This course was one that I had eagerly anticipated throughout my M.Ed journey.  As the professor who first encouraged me to pursue my M.Ed, Dr. Nantais provided me with an opportunity to explore my passion: educational technology.  While the role of educational technology and social media has been a reoccurring theme through my graduate assignments, this course was the first formal opportunity I had to deeply discuss the pedagogy associated with the integration of educational technology.  This course discussed a variety of topics such as professional learning environments (PLEs), social media, digital literacy, digital citizenship, contemporary issues, and a highlight of what this looks like in Manitoba specifically.  Furthermore, a plethora of technological tools were utilized to share our understanding and provide a glimpse into how they could be used within the classroom by students and teachers.  These included blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Flipgrid, ThingLink, MentiMeter, Padlet, Quizizz, Google+, and many more.

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The course schedule saw participants attend a video-class biweekly in which the topic of discussion included a combination of lecture, guest speakers, large-group discussion, and student presentations.  In the week following a video-class participants continued dialogue through the maintenance of blogs, blog comments, and Twitter.

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Included in my assignment exemplars are: 1) an IGNITE-style presentation on "Encouraging Student Voice Through Social Media", 2) a ThingLink summary presentation of the two readings mentioned above, and 3) a Padlet presentation sharing my summary of learning from the course.

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This course was the one learning opportunity to most closely align with my personal goals and passions.  I strongly feel that the information I worked with through our readings and assignments will ensure that I am informed about the theoretical, philosophical, and practical aspects of educational technology.  There are two prominent quotes that resonate with me upon concluding this course: