New Technology Assessment

At the beginning of the semester, we were asked to asses our strengths and weaknesses in technology. Since that time we have learned much about technology that I had not even heard about until this semester, and my mind has been stretched and challenged as I think of ways to continually incorporate this technology in my music classroom.

In my first technology assessment, I acknowledged the technology I use in my classroom (SmartBoards, projector, the Internet, etc.) and how learning about these new technologies excited me and my students, and gave me new ways to teach concepts that can be difficult to understand. Using technologies such as these allow me to provide hands-on, interactive experiences for my students. I stated that my greatest technological strength is my willingness to learn and grow and incorporate these formerly unfamiliar technologies into my everyday classroom. I feel that this is still one of my strengths.

While I said at the beginning of the year that my greatest weakness was my insecurity in using new technology, for fear of not understanding or being familiar enough with the technology to use it effectively, I feel as though I have grown in this over the course of the semester. While I am still intimidated by some technology (or my lack of mastery of it), I am finding that, as I interact more frequently with it, I become more familiar and confident. When learning about Web 2.0, it was observed through articles and through the texts that the Internet is no longer a place for the technologically savvy, but for the end user. It is because of this that I, a normal, 20-something music teacher, am able to use the Internet to link to other people and places, take my children on virtual field trips, learn how to create and manage a podcast, and use tagging websites to organize the mass of information that I find to be useful on the web. Where in the past I have shied away from new concepts or ideas (I never would have visited a site like Delicious for fear of not knowing what to do), I now find myself excited about looking for new technologies and new ways to incorporate that technology in purposeful ways.

I am still afraid that I will always be a step behind today's technological advances, but I am getting there. With each technology that is introduced, I must step out in courage and give it a try- analyze it, play with it, and decide if it is something that is worth my time and energy in the classroom. If it is, I am excited to keep learning through technology with my kids.