Author: Michelle Harris

Digital Technologies Final Reflection – 19th March 2019

At the beginning of this module I found myself to be rather anxious about blogging and others being able to view and critique my work. I have found the blogging experience useful to reflect upon my experiences during the module and have enjoyed being able to look back at these reflections and remind myself of the difficulties and successes that I have experienced. It has also been an excellent way to document the different resources and lesson ideas that my cohort and I have used during the module.

I hope to utilise the use of Glow Blogs as a practitioner in the future to allow my students the experience of using bogs to reflect on their work and to be able to view others’ reflections. I will, however, keep in mind how I felt at the beginning of this experience and will definitely share my experience with my students. This will ensure greater collaboration and creativity in my students and allows a greater chance of collaboration for parents with schools and learners (Holmes, J. 2016).

Children are beginning school as “digital natives”, with much more advanced technological skills than in previous generations, and it is essential the educators are equipped with the tools and confidence to nurture and develop the skills that children have within digital technologies in order to shape them into adults who are able to interact and be a part of society (Prensky, 2001).

The Scottish Government is committed to raising attainment through digital technologies and has produced a document which sets out key aims in order to embed digital technologies into the Curriculum for Excellence to ensure that pupils benefit from digital technologies throughout their school career (Scottish Government, 2016). The aims of this document and the fact that digital technologies are ever changing mean that I must remain committed to lifelong learning in terms of digital technology. This module has confirmed that I must continue to look at and practice digital technologies for use within the classroom to ensure that I am aware of new resources and am confident in using these resources.

During this module I have learned about and explored many resources, some which were new to me and some that I have previous experience with. I have experienced successes with some of these resources and need to look into some more to feel confident using them. I will endeavour to look into the resources that I need to develop my confidence in order to bring this confidence into the classroom.

Having experience within classrooms, particularly ASN classrooms, as a school support assistant as well as volunteering within a primary school whilst studying means that I have experience of how different schools and classrooms utilise digital technologies. The use of digital technologies within additional needs classrooms provides students with many benefits including them being used as communication aids, increasing independence and reducing anxiety. The use of digital technologies within additional needs classrooms, or with children with additional needs within a mainstream classroom can help to break barriers for children with additional needs (Beauchamp, 2012 P.53-57). During this module I have delved deeper into why technology is beneficial for those with additional needs and feel that digital technologies should be used within all classrooms to ensure that barriers to learning are minimised for children with additional needs.

Overall, I am delighted that I chose the digital technologies module. I was already aware of how digital technologies helped children within the classroom, however, this module has taught me several important things including:

  • Digital technologies should be used, not only during ICT time within the classroom, to enhance all areas of the curriculum and should be embedded into the curriculum seamlessly.
  • Technologies are embedded into our society and children need to be taught the skills to use these technologies well and by confident practitioners.
  • Using digital technologies teaches students valuable transferable skills including communication, problem solving, collaboration, risk taking, teamwork and turn-taking.
  • I must be committed to lifelong learning and continue to research all aspects of digital technologies within the classroom in order to remain confident when delivering lessons.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this module. It has been challenging, informative and very engaging. I look forward to continuing to reflect on my skills and experiences during my time at university.

 

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