Final "Portfolio" Reflection #2

What have I learned in class, and how have I changed because of the class? Wow! This post could be lengthy, but much of it I covered in the previous post, so I'll just add a few more comments here.

This class was the perfect class for me at the perfect time. First, both "fortuitous" and "serendipitous" come to mind as I try to describe that day back in August 2008 when I decided to check the UMN course schedule one last time. I don't know how I had overlooked the course before; I don't know if the double-numbering (5475/5330) threw me off, or if the 5330 description wasn't added until later on. However, I do know that the certificate program I am in did not leave a lot of "wiggle room" in terms of electives; perhaps that also partially blinded me, until I decided I might be able to petition for a change, which I did.

Second, I am grateful to be on sabbatical, to have the time to devote to the course, to be able to find my way about the course and all the "digital tools" without the distractions I would have if I were teaching at the same time. I don't know how my colleagues/classmates in this class, who are also teaching, can do it. I'm sure they're doing just fine, but I've never been one who works well with many things going on all at once.

Finally, this class provided the structure and learning environment I needed, especially for this particular topic. I don't know if I would have taken on "Digital Writing" on my own, and I don't think I would have learned as much if I had tried to do it on my own. But I do know that my comfort level -- with technology in general, and with the "digital tools" we've covered in particular -- has risen immensely. I feel I will be able to return to the classroom in the Fall of 2009, not only ready to include some of these things in my courses, but also able to introduce them with a fair measure of confidence.

I do know, however, that I need to do more thinking and brainstorming about specific applications of the digital tools I have learned:

• What, exactly, am I going to ask my students to contribute to the class wiki?
• How, exactly, am I going to ask my students to conduct peer reviews?
• Am I going to ask my students to blog, and, if so, about what?
• I know I'm going to include an "interactive presentation" as part of my course, but what is going to be the assignment, or the topic, for these presentations?

I expected that this course would answer many of my questions about technology, and about teaching with technology -- and it has. It has even answered questions I didn't know I had. But, equally importantly and frustratingly, it has raised even more questions that I still don't know the answers to. But this happens to good teachers, right? It's the not-so-good teachers who neither ask questions nor seek to answer them -- the "cruise-control-set-on-retirement" teachers. And, unfortunately, they are out there.