Week 1: What I hope to get from this course

Having completed three of the CoETaIL courses with the first cohort, I've really had to think about what I hope to get from this first course.

Primarily, as with all the my professional courses, I hope to improve my teaching. More specifically, though, I hope to really reflect on how to make the best use of new resources. CoETaIL courses provide exposure to many interesting applications, ways of using resources that I haven't tried before, and much more. As much as I've learned in the courses I've taken so far, my way of thinking about each new idea has been limited, leading to similarly limited uses in the classroom. I'm hoping that since I will be more familiar with the software and technology on offer after the previous three courses, I will have the time to reflect more deeply on their potential roles in my courses.

Time to reflect is sometimes sacrificed when one is introduced to a world of new information - especially when other responsibilities remain undiminished. The end result may be proficiency but is unlikely to lead to innovation. With my personal and professional responsibilities already filling my days (filling them well and wonderfully, but still - filling them), I can't add much "work" time without unacceptable costs to my family. I hope to explore changes that will yield a rich reward for the time I invest - working smarter rather than harder, as they say.

My goal then, for this course, is to set aside the time to truly rethink some "standard operating procedures" in my classroom in order to develop a more integrated role for technology in instruction and learning. The resulting changes may not be flashy but if all goes well, they will be meaningful and will benefit my students.