Course Expectations

I'm not going to lie, when I first signed up, I was really excited about this class, despite the fact that it meets so late in the afternoon. I use technology often and was looking forward to learning how to integrate that knowledge into my future classroom. I have realized that this class is what you make of it because we learn at our own pace. Those who are less tech savy will learn the basics, while I can push myself to try new techniques and learn more about the products I already use in an appropriate classroom setting.

I am especially excited to be in a "flipped" classroom setting. I have done a lot of research on flipped classrooms, but I have never been a participant in one. For anyone who is unfamiliar with flipped classroom learning, it takes traditional teaching styles and "flips" them. Instead of a teacher lecturing during class and sending students home with homework; students watch video lectures or listen to podcasts at home and take notes, and then they come to class and do projects and work with their teacher who can help if anyone has questions. The style of learning that flipped classrooms allow gives teachers more flexibility in their classroom and allows students to learn freely and ask questions as they complete assignments. I believe I would really enjoy having a flipped style classroom for at least part of my lessons. I am excited to experience and talk with Dr. Beard about his experiences teaching in this style.

I am also excited to learn about integrating classroom websites into my teaching. It is a concept I had never thought much about, and I am excited to learn more about using websites to create an online identity as a teacher that will be vital in my classroom. The importance of technology in the classroom is becoming more and more prevalent, and learning these techniques will be invaluable.

I really hope I can learn a lot about video editing. It is one of the few technological areas that I am unfamiliar with. I hope I can learn how to create content, and delete sections, slice sections together, and add transitions. I am looking forward to my first video project, and I want to learn as much as possible about it.

By the end of the course, I hope I will be able to create appropriate technological content to use in my classroom. I also hope I will be familiar enough with the technology to teach it to my students and integrate the resources into my classroom.