The end for 515

First,I wish to thank my group members for being great to work with, it truly has been a great experience cooperating and connecting with you.
The good thing about a course like this is that we are exposed to a lot of new and exciting technologies, and the problem with this course is that we are introduced to a lot of new and exciting technologies. What I mean by that is that the amount of new information is really overwhelming for me over the course of six weeks. If it was at a slower pace, and introduced one "thing" at a time, where I would really have time to, not master, but at least work with a program a little more, probably would be helpful. But I understand that this is not the way these courses are done and it is my responsibility to go back and learn more about the items that I think would be useful in my position as LMS. I will say that I have gotten really familiar with googledocs through this course. Can't say that I am totally thrilled about all aspects of googledocs, but I sure love the collaborative part of it.
I understand that technology can not help students to learn any better than the old way, but if the students are more engaged, maybe it will help some students to do better. It is our responsibility, as educators, to put together meaningful lesson plans that are based on standards or learning targets, and then find the right technology to support the lesson.
Also, I have to remember that all these cloud applications are fine and dandy, but we can use what we have already to create lessons. In the last week I have put together two web quests for students; I never thought of webquests as "technology", but according to our text they are.
A big problem in the schools these days is "thinking", for some reason, ours or parents, students do not want to think anymore. When I put a "think" question on a paper, they don't understand!So maybe we can design lessons with technology that will put students back in the thinking mode.
There are many problems in implementing "technology in a school, lack of understanding by administrators, lack of time for the teachers, lack of training, lack of access, and disinterest ("I've done it this way my whole teaching career, why should I change?") BUT what starts with a trickle will turn into a stream and then into a river. An example. A couple of weeks ago I was at a 2.0 conference with a 7/8 grade teacher, he came back and made a wiki for his classroom. Now other teachers are asking to learn.
The pat old saying is probably correct, JUST DO IT.
Thanks.