In reflecting on the past few weeks of inquiry, it is hard to pick one aspect as being most beneficial as a takeaway. I have found a lot of helpful and creative elements that I will take away with me from the course so far.

To start, I have found reading fellow classmates blogs and the practice of blogging myself very valuable. As silly as it may sound, I used to view blogging as a very intimidating activity and because I hadn’t read many blogs before (apart from some travel blogs of those touring around the world) I didn’t realize the value in not only writing blogs, but reading blogs. I didn’t realise they were just to share information as much as they are. I guess I assumed it was more of an online diary type tool. Because of the act of blogging, I’ve discovered many new apps, ideas and literature from my fellow classmates. Furthermore, I’m encouraged to start my own blog for the classroom, which is a task I see as manageable with my schedule and beneficial to my teaching practice. As well, the technology skills I’ve taken away from blogging are still very basic yet I feel as though I have learned a lot to do with linking, embedding videos, and the like.

Secondly, I found the inquiry about developing my own ICT skills helpful because it really made me consider what can I do, what am I willing to try to do and what will I actually do. I really liked how we were forced to answer what would we do after this course is over. Having to answer a question like makes me personally feel accountable that I uphold what I say I will continue to do. Likewise, I enjoyed learning about PLN’s. I think I learned the most in this inquiry from my classmates because I wasn’t very familiar with PLNs before this topic was brought about. Although I soon realized I had PLNs, it’s definitely something that I want to work towards developing and utilizing throughout my teaching career.

Students getting creative and collaborating -something I would like to do more of!

Lastly, I’m really glad that we were able to research into different libraries around the world in developing countries. Social responsibility is something I am passionate about and hope to include in my teaching as much as possible. It was really nice to see how technology intertwined with this subject and to read about all the great initiatives that are happening globally. Not only did it fill me with a lot of hope, it also made me really appreciate what we have in our school districts. It is sometimes easy in this day and age to wish our schools had this resource or that book, but when looking at what people around the world are making do with, it sure makes you grateful and inspired to get more creative with what you have.

Thank you classmates for sharing your great ideas, reflections and skills with me throughout our inquiry period of this class. Great job on your blogs so far!