What I'm looking for in my TEP519 Class...

When I read that the class TEP519 was about, I got a little confused about what to expect from it. There are two key words: Technology and Education. The class is supposed to be about those two and how they are supposed to work together.

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. I worked at the "Universidad Panamericana", an educational institution in Mexico too. I used to work with databases and programming languages. I worked with MOODLE, which is a open source learning system with administrative tools. I have a good idea of how Education and Computers work together.And I learned that there are two kinds of final users for educational systems: The teacher and the Student.

The teachers want reliable tools where they can create test and that allows them to keep records of students grades. The students want tools that lets them learn quickly and easy in a friendly and easy interface.

During my last quarter of the M.A. in Education at Antioch University, I learned that there are more tools for teachers to use in educating students. Social networks and sites with a lot of tools and resources available and ready to be downloaded and used.

During the years I have heard the eternal debacle about the validity of using those tools, specially the arguments that come from people that are defenders of the the traditional way of teaching and believers of the damage that computers do to kids brains. I sincerely believe that technology is a great resource to education that is in constant development and that students can get great benefits from the use of technology in their education.

From this course I expect to learn more about those tools. Learn about those tools that I haven't heard about yet. Learn more about the ones that I have heard about. Learn even more about the ones I already know. I want to learn more about long Distance Education and what other resources are used for on-line programs. I want to learn where to find them, who designs them, who approves them. I want to learn about the technical specifications about some tools. I want to learn which companies are non-profit, who are open-source and who is making a profit from creating tools for education.

Also I want to learn which tools are the best for students and why. I want to learn who approves them and the regulations, and guidelines that must to be followed to design and implement them.

I hope that in the future, joining all the knowledge that I have accumulated, I will be able to create tools for Education. I have pretty confidence that having a good knowledge about technology and learning how to be a better educator, I will be able to design and create tools for students here in California and in Mexico.