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** Jennifer Coleman EDLD 5364: Teaching with Technology **

The content of this class is incredibily applicable to my current job postion as a district Instructional Technologist. In fact, I think it may have a profound impact on my strategies for instrucitonal technology implementation and integration. I think it may have already. I am actually really inspired by what I've read this week, which gives me great hope for things to come.
 * Week 1 Posting: **

**What have I learned?** I align my instructional approach mostly to the Constructivism Theory, I apply the idea that a dynamic instructional environment should be "learner-centered" where theory is connected to practice and the student is the "thinker, creator, and constructor" to lessons learned. One thought-altering quote this week was shared in the article, //If I Teach This Way, Am I Doing My Job: Constructivism in the Classroom//, which said, "Technology is not the key to the learning experience, just the infrastructure that makes the efforts productive and sustainable." Technology is //NOT// the key - **teachers** who create a student-centered, meaningful, and engaging learning environment //are the key//. Those statements altered my perception of my role in instructional technology. //That is huge.//
 * Constructivism Theory:**

While Connectivism Theory and the Cyborg Learning Theory have concepts that I can understand, I have a difficult time accepting and following those theories as a practical way to teach and learn. I understand that Connectivism Theory is learning for the digital age - making connections to information, others, ideas, feelings. Popular speaker, Seth Godin, says that there are three things we should question on a daily basis: Who are you upsetting?, Who are you connecting? and Who are you leading? I do accept the reality that diversity of opinions leads to learning, but I fall short in understanding how to accomplish the goals and objectives at the end of class if we're focusing on simply making the connections. Last, The Cyborg Learning Therory asserts that "technology will increasingly merge with human identity, and because society does value the human experience, education must train the next generation to face its unknown future with creatvie facination, not sifling fear." Okay, apparently, I have bit of that stifling fear within me. I certainily do not see technology as "foreign" or "alien". I see technology as a vital, increasingly essential resource; but, not so much an extention of ourselves.
 * Connectivism Theory and Cyborg Learning Theory:**