Final Reflection

“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” – Sir Winston Churchill

I reflected this week on my learning during EDES 501 and realized that while I still have a lot to learn, I have moved beyond the beginning. The path was well laid out through course expectations but it was not always smooth and occasionally I felt that it was unsurpassable. However, with the guidance of our knowledgeable professor and the encouragement from reading and discussing Web 2.0 with my colleagues I have felt a sense of accomplishment and anticipation to continue along the path.

Initially, the course challenged my personal comfort level with regards to publishing my learning to a global audience through blogging. Up to this point, my learning had always been private, shared only with my professors and sometimes with my colleagues. This resulted in many sleepless nights as I continually reread and revised my posts. After blogging for a few months, I am now more comfortable with having my learning “on display” as I realize the value of sharing thoughts, ideas, and knowledge far outweighs my insecurities. This shift in thinking was due not only to blogging weekly but also to reading the blogs of my colleagues as they fearlessly shared their own learning during the course.

Each week we had the opportunity to focus on and explore a new Web 2.0 tool. The majority of these tools were ones that I had only heard of and found that I had a lot of research to do in order to understand and use these tools. I was able to set up my own account for some of these tools quickly and easily whereas others proved more frustrating. The trailfires created by our professor, which included the fantastic “Plain English” series on YouTube, and Will Richardson’s book ““Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms” were invaluable during this process. In the end, social bookmarking was the easiest tool for me as I had some prior knowledge about it and I have found it to be quite useful professionally. Podcasting was enjoyable but the most challenging to set up and include in my blog. In fact, I still need to learn how to embed video and sound properly. Overall, I am left with a sense of satisfaction as I managed to persevere and meet the weekly goals.

My next challenge now is to take the time to revisit each Web 2.0 tool, become more adept at it’s use, and determine how and when to implement it in my classroom and library, as well as share these tools with school staff. My teaching partner and I recently received a laptop to use in our classroom and this will help to facilitate setting up a class blog. I envision using the class blog initially for Language Arts as we are currently focusing on the writing process and criteria for ‘good writing’ and will be starting literature circles in the New Year. Students will benefit from sharing their writing and discussing their books with each other through the class blog. The only concern is the availability of the computer lab as some of our students do not have access to computers outside of school and, due to transportation requirements, are not able to come to school early or stay after-school to use computers. In addition to a class blog, I would also like to create a virtual school library or at least go further than the current photo and school name that represents my school’s library. A school library site would allow for the sharing of all the many great books we currently have in the library and showcase student learning.

As the beginning ends, I am extremely grateful for all that I have learned from my colleagues and my professor and all that they have inspired me to learn. Many great sites and books were shared through their blogs and on our class discussion site. Reading about my colleagues experiences with each Web 2.0 tool furthered my own knowledge and understanding. I wish everyone the very best and am hopeful that we will have the opportunity to learn together again.