what am I thinking turned into why was I not thinking

As a second year elementary education major in the process of applying for teacher candidacy, I needed an extra class or two to fill my schedule for this semester.  I was encouraged to take EDT400 and I joined without having any idea what I was getting myself into.  The first couple classes I couldn’t stop wondering what the heck I was thinking joining such a confusing class about stuff I have never even heard of.  After managing through the first few weeks of this class, I am beginning to have a much better hold on what exactly this class can do to benefit my entire life ahead of me in the education field.  This class so far has really opened up my eyes to all of the possibilities that technology can introduce us to.  I have never had any experience at all in blogging, using twitter, Netvibes, or any other of the new things that we were introduced to in class.  Now I am wondering why I have not been introduced to these things before, and why no one has encouraged me to get technology more involved in my education. This class has made me realize how much more potential I have in learning to be not only a great teacher in my future, but also a great learner throughout my life.

So far in this class I think that I have improved greatly in the understanding of things such as blogging, tweeting, and benefitting from other people’s points of view about technologies in education.  I am continually improving and opening my mind.  In concepts such as the ones we talk about in this class, learning will have to be continuous forever.  There is no end to learning about technology because it is always improving and someone is always learning more and wanting to share it with the world.  Although my posts have had some significant thoughts and information to share, I can definitely improve on their appearance, and incorporate more pictures and links and possibly videos when I get more comfortable with WordPress.  Another thing I need to improve on is tweeting.  I am very new to twitter and am just finally figuring out what to post on their that others would want to see.  I am definitely feeling more and more like I am becoming a part of this community. I have been responding to other people’s blogs only about once a week which I know I can improve on I just need to allow myself time to further my knowledge with theirs. By looking at blogs of people who have been blogging for a long time, and other student’s as they are learning, it has helped me improve my skills as well. I have been a part of class conversations and put in my input when I have one, but I also am very interested in hearing what other people have to say so I also sit back and listen to other people’s thoughts sometimes instead.  I have shared my honest opinion in all of my posts and had feedback on some that let me know I do have some important things to say which is very encouraging! I think the post I was most interested in and had the most feeling about was my post new knowledge is never-ending and I also feel that my post we live in the 21st century, let’s go to school in it had some good points in my writing too.  I think that some of my posts could have had a little more thought put into them though which I will definitely keep in mind for my future posts.

I really like the fact that we have been introduced to all kinds of people who are brilliant with their ideas about education and I have used these people to help influence my thoughts on education with technology involved.  People such as George Siemens, Heidi Hayes Jacobs etc. I think have really great things to say.  At first I hated the fact that we had to create a blog but now my mind is completely changed.  I think this is a fantastic way to interact with our classmates and hear what they have to say.  Not everyone speaks in our class discussions so I find it interesting to read about what is on their mind!  Blogs are a great way to spread knowledge. I think that along with my teacher, my classmates, and my own self-motivation, there are many other resources I can use to improve the areas I need improvement in.  For instance by continuing to explore other blogs out there and other articles and videos, I will continually open my mind to new ideas and develop new skills.  I believe that if i continue to stay interested and continue to explore as many people’s ideas as I can, I will definitely benefit and succeed in this class, and also in my future in the 21st century.