Sandbox for Professional Growth

My digital portfolio has allowed me to, not only display an array of different digital tools that I have had a chance to work with over the time spent in this CEP 813 course, but has provided me with a sandbox for professional growth as I get closer and closer to achieving my goals of an instructor. Currently being a TA has opened my world up to the other side of education, the one where I am helping instruct and not the one who is on the receiving end of the instruction. As much as I love being a TA, it does not afford me the luxury of incorporating digital tools such as Google Docs, Blackboard CourseSites, Wix, Minecraftedu, Sceencast-O-Matic and other CMS tools that might be able to enhance the course and engage the students in the material. Throughout this CEP 813 course, I have the opportunity to gain a glimpse into the digital world of education, as well as dabble in different digital tools that have opened my eyes to an entirely new approach to teaching. I always knew that when I became an instructor, I would teach online, so this has been extremely beneficial to me as an “instructor in training. I have had the chance to work with so many different digital tools and found that some may work very well in the “Healthcare and Religion” course I am currently helping to instruct, while others may be geared towards a younger group of students.

This digital portfolio will be a wonderful reference to have when I start to create my own classes and search for the digital tools I believe will be optimal to my students’ educations. I am aware that it can be difficult to engage students in a physical classroom setting and I believe, from my limited experience, that it may be even more difficult to engage them in a digital classroom. That being said, I have found that something like Minecraft, a game that could be utilized to teach younger students, could also help engage older students as well. I would have never thought to incorporate a game into my pedagogy but it just makes sense to make do something that makes learning more enjoyable for my students. I cannot say with absolutely certainty that I would use Minecraft in my courses but knowing that it could be used and that it may be a way to help hold my students’ attention makes it a tool I will definitely consider. This course has allowed me to create activities and assessments that I plan on using the foundation of my pedagogy once I am able to instruct my own courses. While the students I help instruct at the moment will not be engaging in these activities or assessments, understanding these digital tools has allowed me to gain some perspective of what may help them understand the course material more adequately. My digital portfolio will always be a resource I can use as a frame of reference when it comes time for me to evolve from a TA to an instructor.