During my first and second years of studies, I remember being told that I was supposed to do the course called Educational Technology. Those who brought the news drove fear into me based on how they spoke about the course and to make matters worse, I was not fond of using technology. As a result, I totally ignored it during my second year which was the time it was able to fit on my time table without a clash. Instead, I clung on to that bit of false hope I was given by a few of my colleagues that we may be able to get exempted from the course. Little did I know that after my first two years of studies which started in 2014, I would face some issues thereafter which would cause my time at Shortwood Teachers College to be longer than expected. However, I was finally back in 2019. I was no longer able to play dodge the course so I had no choice but to face my fears.
I was scared, I felt out of place and I pondered about the days and weeks to come. During the first class, we were given the task of using an animal to describe ourselves in relation to technology. Sure enough, I used the ant because I felt so small compared to the giant called technology. However, after I shared, one classmate pointed out to me that I was missing out on the point that ants are capable of achieving an incredible amount of work and carry a great amount of weight despite their size. Although she might not have been aware, that statement gave me a ray of hope and I believe was the starting point of my growth in the course. Before engaging in the course, I definitely had no idea of how to create a movie, did not give much thought to audio recordings and did not even think to bother myself about creating brochures. However, with good instructions from our humble and patient lecturer, I was able to do all of the above and feel proud of the work I have produced. I especially loved the idea of the movie as it gave me a bit of leverage to gather a number of ideas (videos, pictures etc) and make them into one cohesive piece. I also think that audio recordings can be a simple, powerful and interesting tool in lesson if used properly. We explored the countless possibilities of how we could use recordings and how even the students could get excited doing their own recordings too. I look forward to adding these tools to my lessons to come.
The things I have become knowledgeable about in this course will not only be of help to me as an educator, but I am sure it will be beneficial to my fellow colleagues and most importantly, the students. ISTE (International Society for Technology In Education) is one of the major platforms that I now know of and its importance to the teaching and learning process. Exploration of this site has taught me that there are specific standards that must be kept in the forefront of our minds as we integrate technology in teaching and learning. Instead of seeing the learner as a blank slate or individuals with limited knowledge, ISTE taught me to see them as empowered learners, digital citizens, constructors of knowledge, innovative designers, computational thinkers, creative communicators and global collaborators. I call them the magic seven. It also reminded me that I also have a great responsibility to be a lifelong learner in order to keep abreast of the dynamic nature of technology in education. I must also embrace the responsibility of being an empowered leader, an inspired citizen, a willing collaborator, a creative designer, a humble facilitator and a dedicated analyst. I must say that the preconceived notions and fears that I had for the course slowly diminished as the weeks rolled on. Yes, there were challenging weeks, especially since I had to balance more courses than usual. However, I believe the objectives of this course were met. What can I put forward to back this bold statement? Simply put, the work produced week after week by my colleagues was beyond that which I imagined. One specific classmate who is seen as the ‘dinosaur’ of the group (which is how she described herself in relation to technology (extinct), could be seen making steady strides forward week after week. I was very proud of her growth and yes, mine as well. Going forward, I believe that more effort must be made by the college to upgrade the labs and equip them with adequate resources. This would make it much easier for lecturers as well as students engaged in these courses to be better able to carry out our obligations. Having reliable internet access, working computers and backup generators in case of a power outage would definitely need to be a part of this upgrade.