Final Thoughts

As I reflect on my personal theory of learning I developed for this course. I do not think that there are any major modifications I would make at this time. In my theory I stated that I feel students learn best when "they are actively involved in hands-on activities that require them to collaborate with other students". I still believe this after completing this course. We learned about several different learning theories throughout this course, and I will try to incorporate these into my daily lessons when applicable. The learning theories I agreed with most throughout this course all had students working together and creating artifacts of their learning. I feel that I will continue to use these theories along with the others.

As far as integrating technology into my lessons, this course has provided me with some new tools to use with my students. I plan on using these tools more often in my lessons when we return to school after the break. I am going to begin incorporating more concept maps into my lessons. I think that these will be very helpful when learning new vocabulary as well as other concepts. I will be sure to have my students include images in their concept maps in order for them to retain the information better. Dr. Orey stated that "students remember images better than text"( Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, 2008 ). I would also love to begin incorporating the use of Voicethread into my classroom. I think that there are a variety of ways I could utilize this tool with my students. I would love for them to use this tool to help improve their reading fluency. I would also like to use this as a form of assessment at the culmination of a lesson. I think it would be wonderful to have my students type in a response, as well as, record a reasoning for their response. I cannot wait to begin using these 2 tools in the classroom.

Two long-term goals I have for integrating technology are to make my technology more student centered and to use utilize technology more for researching information. I think that it is important that students realize the textbook is not the only source of information on a topic. I try to show them how to locate information of the Internet, as well as, in the library. I think that I would like to begin having my students complete mini-research activities in order to strengthen their researching skills. Since this would be completed using the computer, I think that the students would be excited about completing the assignment. I would begin by completing these as a whole class and then letting the students begin to work with groups and eventually independently. I want for my students to be able to find information on their own rather than just depending on my to dispense information. This is something that I believe I can accomplish in the remainder of the year. We can begin after the break with the whole class projects, and then move on to the group projects in a few weeks. After about 6 weeks I feel that they would be able to complete the assignments independently. This would also get them ready for the standard of conducting research and writing a research report.

As far as making my technology more student centered, we are supposed to be getting a Promethean board sometime in the near future. I would love to begin using this tool and allowing my students to use it in a center to expand their learning. I would also like to begin having them create PowerPoint presentations for various lessons along with Voicethread assignments to share with the class. The PowerPoint and Voicethread activities can begin after the break, and I think the students should be able to do these independently within 6-8 weeks. Using the Promethean board will depend on when we receive them in the school. However, as soon as we get it I know my students will be excited to get to work using it.

Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. (2008). Cognitive

Learning Theories. (Laureate Education, Inc, CD-ROM, 2008 release).