Blog Post #5 - Reflection of Learning Goals

As I am introduced to new tools and technology, I am learning that I have a lot to become comfortable with using and ultimately introducing this 21st Century information to teachers and students. I consider myself technologically savvy especially when it is something that I am interested in knowing how to use it to benefit me personally. Over the last few weeks, I now know that I am not as technologically savvy as I thought. Throughout some of the assignments, I find myself struggling with how to approach what I am supposed to be doing. I find myself goggling what and how a specific part of the assignment should consist of. As a result, I know that my learning goals are on point because I am learning about different Web 2.0 tools I have never used or heard of as well as getting familiar and comfortable with posting and publishing a blog. Although I had a Twitter account prior to this class, I never really used it but now I have to post and/or respond to others tweets. One of the articles we read this week was about fostering and building a growth mindset. In the article titled Even Geniuses Work Hard (Dweck, Carol S.), the author stated, "there are two distinct ways in which individuals view intelligence and learning. Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence is simply an inborn trait—they have a certain amount, and that's that. In contrast, individuals with a growth mindset believe that they can develop their intelligence over time" (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007; Dweck, 1999, 2007). Of the two ways for individuals to view intelligence and learning, I consider myself to have a growth mindset. This is because I believe that we as a people never stop learning but you have to have to want to continue to learn and increase that knowledge over time. I know that having a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset is important in order to work in the fields of Instructional Technology and School Library Media Specialist. Both of these focus on the use of technology and being able to demonstrate and teach the various uses of technology for educational purposes as well as personal. Teachers and those in the education field that have a growth mindset will instill the importance for students to become lifelong learners in and out of school.