Dr. Leah Dardis

This has been an interesting journey for me. I began this certification with the intention of learning the Web 2.0 tools that teachers are using in their classrooms and to help support the curriculum development work in our district. I feel that my personal learning goal was fulfilled and that I am better able to support the work. For the most part, the information was not new, but more reinforcing of the what I already understood about blended and online learning. This is because I spent close to 10 years facilitating online courses for in-service educators. The one module that was new was on design thinking. I do not think that I truly understand how to use it to its fullest potential. It seemed to have a better fit with work around the Science and Engineering standards for classroom work than how we used it here, at least in how my brain processes information. The other module that still requires attention is the accessibility one. On the surface, I recognize the critical importance it has to designing learning, but I still struggle with all the nuances in actualizing those practices, as seen in my resubmission of the syllabus. Lastly, I have found the course to be reaffirming in my belief that personalized learning can happen in the public schools and we are working our way towards practices that will support this way of learning.