Reflection

A Reflection on Independent Study – Georgetown College – SP2012
Lucas M. Gravitt

            As I was deciding on which technology elective to take this spring, I am so very glad that no class being offered interested me.  Not to say that Georgetown College does not offer good classes, but I truly was not interested in any being offered during this semester.  After working with Dr. Andrea Peach, I designed this independent study course to explore the use of mobile devices in the classroom, evaluate applications currently designed, and to learn how to design my own application.  It was a fun time indeed.

            As I began on my journey (as I called it frequently on my blog site), I was excited to research and find articles pertaining to the topics in which I was interested.  After scouring over probably 30 articles, I had found 12 that made sense for me to write a reaction blog post about.  This really gave me an idea of where the world of technology in education was, where it has been, and where it is going.  Having posted my reactions and reviews on the blog (and subsequently on Twitter and Facebook), I was quite excited to see that there were more than a few people reading my posts and enjoying what I had to say.  To date, I have had nearly 300 viewers on my blog, from nine different countries (in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia).  One thing I learned during the process was completely not predicted; with social media, one can truly be connected with the world. 

            After attending the KySTE conference in Louisville in March, I was reinvigorated in my quest of app development.  Having attended several great sessions of apps, use of iPods/iPhones/iPads in the classroom, I came away with a greater awareness of the power of technology.  One session in particular spoke volumes to me: Build Your Own App.  Even though the presenter had some technology glitches, she shared a variety of methods of how one can create their own app, and discussed how to go through the process of becoming an Apple Developer to be able to place your app on the marketplace (I’m at that stage now).  I am forever grateful for the experience and I highly recommend this conference to any teacher or administrator.

            As I began to make my app, after reading about XCode and other app coding wares, I realized that without several hours each day, I needed to find a nice template to help my design.  I chose to use ibuildapp.com to help me on this process.  I played around with graphics some, decided exactly what it was that I wanted to present, and then started making it happen.  It is so much easier than you would expect.  As I tried to link some things from my classroom website, I found that our district and school’s website is by no means mobile friendly.  I plan to enter into discussions with our tech-gurus to discuss the implementation of a mobile friendly website. 

            As I have designed lukasedtech (my blog portal where my work is posted) to be a platform from which I will launch my consulting firm, I am more than thankful for all of the support from instructional technology people around the world.  I have been asked to start writing for kyedtech blog, have made contacts in Europe, and in conversations with someone to perhaps begin working in developing Africa as broadband access and device availability is expanding.  The possibilities are endless and I am thankful that this class enabled me to discover and learn content in which I was most interested. 

            From this point on, the lukasedtech blog will be used solely for promotion and consulting as I continue to expand my skills and begin to change the world of instructional technology.  I look forward to giving presentations at local, regional, and national conferences - and hope to be able to continue to better education through the use of technology.  Thank you.