What Have I Accomplished

My overall goal was to create an assignment that held students accountable to their fitness levels outside of school. Before this course I was handing out fitness logs that students were to fill out at home indicating what fitness they did that week. However, I never really knew if they actually did it. Using technology, I believe I have found a solution to this. Students now have to use their phone to track their movement and send an image of what they have completed. Is this perfect? No, by no means do I believe that this final solution to my problem but it is a great start. It is something new for the students and it integrates a piece of technology that they use all the time, their Phone. I believe that overtime as technology gets better and my idea gets more refined the whole assignment will become better for myself and the students. Just like the improvement from the workout log to my new movement assignment.

At the beginning of all of this, I set out to design a project that helped me, as a teacher, have a proper assessment of the students. However, in the learning process, I learned that the integration of technology into the assignments actually benefits the students as well. It’s been noted that technology only enhances the learning process and experience. We also know that students are now completely surrounded by technology and always have information at their fingertips. So then, why not let them use technology to help them learn. By allowing them to use their phone and apps to complete their assignment I am giving them a better experience that they can learn from. (Rempell. 2018).

Strengths

I have said this many times that I view myself as a novice/beginner to technology. However, as I have gone through this course I have learned much about technology. I think my biggest strength with integrating technology in education, actually has nothing to do with the tech itself. I think my greatest strength is understanding the need for tech and trying to find solutions and different ways to help the students achieve success. I am able to see the bigger picture and can identify where tech can be used to help the learning process. I understand the basics of tech design, but I need help with the creation part.

Where do I Go From Here?

After completing this course, I know that I am still not an expert in the field of technology in education. However, I have grown and am far more capable of not only using tech but also integrating into my classes. I would love to continue learning about how to create websites so I can better communicate to my students. I would also love to continue learning about AR and how to create classroom activities using AR. I think AR and VR is where the future of education is going. It not only allows for learning to happen but it becomes more interesting to the students and more meaningful to them. I think it can give them more of a hands on approach so they understand concepts better than just listening and learning.

References:

Rempell, Z. (2017, July 18). Using virtual reality for education [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/wKYoAVnjzbs