A Successful Change Agent - Reflection

As my final class at Walden University (New and Emerging Technologies) comes to an end I feel confident that my quest to implement technology in the classroom will not. I feel that it is not only my duty to continue my efforts to use technology in my classroom, but that I need to advocate for other teachers to change as well. During week 6 and 7 of this course, I was able to create a lesson that used gaming to teach an ecology unit and explored options that would allow my school to receive a grant. I was amazed at how much is offered online and how inexpensive it can be. In fact, the lesson that I designed uses a free program offered through jason.org. The program is funded by donations and grants received from scientific organizations and is able to offer free resources to science teachers. This assignment is just one of many lessons that I will create that use technology instead of traditional teaching methods. The technology allows for more effective teaching and also provides differentiaton to the curriculum that I teach. It allows for students to learn at their own pace and accommodates for many problems that they might have. It will take time, persistence, and the help of others, but I am confident that I will be able to improve my classes and I hope that I will be able to influence other teachers to do the same. People in general, and especially teachers, are resistant to change. I believe that the best way to get others to change is to lead by example. Once kids start going into other classes and talking about how cool mine was, I think that other teachers will be more receptive to change. If not, I will just have to keep trying and bring along as many as I can.