Final+Course+Reflection+-+5306

EDLD 5306: Fundamentals of Educational Technology I remember quoting to my husband at the outset of the program, " Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more" (Shakespeare, 1914). I knew that I faced many obstacles while completing this coursework, not the least of which would likely involve resistance to any initiatives coming from my elementary campus colleagues. I hoped that during the first course of my master's program, I would gain insight into the future of the American classroom and into what role I might play in bringing that future to students. I knew that even in a district as advantaged in as many ways as my own, that there was much to learn and much to do, and the course did not disappoint. In spending time examining the LRPT and the National Educational Technology Plan, I was reminded that technology as applications in all areas of the classroom: teaching, reinforcement, analysis, work product. I took an important first step by walking through some basic pieces of 21 st century learning, including blogs, wikis, and multimedia presentations. Analysis of the STaR Chart data for my campus brought the realization that while we have excellent resources for integration of technology, we lack some of the practical skills and professional development to bring these resources to life in our learning and teaching (Texas Education Agency, 2009). What I found frustrating is that many of the concerns cited by the STaR Chart data actually have solutions available within the district. This means that one of our primary hurdles as a district remains communication and collaboration. In subsequent courses it became clear that the district saw the same frustrating trend, and responded in the way I might have hoped: the district began development of the professional learning community model as a method of codifying best practices and linking available resources to current needs (Moir, 2008). Determining that level of accessibility and relevance was an essential next step for me in my internship. Because the beginning of this course coincided with the end of our school year, I felt acutely the absence of feedback from members of my own campus; some of my activities could not be developed in completely authentic ways because I could not use them in real-time situations with students and campus colleagues. As I moved forward into the fall and into my later courses, the insights of my colleagues both in my cohort group and on my campus has proven invaluable. Maybe most important insight from this foundations course came from the discussion boards. It reminded me as a student and as a professional that although we do not all share the same vision, we do share a passion for the process. I am ideologically of the same world view as Marc Prensky, who speaks of an educational system that stubbornly refuses to see a reality that has changed fundamentally from the past (Prensky, 2001). At the outset of this course, I would have expected that the vast majority of my peer group felt similarly. The discussions during that time showed categorically, with equal passion and articulation, that the frontier of educational technology runs. I look forward to watching how my views and those of my cohort group evolve during the course of this program. =References = Moir, E. (2008, May 27). //Ask ellen: Collaboration is at the heart of plc's//. Retrieved April 23, 2011, from Edutopia: __[]__  Prensky, M. (2001, September/October). //Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1//. On the Horizon, pp. 1,3-6. Shakespeare, W. (1914). //Henry V//. In W.J. Craig (Ed.), //The Complete Shakespeare//. London: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from Bartleby.com at [|www.bartleby.com/70/].  Texas Education Agency. (2009). // STar Chart Search Results Wilshire Elementary. // Retrieved June 23, 2010, from StarChartESC12.net: []