A reflection on the work and growth achieved through CEP 811.

When I look back at my growth I can see it on two levels. The immediate growth; the new skills/knowledge I use day to day, and the skills/knowledge I aim to use. I have noticed changes in each of these areas, and I know and have seen the movement of one leading to another.

One goal that I developed during CEP 811 was to consider effective teaching strategies when integrating technology. I gained a new understanding of choosing to use technological tools and varying teaching strategies to achieve objectives, and to work hard to consider whether knowledge of the tool will be too time consuming or a distraction to learning objectives. Not doing the same thing always has stuck in my head thanks to Dr. Bell and pushed me out of my comfort zone ! So now I look at content from multiple teaching strategy perspectives. I have done a lot of thinking as we have gone though this class and the selection of excellent readings given and the explicit mention of these two issues helps me to keep reconsidering and practicing my new thinking as I work through tasks. I also developed a new understanding and awareness of copyright, creative commons, and ethical use of the internet. I also realised that due to time restraints I was not making the most of the resources and opportunities, so I have spent a little time here and there saving ideas. I will continue to do this as the resources and tips and strategies shared and taught are so valuable.

I think the tasks given to evaluate and plan for using web based technologies were really beneficial. I did most of my deep reflecting and learning on integrating them while I was completing those.

One goal I have is becoming more comfortable with discussion sessions. These are really valuable and the feedback given is helpful. I’d like to be more active in this area next subject. For me, face to face contact is vital and my preferred way of communicating, but … I am trying to transition by increasing the frequency of visits to the discussion rooms. Another new goal I have is to keep an open mind about upcoming units I am teaching. I want to reflect on the technological tools I have learned and consider how they can be implemented at the core of the learning, rather than looking at small ways to include them and sometimes feeling dissatisfied with the result.

My long term goals are to share with others what I have learned, students and colleagues and leaders ! alike. The more I study the more I am becoming excited by re-packaging learning through technology as it has so many benefits, in addition to achieving technology outcomes. I would also like to be able to look at the curriculum I teach and see that choices I have made to include technology and teaching strategies, are varied and well-informed. Developing this knowledge to make excellent choices is important to me and something I want to keep updating and maintaining.