Week 3 Reflection

Wow, this is some cool stuff that we’re learning about! I can’t wait until I have extra time on my hands to really be able to get into all of this! I think that social bookmarking has a lot of potential for teachers and students. Teachers can use it as a link on a classroom blog as approved resources for a research paper. Teachers could also share their bookmarks with other teachers in the same field as them to add to their existing list of helpful resources. Teachers could also share links with students on a particular topic that they need extra help with. This could possibly be a good social networking tool as well.
I guess that it never occurred to me that the definition of instructional technology would change so often. Now that I think of it, it makes perfect sense! I hope to use my degree to enhance my classroom and my teaching skills. I love to be able to incorporate all that I have learned and will learn into my classroom. I would also like to share my knowledge with my coworkers so that they can take advantage of all of the technology available to them as well. What I found surprising in this chapter is that I now realize more so than before, is that I have so much to learn about this field.
In an ideal setting, all of the characteristics mentioned in chapter 2 would be in place for every lesson or unit taught on a daily basis. However, most of us don’t work in an ideal setting. I, for example, teach adult education. I don’t write daily lesson plans nor do I stand up and teach a lesson to my class. I do, however, write the curriculum that we use for mathematics and health. I follow the characteristics as best that I can while meeting the state standards and benchmarks. The only characteristic that I can’t include in my work on a regular basis is “instructional design is a team effort.” I am the only employee with a math and health degree so there isn’t another highly qualified staff member to make decisions with me. I do work with our curriculum coordinator, but that is basically for approval on a finished project.
Before I worked for adult education, I had a few long term subbing positions where I was able to create daily lesson plans on my own or with the help of others. When doing this, I/we always tried to keep everything learner centered and goal orientated. Not only were we doing this to keep up with the “new ways of teaching,” but to keep the attention of the students.