Jessica Howard

EDT180D

12/05/2019

Final Reflection Paper

As we have gone through the EDT180 course, there are many things that I am able to

reflect on as a student and as a future educator. This has allowed me to find many new uses for

technology not only for my classroom but for my everyday use as well. I have grown

dramatically over this course and am definitely excited to put all of this knowledge to use.

Looking back over all of the previous reflections, there is definitely noticeable themes

and patterns that emerge. When looking at the approach to learning with technology, something

that stands out to me time and time again is that technology can only enhance the material.

Something that stood out to me is things that I never would have thought could be used in a

classroom actually could be utilized. At first, I did not think that some of the technology we had

to experience could be useful. An example of this is the Virtual Reality Goggles in the ignitED

Lab. I never thought that goggles that are typically used for gaming would be useful in an

educational setting, however, the project we did showed me completely different.

After taking into consideration all of my experiences in the course, including all of the

assignments, there were a few challenges that I had encountered. One of the biggest challenges I

faced was being able to apply creativity when it came to things that I did not think could actually

be utilized in a classroom setting. Oftentimes, I felt like my answers were very redundant and did
not fully convey the ideas that I was initially trying to express. In order to get past this, I had to

allow my mind to expand. Since I want to be somewhere between a kindergarten and second

grade teacher, my solution was to think like a five year old. When creating uses for some of the

technology, I often thought about what I thought that students would like to do with the tools we

were given. This definitely helped me in overcoming any roadblocks that came with this course

and has been my strategy the entire time.

Before completely EDT180, I had very pessimistic views towards incorporating a lot of

technological use in a classroom. This was mostly caused due to not enjoying my own personal

classroom work being mandatory that it was completed online. Now, I think that technological

use in classrooms should absolutely be mandatory. All of the projects that I had to complete

throughout the time in this class, allowed me to see very diverse forms of utilizing technology.

One of the biggest reasons that my viewpoint on the matter changed was seeing the way that my

peers were using technology to theoretically enhance their classrooms as well. Every time we did

a peer review before we had to turn in the project, it stimulated my brain into finding many ways

technology can positively be used in my future classroom.

If I were to take an assignment from the very beginning of the class and one from the

end, they would look fairly similar yet very different. Something that would stand out the most to

me in the difference between these assignments in the level of understanding I had on the matter.

Towards the beginning of the course, I did not like that we had to figure out so many ways for

technology to be used because I did not think technology even belonged in classrooms to the

extent we were learning about. However, after the course, I realized that technology more often

than not was able to enhance classroom learning and could even bring the students closer
together. My assignments towards the end of the semester were oftentimes approached with

much more open mindedness than at the beginning.

One thing that I have seen in my classmates’ work or process that I would like to try in

my next project is their creativity. I would like to think of actual instances that I can use

technology in. Maddison was oftentimes very good at explaining the exact way that technology

would be used in her classroom and I think it would be beneficial for me to think more in depth

just like she did. Majority of my classmates were secondary education majors, so many times it

was hard for me to relate my thought process to them being that I want to teach much younger

individuals.

If I could go back and change something from any of my module projects, it would be the

one in the ignitED Lab. This lab module was a very intricate one and something I would have

changed is how well I really understood the material. If I ever had the chance to do it over again,

I would make sure that I understood the kindergarten curriculum. Knowing the curriculum would

have allowed me to really look at topics that the technology in the lab could have been used for.

This would have allowed me to give better and more precise examples of the way I am going to

utilize technology in my classroom.

As the semester comes to a quick close, I would like to use the knowledge and useful

information that I have gathered to be a better student next semester here at ASU. One goal that I

have for myself next semester is to obtain all A’s based off of the teacher’s college grading scale.

This means that my goal is to earn grades that are of a 93% or higher. With determination and

drive to succeed, I do not think that reaching this goal will be an issue by any means.