I am now able to use blogs, wikis and podcasts. I am optimistic that I will be able to incorporate these tools in my classroom as a way to increase student engagement and collaboration. I have already begun using a wiki to coordinate the activities of my Cub Scout Pack. The knowledge I acquired through this course will assist me in using the views of current educational trends to support an argument against resistance I might encounter to implementing technology-based, student-centered activities in my classroom. The Marc Prenski articles were especially enlightening. An interesting observation I have made recently leads me to believe that although students today are familiar with using the internet, they still need plenty of guidance in interpreting the information that they find. When given questions to research, they typed the entire question instead of using key words. Then they recorded the first likely looking answer without any reflection upon whether or not the answer was feasible. Critical thinking for 21st century learners. Because I have so recently completed my undergrad work, I believe my perspective on teaching was already student-centered. Thanks especially to one of my mentor teachers who modeled an excellent example of a student-centered classroom. However as a per-diem substitute teacher I did not have the opportunity to plan activities. In my new position as a long-term sub, I am looking forward to trying out some project-based learning activities in which the students create artifacts. I am sure that as I continue my studies with Walden University, my knowledge of learning, teaching and leading with technology will continue to expand. I also plan to follow a few good educational technology blogs through my RSS aggregator. My first and most important goal is to acquire a teaching position. It is difficult to transform a classroom environment when I don’t have my own classroom. I have just taken a big step toward that goal in accepting a long-term sub position. Completing this assignment successfully will build my resume and strengthen my qualifications for a permanent position. Unfortunately, the classroom does not have an interactive white board, which would have been my first choice for starting to integrate technology into lesson planning without access to 1:1 computers. It looks like I will have to be more strategic in planning activities around the availability of the computer labs. My second goal, once I obtain a permanent position, is to implement at least one new student-centered project-based learning activity which utilizes technology each month. And in successive years, reflect upon in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of each activity and continually strive to engage students by allowing them to use of tools they are familiar with.