Education 2740 Concluding Thoughts
In a very short 8 weeks, I have learned a great deal about the theory and practice of utilizing multimedia technology in education. From my previous pedagogical viewpoint, I now have such a better understanding of why and how incorporating multimedia can not only create a more engaging and interesting environment to motivate my students, but more importantly, why and how integrating multimedia can actually help my students more efficiently and effectively learn. As a student, I learned not only the basics of accessing information and technology on the web and uploading them into the Blackboard system, but I learned so many great tools to create very professional multimedia presentations with almost no cost and with great ease. This course was absolutely the best practical learning, because I can apply the projects I made in this class to the classes that I teach immediately.
I already implemented my Voicethread and Brainshark presentations to my courses, and presented them to my current students. The other presentations are ready and will be used next semester to benefit my future students. My plan is to revise quite a few of my lectures and course curriculum to permanently integrate more effective multimedia presentations into my teaching methodology and practice. I will also be revising student assignments so that my students can become more visually literate, and so they can learn how to communicate and demonstrate their knowledge through multimedia. Finally, I will also be revising the standard department course shell that I used this semester with my online courses to match my new philosophies on the use of multimedia to create a more effective and personalized online learning environment.
As a professional in both fields of psychology and photography, my teaching methodologies have been acquired through on the job learning and with very little education training over the last 11 years. I think it is very common place for college instructors to have professional skills in specialized areas, but no formal training as a teacher. This course has helped me fill in a few of the gaps in my own learning, especially in utilizing technology as a part of my teaching strategies in the classroom and online. As I continue to take courses in the TOUT certificate program, these courses will provide me the information I am looking for to continue to increase my knowledge and skills so that I can become an even more effective and successful college educator.
I already implemented my Voicethread and Brainshark presentations to my courses, and presented them to my current students. The other presentations are ready and will be used next semester to benefit my future students. My plan is to revise quite a few of my lectures and course curriculum to permanently integrate more effective multimedia presentations into my teaching methodology and practice. I will also be revising student assignments so that my students can become more visually literate, and so they can learn how to communicate and demonstrate their knowledge through multimedia. Finally, I will also be revising the standard department course shell that I used this semester with my online courses to match my new philosophies on the use of multimedia to create a more effective and personalized online learning environment.
As a professional in both fields of psychology and photography, my teaching methodologies have been acquired through on the job learning and with very little education training over the last 11 years. I think it is very common place for college instructors to have professional skills in specialized areas, but no formal training as a teacher. This course has helped me fill in a few of the gaps in my own learning, especially in utilizing technology as a part of my teaching strategies in the classroom and online. As I continue to take courses in the TOUT certificate program, these courses will provide me the information I am looking for to continue to increase my knowledge and skills so that I can become an even more effective and successful college educator.