue to use them, which is of course, the many downfalls of technology. I have always been open minded to trying new things, and the most important lesson that our instructor told us was to do as children do, and just play with technology instead of being afraid of it! Although I was weary of putting myself out there on the Internet, I now realize that a positive digital footprint is better than not having one at all.