Final Blog Reflection

IT 365 has been an amazingly helpful class. I have learned so much about computers and various resources I never knew existed for teachers. I will leave this class with a greater knowledge of how to be an organized, helpful, and resourceful teacher. Being shown how to use the free technology that is available on the internet was the most useful thing I learned in this class. The free online games, quizzes, and other websites will help me become an innovative first-year teacher. Learning how to change the settings of a computer to adapt them to a child with any disability was very beneficial as well. I did not even know those settings existed, and now I will be able to help any child learn on the computer. The movie maker and other applications that are offered on every computer, but not often used, are also great resources for teachers. I have had these applications on every computer I have ever owned, but never used them to their full potential. Now, I understand how to use them to my full advantage, and I will definitely be using them during my first year as a teacher.
I am a fast learner, so everything we did in this class came easily after I was shown how to use the program. However, I would not say that they are all my strong points. Using the internet to find resources and free tools is definitely a strong point, because I had to do some of that before this class. Using Movie Maker was definitely one of my strong points as well. I enjoyed creating the movie and presenting it to everyone, so I know that I will want to do the same for my students. Some of my weak points would definitely be changing the computer settings to adapt them to student’s disabilities and creating my web page. I have never had to do either of these things, so they came as a challenge to me. However, I am glad that I was introduced to both of these tools.
To improve my weak areas, I will study these tools until I master them. I was taught the basis of each of them, so now it is up to me to perfect them. I know that I will encounter students with disabilities when I become a teacher, so I need to know how to help them and give them a fair chance to further their education. I know that I will also want to create a web page for my students and parents to be able to visit, so I need to become familiar with them as soon as possible. I will continue working with the web page I created in IT 365 to help me understand and enhance my web page skills.
I intend to use everything I learned in IT 365 in my classroom when I become a teacher. This class has shown me even more that technology is the future. Not only did I learn about technology, but I learned how and when to integrate it into my lessons. Whether it is using Movie Maker, a course web site, or concept maps, I am going to use technology to further my student’s education. After learning about the gender gap, I also intend to make sure that every student is given a fair opportunity to use, understand, and hopefully love technology.