Final Thoughts on ED5410

Final Thoughts.  I'm very appreciative for all the work and assistance by Dr. Smirnova. In all honesty, this was of the most challenging classes I've taken at the college. I strongly considered opting out and trying again in the Fall but I do not quit. My intent was to stay the course and more importantly, learn something new !

I've learned so much in the last 5 weeks that I simply wished we had more time. We were able to witness firsthand the idea of the flipped classroom, learning based on less teaching. I am very thankful to read and research the selected theorists mentioned in the course.

I stand by my belief that constructivism in teaching is a practical and effective approach. No theory stands alone which is why I embrace all of the work done by the theorists in helping us to understand how children learn. I often thought that the development of learning was rather quit simple entering the course. I now realize that it is much more complex than I thought. Rather, I now reflect on how I look at myself as a learner; kinestic and hands on.

I'm grateful for the presentations given by my fellow classmates introducing us to Vygotsky, Montessori, Gardner and my pick, Jerome Bruner. Piaget and Skinner should not be left out. Importantly, each makes a major contribution to the study of education and research in learning.

Throughout this course, I further learned about several new software and applications that I never knew existed. All of which by the way i am now using, including :Google doc,  Google Share and presentations, Kahoot - online game for the classroom, Prezi for presentations, Aboutme.com, Livebinder - e-folio, screencast-o-matic, bubbl.us - for maps and several more.

Thank you again for ED5410. I look forward to exploring again in the near future !