Here I am writing the last blog for Teaching for Understanding with Technology course.
My view on technology in education has became broadened. I deeply value the experience of standing in the student’s shoe and learn in an online class that utilises technology in its learning activities. For example, the very first class included a video to deliver a powerful message comparing what goes in the mind of a learner and teacher using the story of Fish is Fish. This video really sticks to mind and is a great reminder for educators. I appreciate the exposure I got to the huge online repositories of tools and tips on how to create and maintain online educators communities which helps maintain a lifelong professional development. I learnt new tips on how to use Twitter to connect with classmates, how to follow hashtags and accounts was extremely rewarding and eye opening. I developed new organization practices on how to find relevant news, articles and tips on educational technologies.
Not only I find myself motivated to help teachers in my project engage in online communities, I am prepared to give them tips and some success stories of why they should. Moreover, looking at my colleagues work and how they are starting to add creative ideas to technology use in teaching inspires me to try out some of their ideas. Reading Hobbs’ approach and Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, I have more insight on how to evaluate technology aided learning: where are the rooms of improvements that technology can assume? What questions to ask oneself when evaluating a media enriched learning experience?
Lastly, I need to mention that as a developer of educational technology want-to-be, I used to believe that it is best to use tools that are designed solely for educational purposes. What CEP810 had taught me was: well, it depend. In some contexts, the way you use YouTube can result in a very rich learning experience, while an educational tool can be viewed as limited for some tasks. The design of where and why to use the tool determines the success of the learning experience.
Big thank you to my instructors: Kimberly and Emily for the great journey!
Hanan Alshikh 