Destiny Stanaway

EDT 180B

Professor Lewallen

December 04, 2019

Final Reflection

EDT 180 was a class that was very easy for me. I do have prior knowledge about

technology and knew almost everything Professor Lewallen taught about. For the

majority of the projects, I have already done something similar in my high school

computer class.

My approach to learning with technology has been the same since my senior

year of high school. In high school, we focused on learning how to use a computer to

your advantage and being able to navigate through foreign software. I normally start by

seeing what I need to do, then I formulate a game plan of how I can achieve my goal. It

is not always successful, but usually, it gives me details about how to reach my goal

better. I never get to the point of giving up while using technology because the internet

has so many resources to accurately fix the issue or help you use whatever software

that you are trying to use. I knew what I was doing for almost all of the assignments, so

there were no surprises that I learned.

A problem that I did have in this course, was the interactive Powerpoint

presentation. I did not know how to link the pages together and make it work right. I did

figure it out by reading the instructions and exploring in Powerpoint. I briefly

remembered the steps from high school, but not enough to follow through. The other
issue that I had in this course was with the podcast. I used Audacity to record and edit

my project. Audacity did not accept a file type, so I struggled to convert it to the right file

in order fo rit to have played in my project. I knew how to fix the issue due to previous

experience, but it was a struggle to fix it. My strategies for dealing with challenges have

not changed over this course.

Ever since I can remember, I believed that technology belongs in the classroom

and that it can help you with many things. Over this course, my opinion did not change. I

still believe that technology belongs within classrooms and can improve learning. I

believe that my opinion did not change because I have already done most of these

projects in my past classes in high school.

Due to my high school computer class, I knew how to approach these projects

because I have completed similar ones in the past. I figured out what I needed to

accomplish and took the needed technological tools to do it. I did procrastinate on a few

of the assignments and the results were not up to my standards, but other than that I

am proud of what I created. There were no changes in how I approached these

projects, due to my previous knowledge.

My classmates and I did similar projects. I would like to be more detailed and

organized in my work like some of my classmates are. I tend to put the bare minimum

information on my projects. They are not pretty or as organized as others. I usually like

the way my projects turn out, but I should add more details and character to them.

If I could go back and change any projects, I would change the podcast and the

teaching philosophy website. I struggled with the podcast because of the speaking
aspect. I was not very comfortable with talking into the computer because of being in

the dorm and people could hear me. I would try to make the podcast flow better and add

my own style to it. The one I made for the class was kind of awkward and I did not like

the way it sounded. It was almost painful to listen to. If I had the money, I would’ve had

a good microphone to get rid of the background noise. If I had more free time while

doing the assignment, I would have added good transitions and made my own

introduction and exit music. I would’ve put more into the podcast if I had the money and

time. For the teaching philosophy website, I wanted to code a website. I did not have

the time to code one. If I did this assignment again, I would separate the information

differently to make it more reader-friendly. I do not like the way that I displayed the

information. I do like the way the first page turned out because it is physically appealing

to the eyes. The other pages should be designed differently. Other than those few

issues, I am proud of my work.

A goal that I have is to be more organized and to stop procrastinating with my

assignments. If I wouldn’t have procrastinated those projects might have been exactly

what I designed in my head. I have been working on these two goals throughout this

first semester and have become a lot better than I was in high school. Both of these

skills will help me become a good teacher. Technology can help me be more organized

with my schedule and organize my documents and assignments.

Overall, I did not learn much from this course. If I did not take a course in high

school that used these projects, I would have learned more. I do know how I approach
technology and I am not scared to use it. When I become a teacher, I will be using

technology in my classroom to help my students in their learning.