Rating My Technology Tools

Rating my technology tools has forced me to take a good look at the different ways I have used these tools, and the purpose they served. But before I even began to rate them, I created a rubric with three simple categories: user friendly, navigation, and application variety with a score of 3 being the highest, and 1 being the lowest. And as I reflected on the specific purpose I used them for, the rating became easier, although there were one or two that I had to take another look at, because I had either not used it enough, or not at all.

The best thing I enjoyed about this assignment was that it reinforced what I already knew about myself and technological knowledge and application. And this is that I need to, as Dr. Cyrus puts it "step out of your comfort zone". And this is something I can attest to because I came into this class feeling I already knew enough technology to survive as a teacher. This was definitely not true as I found out on the first week of class.

Opening a delcious account and bookmarking, using Google applications creating spreadsheets and other documents, and the greatest thing- creating my very first website. This was truly amazing to me, and although I now know how to use these tools, I am now not as hesitant to try other new tools. In fact I feel that with plenty of practice and exploration, I will gradually become a more technologically competent secondary teacher.

In completing this assignment I feel it reflects the NETS*T 2c standard which generally states that teachers will provide student learning activities “using digital tools”(2008 International Society for Technology in Education). As an example, in my ASSURE lesson plan (ASSURE Model)I incorporated a requirement for the creation of a spreadsheet and graph by student groups, in which the students would be previously taught how to create. And the technology tools I used in creating the lesson plan were found at google documents and images, which were then formatted and submitted through my website.

References:

2008 International Society for Technology in Education (Retrieved on 6/21/10)
https://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS
_T_Standards_Final.pdf


The ASSURE Model (Retrieved on 6/21/10)
http://www2.unca.edu/education/edtech/techcourse/assure.htm