How can I continue developing my repertoire of effective technology and digital tools and strategies for integrating them into my instructional practice?

 In my research of ISTE standard 5, I focused on educational tools that could help me learn more about digital tools and strategies for using them in education. I am not currently working in a school yet, so I wanted to find some resources that I can use at home to continue the learning that has started in this course. One resource I found which offers free and/or inexpensive classes on teaching with technology is Coursera, a website that offers online university courses. I found several courses on Coursera on general courses on teaching with technology, which may not be helpful to me because of this course, and also on specific digital tools. I think these specific courses could help me dig deeper into topics that I have learned about in this course. For example, they offer a five week course on digital storytelling, which could be beneficial for me because instead of making a digital storytelling project for this class I created a WebQuest. I am interested in creating a digital storytelling project after this course is over, so I can go through the process with the structure of a course.

Even though I mainly focused on one aspect of the ISTE standard, I also learned about various ways of connecting with other teachers through technology during the Vialogues discussion and through an article posted by one of my classmates. I am not a big fan of Twitter or social media in general, but after learning about how it can be used to connect with other teachers I think it could be a helpful tool for me as I begin my career. The article posted by my classmate offered several other suggestions on how to connect with other teachers using social media. For example, Edutopia has a group that connects new teachers. When I briefly glanced over this group, I found various discussions, videos, and articles that focus on issues faced by new teachers that could be very helpful. 

References:

Coursera. Retrieved from https://www.coursera.org/browse/social-sciences?languages=en#education

Dabbs, L. (2012, August 7). 5 tips for new teachers to become connected educators. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/new-teachers-becoming-connected-educators-lisa-dabbs