Homework 15.2. Looking Back.
As this semester comes to a close, I am struck both by how quickly it went and how quickly the Fall is approaching, during which I will begin student teaching. I'm both nervous and excited. I think it will be an entirely new and different experience for me, and an opportunity for me to take all of the theory that I have learned over the past two semesters and begin to implement it in practice. Before this year began, and even before the year began, I was definitely somewhat hesitant regarding both my own use of technology and certainly my use of technology in the classroom, or with children in general.
I am currently a nanny to three young boys, and have been for the past few years. While they are obsessed with technologies of all kinds, I spent much of my time urging them (often at the request of their mother) to turn off the screens, to engage with paper and markers and the outdoors. However, rather than simply attempting to distract them from their devices and lure them away from the screens, this course has encouraged me to instead consider how these devices could alternatively be used in order to inspire creativity and active engagement, rather than simply passively playing simple games or watching videos. I have explored stop motion animation with these kids, scratch, and even Google Slides as creative projects that they deeply enjoyed, and I probably would not have encouraged them to embark upon had I not taken this class.
I began this semester with a desire to not only learn more about creative technologies and how to incorporate them into my practice, but also to shift my own disposition and sensibility away from a somewhat discouraging or even paralyzing intimidation of digital media, especially things about which I was completely inept like creative coding. Instead, I wanted to be able to feel as though I could dive right in, as though I could explore and find my own way through each of these new media in a way that would allow me to develop my own literacy and feel confident and satisfied.
I still am not an expert at technology. In fact, this is such a broad category that I doubt anyone can truly claim this title; it seems akin to being an "expert in art." However, I am far more open to all kinds of creative technologies and digital media within my own practice than I ever was before. For my final project, I chose to incorporate an element of coding, because it was simply something that I wanted to engage with and explore. While this was an admittedly uphill battle, with a great deal of frustration and completely feeling lost, I emerged on the other side feeling confident and proud.
I think that this class has deeply affected my future practice as an educator. I now hope to incorporate technology into my pedagogical practice, much in the same way that I would with traditional materials. Just as I hope to encourage children to explore and play with drawing, painting, and sculptural materials within my classroom as a way to gain greater competency, greater confidence, and a deeper sense of freedom and experimentation with the materials themselves and within their own lives, I would hope to do the same with technological materials as well. This class taught me that we can explore technology much in the same way that we can explore painting and drawing; students can be encouraged to find what they can accomplish, what they can change, what they can do differently, throughout this field.
When I think of the main takeaways that I gained throughout this course, I was able to distill them to three main points:
I am currently a nanny to three young boys, and have been for the past few years. While they are obsessed with technologies of all kinds, I spent much of my time urging them (often at the request of their mother) to turn off the screens, to engage with paper and markers and the outdoors. However, rather than simply attempting to distract them from their devices and lure them away from the screens, this course has encouraged me to instead consider how these devices could alternatively be used in order to inspire creativity and active engagement, rather than simply passively playing simple games or watching videos. I have explored stop motion animation with these kids, scratch, and even Google Slides as creative projects that they deeply enjoyed, and I probably would not have encouraged them to embark upon had I not taken this class.
I began this semester with a desire to not only learn more about creative technologies and how to incorporate them into my practice, but also to shift my own disposition and sensibility away from a somewhat discouraging or even paralyzing intimidation of digital media, especially things about which I was completely inept like creative coding. Instead, I wanted to be able to feel as though I could dive right in, as though I could explore and find my own way through each of these new media in a way that would allow me to develop my own literacy and feel confident and satisfied.
I still am not an expert at technology. In fact, this is such a broad category that I doubt anyone can truly claim this title; it seems akin to being an "expert in art." However, I am far more open to all kinds of creative technologies and digital media within my own practice than I ever was before. For my final project, I chose to incorporate an element of coding, because it was simply something that I wanted to engage with and explore. While this was an admittedly uphill battle, with a great deal of frustration and completely feeling lost, I emerged on the other side feeling confident and proud.
I think that this class has deeply affected my future practice as an educator. I now hope to incorporate technology into my pedagogical practice, much in the same way that I would with traditional materials. Just as I hope to encourage children to explore and play with drawing, painting, and sculptural materials within my classroom as a way to gain greater competency, greater confidence, and a deeper sense of freedom and experimentation with the materials themselves and within their own lives, I would hope to do the same with technological materials as well. This class taught me that we can explore technology much in the same way that we can explore painting and drawing; students can be encouraged to find what they can accomplish, what they can change, what they can do differently, throughout this field.
When I think of the main takeaways that I gained throughout this course, I was able to distill them to three main points:
1. Technology doesn't have to be intimidating! Everyone starts somewhere, and it is okay to allow yourself to take little steps towards understanding.
2. Exploration in technology is not only possible, but fun and helpful! Encouraging kids (and yourself) to explore technologies can lead to a deeper understanding of the materials, and a greater likelihood that they will grow to utilized them freely within their own practice.
3. As we grow towards an increasingly digital age, it is imperative that we continue to stay on top of new technologies, continue to learn, and continue to broaden our scopes. Our students deserve it!
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