The End of an Era

 

"Goodbye Stop" by Peter Kaminski is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Hello and goodbye, everyone. This is my last post for this semester, and there are some reflective questions about the whole semester that I will talk about.

1 What are the strengths and weakness of the course?

I think the most outstanding strength of this lesson was how useful it is for teachers who will be working in the future and educating learners of the future—a future that is far away from now and that requires the use of technology. As for the weaknesses, I think the large class size made it a bit hard to implement technologies in the classroom. For example, if there were only 20 people in the class, we could have used the PC labs more effectively to try out the technologies we learned.

2 What did you find easy or difficult about the course?

The lesson was easy in terms of the technologies we used, such as AI and ChatGPT, because we were familiar with these types of tools. However, this lesson had a foundational prerequisite course last year, and I didn’t have the chance to take that lesson. So, at the beginning, it was hard for me because I didn’t know how to publish blogs or create materials. Nevertheless, with the help of my friends, I managed to do it.

3 What was your most and least favourite task?

My favorite task we did was probably the AR activity. I was so excited when I learned that we were going to explore a city abroad. Since I did my exchange studies last year, I loved talking about Copenhagen, and it was a really enjoyable task to complete. My least favorite task would be the flipped video because I get a bit anxious when I have to include something personal, like my own video or voice, in the materials I create. For this reason, it was my least favorite task. 

4 What would be your suggestion to improve it?

As I mentioned, the only drawback of this lesson was the difficulty in implementing technologies in the classroom due to the lack of access to computers or appropriate resources. However, I understand that with such a large class size, it would be nearly impossible to address this issue.

5 What would you tell to the students who would take this course next year?

For the students who will take this lesson next year, I would advise them to make sure they are comfortable using technologies and tools like Canva. Canva was the tool we used most frequently, and we created many materials with it. It was very helpful and made creating materials much easier. I would say they must familiarize themselves with it and similar tools.

6 How would this course contribute to your professional development?

I think I learned a lot about technology through this course. For instance, I didn’t know the difference between AR and AI before or how we can use them to support teaching. Now, I understand how to ensure our students use these tools beneficially. As a pre-service teacher who will work with children in the future, I believe integrating such tools into education is essential.

So, thank you to everyone who followed my blog throughout the semester. This is goodbye for now. I’ll see you in my next technology course. Stay tuned! Bye!
XOXO, Gossip Boy