Kennedy Frary

December 2nd,2019

Mr. Lewallen

EDT 180 12:15-1:30

Reflection

Looking back over your previous reflections, do you see any themes or

patterns emerge on your approach to learning with technology? What stands out

to you? Were you surprised by any of your observations on your own learning

experiences? Looking back at my previous reflections, there are patterns that I notice I

consistently reflected about in regard to technology. To be specific, I mentioned multiple

times that growing on my ideas and projects would allow my technology that I have

chosen to be more efficient and useful. I was surprised by my ability to recognize that

my projects need improvement so they can be more compatible for my students and

that they will be able to use it with ease.

Taking into consideration all of your experiences in this course (including

all the assignments) what were some of the problems or challenges you

encountered, and how did you solve them or work to get past them? How has

your strategy for dealing with challenges changed over the course of this class

(or has it)? With every project in this course, I always felt challenged when it came to

picking out the topic or medium I was going to focus on. Creativity is not my strong suit

and it never has been. You can imagine my panic when I found out I would have to pick

the technology used for every project along with the project topic. My strategy to

overcoming this challenge was brainstorming and using my resources around me. I
would first pick a technology I was interested in or wanted to learn about. I would then

think of my personal interests that would also draw the attention of other users. By

doing this, I was staying true to myself while also considering other people’s thoughts

and opinions. This always allowed me to carry out a project module that represented my

likings while also appealing to other people.

Compare the way you thought about learning with technology before the

beginning of this class, and now, what has changed? Why do you think it

changed? If I am being honest, I have always been a supporter of learning with

technology. For as long as I can remember, technology has been a part of my learning

experiences in schools. From going to computer labs to renting a cart of

tablets/computers for a class, it was always present in my education. What has changed

though was the way I can use technology to benefit my future students. I believe it has

changed because I have a deeper understanding of the benefits of technology and

resources that can be used to help students.

If you take an assignment from the beginning of the class, and one from

the end, compare and contrast how you approached those assignments. What

changes can you see in how you approached the work? Looking at the first

assignment that we did for class, which was researching different types of artificial

intelligence, to our final project, which was a project of our choice, my approach has

changed in numerous ways. For the first project, I had no clue what to do. Though the

instructions were right in front of me, I saw no point in doing research on artificial

intelligence as I felt it had no use for me. All my mind was thinking was about robots.

This was a mistake on my end because after actually doing the research, I discovered
much more than I had anticipated. The point of me saying this, my approach has

changed by first being apprehensive of certain technologies to my final project of me

jumping into a technology I like.

What's the one thing that you have seen in your classmates' work or

process that you would like to try in your next project? One thing I saw in my

classmates work that I would like to try in my next project is using the concept of a

visual essay to make an online book with hand drawn pictures. On our last module

project, I had the opportunity to peer review Diego’s project. He used a program where

he used text to explain what was happening and then had a hand drawn picture on the

same page. I thought this was an interesting way to do a visual essay but that it would

also be beneficial for my future students. Though my students will be young, they could

make a story book of their own drawings on tablets. I myself would like to create a story

too.

Thinking about any of your module projects if you could go back and

change something what would you change if you had a chance to do this

assignment over again? If I could go back and change a project, it would be the one

we just did. We had so much creative freedom to explore technologies we have already

used and ones that we haven’t. I dropped the ball of creativity and stayed within my

comfort zone. I chose to do a visual essay when I know I would have enjoyed using the

3D printer more. The reason I restrained from using the 3D printer is because I was

scared to go to the lab and ask questions on how to use it. If I had the chance to go

back, I would use the 3D printer and ask questions to expand my knowledge.

What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for your next semester /
class? One goal I would like to set for myself for next semester is to stop

procrastinating. When I procrastinate, my quality of work is less than it should be. This

is a goal that I seem to always set for myself, but I am determined I can achieve it with

all the skills I have learned so far in this semester.