CUIN 7318 Course Reflections
Summer 2013
What are your three most favorite course topics? Why are they your favorite?
- Ethics, Copyright and Fair Use. This topic is almost avoided in many circles, mostly because it seems like no one really knows the answers. This helped to clarify and illustrate the importance of it.
- Bring Your Own Device because it seems like the most realistic and viable option for providing students with access to technology.
- Information and Communications Technology because the U.S. often seems to operate in a vaccuum, and its eyeopening to see how other countries of the world are doing it (or not doing it) when it comes to ICT.
How have the issues studied in this course affected your teaching practice and/or your thinking about education in general?
This course has been excellent for opening my eyes to the types of tools available to me for classroom use and how that can be integrated into my instruction. Gaining experience in asynchronous instruction has given me new ideas for instruction with my own students. Examining current trends in technology and online learning has helped me to see where things are headed in education, what is working, and what needs to be improved. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it has shown me how educational technology need not--and in fact should not--be taught in isolation. Technology is integrated into almost every facet of our lives, so it makes sense to apply it to learning.
What other topics, that we did not study, would you suggest for next summer’s IT Issues course (CUIN 7319)?
*The success, setbacks, and adjustments made using e-readers. I assume kids are adapting well to these, since many are now starting off using them. As an adult I go back and forth . . . literally and figuratively. I love having an e-reader for convenience, but I also love a hardcopy and love highlight and make notes in the margins. I do this to some degree with e-readers, but it’s not the same. I wonder what the research says about how kids are interfacing with this. Is everyone ready to abandon the hardcopy?!
*More investigation into the Reverse or Flipped Classroom
What was the most challenging in this course? What was the most fulfilling?
I was extremely intimidated at first by the sheer volume of work. From the first class, we seemed to hit floor running. I think this was especially hard for me being that the class finished while I was finishing up my school year, and that I was leaving for the study trip to Boston immediately after the school year ended. However, once I got situated and into the groove, it seemed to get better and better. I really enjoyed the variety of topics and the variety of presentation software that we used and were exposed to.
Any other general course reflections you want to share?
It was a great course! It was not an easy course, but I learned a lot, and feel stronger and more prepared for it. Thank you.