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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Why am I majoring in Educational Technology?

Instructional design and educational technology seemed like an interesting area for me to focus on after completing all of my undergrad classes online.  I have always been in positions in my prior work experience where I have been asked to do training for new employees. I am often the person in a training session that is easily bored with the format (why I simply could not do in person classes) and is wondering how many others in the session are actually "getting it" in its current format.  I enjoy finding creative ways to convey new things to my kids and fellow workers.  I know that my learning style is not unique and that I am one of the first people to also say "hold on, I don't get it, is there another way you can explain it?"  For me, lectures are almost pointless.  I do not retain information simply by being told it.  I need hands on learning, visual examples, Venn diagrams, silly alliterations for acronyms. etc.  I have always felt that I did not live up to my potential in school (20 year ago) but I may have if learning was, well..... fun.  Yes, I know, go ahead and roll your eyes now.  It just seems like as our world advances with technological breakthroughs almost daily, we could all benefit from exploring it a little more.  I had used RSS feeds in the past, blogged, and recently discovered that my life is way more organized with an iPhone--but I'm not sure I have truly grasped just how much technology can open up my schedule to do other things.  Having my google docs available without having to worry about losing them on my hard drive, using my iGoogle homepage to view my RSS feed, blog comments, new gmail, calendar, etc. is something I am not completely relying on (yet).  It seems obvious that if technology can impact my personal life so much that it would be a no brainer in the classroom.  Ah, tis not so, $$$$$$$$.  Funding gaps often stand in the way of resources like "technology".  That is why I am hoping to learn about the free educational tools that are out there and help to show others how to use them in their personal lives and in their classroom.  This video is an example of how we can find ways to create very useful tools with very little money. 


2 comments:

  1. Hi Rachel, I use the Wii remote to make an interactive whiteboard and as a presenter on occasion. I can help if you want to make one and have any questions.

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  2. That sounds great! I just downloaded the software and will be making "the pen" tomorrow. I am hoping to test it out this week. Thanks Dale!

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