Blog Post 1: Technology Strengths and Weakness

As a millennial, I grew up using technology at home, as well as at school, to enhance experiences. This use of technology from a young age is a strength in my opinion, since technology does not seem like a foreign or uncomfortable realm to explore. Technology helps depict ideas and concepts in more creative and innovative ways, which help students stay interested in the content they are learning. Another technology strength would be that I do not always go about the same process as others, and with technology, there is not just one right way to do something. There are many different avenues that one can go to get to the same destination, whether that is through different applications or programs. One my technology weaknesses would have to be on-going professional learning, rather than academic learning. I do not have technology-related professional learning experience with computers, other than brief internships and have not had many opportunities to dedicate time to practice and share ideas professionally (ISTE: Essential Conditions, 2015). To overcome this weakness, I need to become more involved in professional growth and practice. The Standards: Teachers list on the ISTE website suggests "participating in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning" (ISTE: Standards: Teachers, 2015).
I am currently not an educator within a school setting. I am a yoga instructor, and therefore teach adults and children through movement and language, rather than technology. If I were an educator, I would plan to use my technology strengths to demonstrate to students how useful and interesting technology is. I would like to showcase how technology can be used effectively to benefit their daily lives, academically and recreationally. The benefits of technology are vast and showing them different avenues for technology, they may not have thought of, would be a fun process to teach. I still have much to learn about technology to improve my instructional strategies. I would like to learn which learning strategies are best for each student's needs, to help personalize their technological experiences. Not surprisingly, I currently am most familiar with my needs, and therefore would be not the best equipped to help a student easily discover which digital tools and resources are best for them. I could do it, but I think it would be a more lengthy trial and error process. To improve that, I would study more of the digital tools and resources available so I could better assist others.

ISTE: Essential Conditions. (2015). Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://www.iste.org

ISTE: Standards: Teachers. (2015). Retrieved January 31, 2015, from http://www.iste.org