In looking back at the past few years participating the ILT program, I enjoy seeing the changes I have made not only as a teacher, but also on a personal level.

As a teacher, I have strongly based my instruction on Constructivist learning theories.   Confucius once said, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”   By participating in the learning process and using critical thinking skills to analyze a problem, students are able to create their own understanding of issues that is more meaningful to them.   Technology offers many approaches for incorporating constructivist learning.   For example, students can complete research on the Internet, use a word processing program to write up their findings, and use a paint program to make illustrations.   Granted, all of these activities could be completed without the use of technology.   However, students are motivated by technology to a greater extent that I feel they benefit more from technology related instruction.   

As technology is constantly changing, teachers are being taken out of the role of “director” of learning and put in a facilitator role. As I have increased my knowledge base in technology, I have especially enjoyed developing this facilitator role in my classroom. As a facilitator, I can see the students discovering concepts for themselves and creating their own knowledge in the process.   With this type of learning, I feel the possibilities that students have are endless.

I have always viewed myself as a willing learner, especially with regards to technology. I have found the ILT program at the University of Colorado at Denver has inspired me to want to learn even more about the potential that technology has in Education. I have always enjoyed trying to figure out how things work on my own, but realize that I, alone, have limited capabilities. The ILT program has taught me to be more resourceful, and this is a quality that I am now emphasizing to my students.  

In working with computers, I have found that if something can go wrong, inevitably it will go wrong.   Therefore, a person who works with technology must possess a great deal of patience and flexibility, which I view as two of my greatest strengths.    Over the past few years, I have found I am most at ease working with the Macintosh platform, but I also teach using the PC platform.   There are benefits to both, and I wish for my students to recognize this.

With my increasing skills in technology, I have begun teaching a class in computer foundations, which I have found to have its challenges.   Within the course of a quarter the students are instructed in the fundamentals of computing, and how computers can be of use to them in their future.  In teaching this course, I have been able to implement various learning activities based on improving critical thinking skills when evaluating web resources, and centered my action research project around this. I have also made the adjustment from being a Science teacher to a computer teacher, which has been interesting. This year I have confronted dilemmas regarding underqualified educators teaching about technology. While the No Child Left Behind Act requires that teachers be endorsed in specific areas, I have found that NCLB has not yet reached the elective classroom. I am frustrated knowing that while I am doing as much as I can to be a qualified, competent technology teacher, it is a position that can be filled by anyone, no matter the qualifications. It is my hope that as technology is incorporated into education, this may change.

A major long-term goal of mine has been to successfully complete the Information and Learning Technology Master's Program.   The importance of education is a value that has been instilled to me by my family, and I feel that furthering my knowledge on a daily basis helps me to develop into a better person as a whole. To know that I will achieve this goal in my early years of teaching gives me a great deal of pride. 

My other long-term goal is to obtain a technology position in an elementary or middle school where I would be able to assist teachers and students to access available technology resources and utilize them in the best possible ways.   I feel there is a need for both teacher and student assistance with technology related issues, and I have found that I enjoy taking on such a role. Upon completion of the Master's in ILT, my goal is to transition into this type of a position in an educational environment within the next two years.

I am very excited to see what direction the future will take me, and how technology will effect it.