Professional Development Plan - Week 7

I am really happy that I had the opportunity to take this course. When I first started this class, I was very intimidated by technology and apprehensive to utilize technology in the classroom. Now, eight weeks later, I feel as though I have a better understanding of how educational technology can be used to enhance and support learning. This class has encouraged me to become familiar with a variety of technology tools and, as a result, I now feel as though I can successfully implement many of these tools in the classroom.

As we have learned, it is very important for educators to stay current with the constant changes in the field of education. Partaking in frequent professional development opportunities will ensure that educators stay up-to-date and utilize the latest tools and strategies to support student learning. Without professional development on educational technology, teachers would not be able to stay current because the field of technology is constantly evolving. I believe that the sites I chose to bookmark on Delicious provide educators with a variety of resources on how to utilize different types of technology in the classroom. These sites would be beneficial for any educator to use in order to learn how to utilize and apply the latest technology in the classroom.

In order to continue my professional development in the area of technology I plan to further explore and utilize the tools offered on many of these websites. For example, I would like to further my knowledge of WebQuests and practice creating my own to utilize with students. Also, I am interested in using Rubistar to build different rubrics to use for assessment. Finally, I would like to use the HotChalk Lesson Plans Page and Edutopia to connect with other educators through discussion forums and online learning communities.

Finally, I am very excited that I was able to learn how to use Glogster to create different multimedia presentations. Learning how to use Glogster was one of my favorite things about this course! After creating my first few glogs, I was excited to share my work with my co-workers. As a result, I was asked to present a workshop on how to use Glogster during our professional development week! I am excited about sharing my new knowledge with other educators who want to increase their use of technology in the classroom. I am also proud that this course has allowed me to develop a new sense of confidence in my use of technology.

Yes! Using technology CAN be fun!