CEP810 Personal Learning Reflection

     Looking back at my Personal Growth Plan, I can say that one goal was met and one was not. One of my goals was learning how to better communicate with others using technology. Initially I had envisioned this as better communication between myself and students (and maybe parents if I was lucky), but over the course of this class I have been repeatedly reminded that communication is such a broad term, and that the means of communicating and who I can communicate with when technology is involved, are endless. Web 2.0 technologies are amazing in the this regard. Google Docs (and similar programs) allow for better communication between students on projects and more timely communication of my input to students. Course management systems and blogs allow students, and myself, to communicate not only with each other, but also with the world at large (which includes parents). Learning about PLNs and different organizations means that I now know where to turn when I need to communicate with peers to find information and get new ideas.
    My other goal was to learn more about programs that help me administratively, and more specifically with matching standards to questions and analyzing test data to help me understand what I need to reteach. Although these topics were not addressed, the instructor did offer suggestions to me to use.
   The two topics that I probably learned the most new information from were Copyright and Creativity. Both I feel that I will most immediately, and "easily" implement, and also in someways, are those things that are most urgently needed- at least for me. I really liked that the copyright section gave us positive means of actions in Creative Commons and actually has us go through the steps of using it. I have used Creative Commons almost immediately upon learning of it, including on other MSU EdTech classwork.
    The SIG assignment probably best shows how learning with technology should be setup. Students are given a group assignment. This group must use various technological means to collaborate. Each member than uses technology to do research. The group then works to create an original finished product that will be viewed by others in a digital medium.  I don't know how much more it could fall in the center of the TPaCK diagram. :-)
   Using the Internet, as a student, really helped me to understand all the benefits and pitfalls of technology in education. How easy it can be to put something off till the last minute, and how great it is to find the exact tool to complete the job. Using the TPaCK information has helped solidify ideas that I had previously regarding effective technology use, but also codifies exactly what that means.
  Now that the class is done, I plan to continue on to the MAET program. In the "gap" I hope to do some of my own personal reading to explore topics that were not necessarily hit upon, but are still relevant to the overall topic.