When I think back to the very reason that I signed up to take this course I realize it was because I did not have the skills that are necessary to keep up with the pace of the online world. The students in my class were beginning to surpass me on certain skills and I knew that in order to keep them interested in the academic part of learning that I needed to learn how to create lessons that integrated technology.
I have always been interested in technology but I have always had a difficult time overcoming the “technical challenges” that everyone faces when they learn a new task with a technological tool. I knew that I needed structure, organization, and guidance to help me overcome these challenges and so I decided to sign up for a course that would help me build the skills that I needed in order to be successful as a teacher and as an instructional technology educator.
I came into this class not knowing much beyond the basics of MS Word and Excel. However, I have discovered that I am able to learn a new skill each and every day. I also have discovered that I do not have to be an expert in technology as long as I know where to go to find the information that I need. If I have the resources that I need to do what I want to do then I am ok.
The most important skill I have learned so far is the skill of technology integration planning. A teacher must carefully plan and think about the lessons that she uses with technology. He or She must be very familiar with each step in the process and must evaluate their lesson for effectiveness so that valuable time is not taken away from instruction while the students are learning to use the new and integrated technology for that academic lesson.
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