EDLD+5366+-+Week+5+Reflection

I am not a Digital Native (Prensky, 2001). In fact, I have lived most of my life not knowing anything about the digital world. I began my journey into Educational Technology because I thought it would be a degree that would make me more marketable. I never imagined I would enjoy a class as much as I have enjoyed Digital Graphics. In EDLD 5306 Concepts of Educational Technology, I learned about the Multiple Intelligences Theory (Cherry, n.d.), and discovered I am a spatial learner. Years ago, when I attended the University of Houston, my major was Interior Design, but I never finished that degree. When I was introduced to Digital Graphics and Desktop Publishing, I saw limitless possibilities for design. Now, I can satisfy my creative “bent” virtually. I have spent hours playing with our website, and learning how to incorporate design. I have already created my own e-portfolio and plan to use it in an upcoming job interview. Now that I understand some of these technologies and skills, I know I will use them for the rest of my life.
 * Self –Assessment **

I have already used the skills I learned in the production of the newsletter. Once I realized how easy it was to create a website in GoogleSites, I began to think of several useful applications. I am interviewing for a Technical Specialist job this week, and I have used the information I learned to produce an e-portfolio. I believe it will be much easier to showcase my work from one location. Being able to collaborate with my fellow students has given me confidence. They were very helpful and open to suggestions. They gave good critical advice that helped make our newsletter more professional. I like collaboration, and as I continue to work, I will look for colleagues that are interested in collaboration also. I can truly say I am a lifelong learner. I do not plan to ever stop learning. I believe the most important challenge for me as I continue to learn is to continually critically reflect on what I am learning and to use that knowledge productively. By becoming critically reflective, I will be able to take more informed actions and raise my chances to achieve the result desire (Brookfield, 1995).
 * Lifelong Learning Skills**

In our previous course, EDLD 5363, we formed teams to produce a public service announcement. As soon as we discovered we were going to be in teams for this course, our old team got together. The ladies in this team are about as good as it gets. We were on top of the project before the class had even started. We chose to divide the pages between us, and let everyone choose their topic. Because none of us were familiar with Special Education, we decided to complete that page as a team. This plan worked very well for us because everyone took their part seriously and did an excellent job. We all chose to proof read the entire newsletter and made adjustments as needed. At the beginning of this assignment, we set up our documents at GoogleDocs. We used this site to communicate for a short time. Both Courtney and I had difficulties with GoogleDocs, so we decided to communicate with each other through our e-mails. As I began to work in GoogleSites, I could see many similarities to Wikispaces. I much prefer Google’s product because of the ability to make pages and sub-pages. I did find that Google prefers their own gadgets. It is very difficult to embed anything into GoogleSites that is not a Google product. This assignment seemed to go very smoothly for all of us and was not stressful. I enjoyed the entire course, and look forward to learning more. This is the address to my e-portfolio address. []
 * As a Learner**

There are many reasons an e-portfolio is a great tool that should be utilized in the Pre K- 12 classroom. They allow the student to archive their work, record stories and reflections of their work, allow collaboration with other students and give the student a venue for publishing their work. (Barrett, 2005). However, one of the best uses of e-portfolios for the Pre K – 12 classroom is assessment. With e-portfolio’s, students can review and assess their own work and see what they have learned. They can also review their work and see where they need improvement. Teachers are also able to read the reflections of the student on the e-portfolio and evaluate what the student has learned. Students at young ages are comfortable navigating on the computer, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has provided space for e-portfolios to school district’s teachers and students through Project Share. There is really no good reason not to use e-portfolios in the Pre k-12 classroom daily.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon 9 (5), 1, 3-6. September/October 2001

Cherry, K., (n.d.).Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligencies. About.com. Retrieved from []

Brookfield, S. (1995). //Becoming a critically reflective teacher//. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Barrett, H., (2005). The reflect initiative. Researching electronic portfolios and learning engagement, collaboration, through technology. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.org/reflect/whitepaper.pdf