Even Professionals Need Practice

     This semester, in this technology class, I learned about Inspiration 8; a program that is used for making concept maps. A graduate student was doing her dissertation on the topic of concept maps and had us complete a couple assignments using Inspiration 8. While this program is useful for more efficiently conveying information to students, it also gets easier as well as more advanced the more you use it. Teachers and other professionals alike need always need to be learning more in order to advance their professionalism. Inspiration 8 is simple to use, even on the first time. Yet, the more you use it, the more advanced you can get with the concept maps. It allows for teachers to continue to think more and more outside of the box with each time that they use the program. This technology allows a teacher's creativity of how to present a concept map, which is crucial to a teacher's job, continue to grow and develop into a professional skill.
     From the couple times that I used Inspiration 8, my concept maps looked better with each new assignment. Granted, I didn't get to continue using the program but I feel confident that if I was in constant contact with the program, I would learn something new about it every day. This would enhance my skills and give me a more professional look when presenting my ideas to students. All it takes is practice.
     I have recently been looking into digital programs for the remediation projects I have in other classes. Storyboards are a technology that has caught my eye. There are numerous programs out there for creating storyboards, for example: Storyboard That. This is the program I have been playing around with and while it isn't necessarily a teaching tool by definition, it could definitely be used to teach a lesson in a different, interesting way. With the digital age comes boredom of the same lectures on the same programs such as Word and Powerpoint. I believe teaching in creative ways, such as through storyboards, are part of the future of learning and teaching.