Final Reflection of a Great Course

When I first began “Learning Through Technology EDU-533”, I honestly did not know what to expect.  My knowledge of how children learned from the Internet was Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook.  Those are the websites that are the most prevalent, in my mind with today’s youth.  I was pleased to find out that the educational society that is responsible for guiding todays youth is using the Internet as well.

            When we started the semester by making Gmail accounts, I thought, what was the big deal?  But, as a class we were introduced to a myriad of Internet programs of which I knew nothing about.  Tagxedo, Wordle are websites that make for interactive activities and learning.  Using these I can surly make learning fun and interesting for the child learner. I also didn’t know about web-quests and digital stories.  I think they are great for engaging young minds and teaching youth in a way that is meaningful.

            We also used a digital bookmarking cite called Diigo.  This tool will be excellent to use when assigning digital homework.  I could instruct the class to go to my Diigo account and click on a website to get to the proper web page.

            My prior experience in law enforcement introduced me to certain protections that are afforded to children by law, and I was glad to see that in the lawlessness world of the internet, there are laws in place to safe guard children as well, Coppa- Children’s’ Online Privacy Protection Act.

            The state standards of education, was new to me, but I am rapidly become more used to accessing them and letting them guide me.  I am glad there are standards in place because they provide guidance to me though out my teaching career.  After taking the praxis exams, I hope to be teaching science, these would be the standards set fourth for me: NH Standards.

            It is important for teachers to implement technology into the lives of the students they are teaching because it is so prevalent in todays society.  The world is becoming more and more digital, not less.  Education is the vehicle that drives technology and with out it, surely today’s youth will be left behind, that is the main obstacle that I feel todays youth must suffer.  Though encouraging a passion for digital learning, in a fun meaningful way by using links like the ones listed above; todays educators will give the best opportunity for tomorrows youth to make a positive impact on society.