End of Course Reflection

This course, Digital and Media Literacy, has reminded me about the important of teaching students how to navigate, understand and reflect on resources that are available in the 21st century. Being a business and technology teacher I have always found it important to teach students the basics of technology and resources on the Internet. This course has given me a large perspective on the topic. It also helped me realize that I am not the only teacher who should be teaching these skills, but, it should be incorporated into very content area and all grade levels.

I will continue to grow as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy by intentionally teaching these skills, rather than just brushing over them quickly. There are so many resources available to educators, parents, and students I planned to incorporate these resources into my courses.

A few takeaways from this course include the major assignments: Lesson Plan, Issues in Educational Technology and Professional Development Session. All three assignments have application and relevance in my teaching career. They are artifacts that I can share with my colleagues. I also really enjoyed the Cool Tools assignment. I know I will incorporate many of those tools in the future. I am grateful for the opportunity to have learn from my peers and have so many ideas for the future.

Mid-Course Reflection

The course "Digital and Media Literacy in the Classroom" has given me more knowledge about the skill set all our of students need to be successful in the 21st century. Skills such as, cultural and social understanding, ability to find and select information, effective communication, critical thinking, and digital citizenship, are needed to be a successful student and citizen. Teachers need to intentionally teach these skills as part of their curriculum. Today's student are much different from previous students as they have great experience using a variety of online resources, however, they often tend to be passive users. It is important that educators create opportunities for students to be part of the conversation and contribute to meaningful work with real audiences.

Many of the Cool Tools that were shared among my classmates are great ways to incorporate technology and authentic learning opportunities. A few of the tools I hope to use next year include Nearpod, Glogster and Let's Recap.

I can apply the concepts that I have been learning in this course on a daily basis. First, I can create opportunities for my students to not only gather credible information, but also create a product and share it with others through the Internet in order to gain authentic feedback. I am also considering creating a class Wiki page where students can create and contribute ideas, notes, and anything else that can help them be successful in class. I tend to shy away from using cellphone in class as it can be a distraction, however, I can more open to seeing the possibilities of how they can contribute to the learning environment. There seems to be endless opportunities for students, so as a teacher I need to discover the possibilities and create meaningful experiences for them to apply and share their learning.

I can't think of anything to add to the course. I really like hearing about ideas from my classmates and learning about resources they currently use. I have learned about so many strategies and tools from them!