Final Reflection: ICT In Review (Plus Arbitrary Lists)

ICT in the Classroom: 

On Wednesday this week, I went to talk to my cooperating teacher, about issues as timeless and mundane as when to show up at the school on a given day, or what he expects from the students and any student teachers in his classroom, but what I also ended up hearing a lot about was technology in the classroom and multimedia, not only as a tool that the teacher used, but one that students used on a regular basis, as an integral part of their education. Their current English project is a whole-class long presentation that must involve technological as well as non-technological methods, and it is regularly expected that they use classroom technology in order to conduct research for projects and do assignments.

I didn't really doubt the value of the class before hearing all this, but if I had, any of those doubts would have been laid to rest. My development as a technology-user has only begun, and it's unlikely to end, at least before we all end up with the technology directly wired into our brains (it's coming, there's already experimental neural interfaces in testing).

Five Best Things I Did/learned in ICT: (Arbitrary List #1)
1.) Horrible Students- the video, the epic
2.) Topical Website- I'll have to edit it a bit for classroom use, but I'm using it.
3.)  Google Docs- Holy Moly, I actually know something about ICT!
4.) Animoto
5.) E-Portfolio

Five Most Frustrating Things That  I Experienced/Did in ICT: (Arbitrary List #2)
1.) Why The Heck Won't The Darned School Give Us Some Goshdarned Disk Space (The PG version)
2.) Wikis- Surprisingly useless in a collaborative context
3.) Connection Problems with Group Presentation- GRRRR
4.) Why Are There So Many Tools That I Can't Learn Them All
5.) Google Isn't Working In Google Chrome What Is That Even About

Overall, I would say that I have learned a lot and enjoyed a lot in my journey learning about ICT, but perhaps the real benefit is that I'm a little less afraid of just leaping in and trying something new, monkeying around with it until I get something that works. It's that same spirit of bold innovation which spurred explorers to discover and map the New World, one that I need to cultivate in myself before I can cultivate it in my students. I was around to see the transition from the analog world to the digital world, my students will be entirely creatures of the digital age in all of its promise and problematic implications.

As I begin my second placement, I look forward to putting in practice some of the things I have learned in this classroom and perhaps coming up with some new tricks and tools that I can share with students, coworkers and others. It has been a true pleasure to learn with Mike and perhaps I will be able to have another class with him in the future.

Farewell and Goodnight (for now),
Kris Keen