Final Reflection on ICT course

In this entry I will reflect about the extensive use of ICT resources done in this course. Many tools have been provided to us in order to enhance our teaching methodology and therefore to improve the learning process of our students. We have learnt how to use a Blog, share information on Google Drive and Google +, how to create quite easily different quizzes using Hot Potatoes and summarize the importance of information using Wordmaps.

From my personal point of view, the most useful ones to me have been the use of a blog and wordmaps. I have always wanted to open a blog both for personal and professional uses. However, blogs seemed to me a costly investment that I always thought I did not have time to make. After this course, I will definitely dare to use this tool since I have seen that it is a very powerful, attractive and simple way to show information to students and follow their progression. Being able to create wordmaps so easily was also very surprising to me. I think it is a very visual tool in order to start a lesson and summarise the concepts and vocabulary to be used. As a by-product of this course, I have also incorporated new applications and lesson plans to my “virtual” library.

Regarding the use of ICT today in education, I think it is essential to teach our students how to use the massive information and resources they have on hand. We must be aware that nowadays we are not the only source of information that students use and hence how to analyse and filter all the external information becomes a quite important task.

The use of ICT for learning allows one to make this process a much more enjoying and fun experience since a wide variety of applications: videos, media, online quizzes, etc can be used. We should use these tools in a way that communication between students (by working in groups, using forums, etc) is improved since the opportunities to interact go beyond the classroom. However, we must ensure that personal interaction does not disappear. Surprisingly, they can promote also the interaction between teachers and students if they are used in the right way.