I am interested in learning what new programs and applications can be applied to existing best teaching practices to bring my classroom further along into 21st century teaching pedagogy. As this is my last semester in the EDIM program, I have learned much about the changing landscape of education and the need to embrace this change in order to better prepare our students for drastically evolving educational practices and new career fields. I am very fortunate to teach in a district that has also adopted new policies regarding education. We are currently a 1:1 school, which means that all students are issued an iPad starting in the 4th grade to be used as an educational tool. The purpose of obtaining a Masters Degree in Instructional Media was to learn how to better implement and facilitate this new technology. My hope is that this class will show me the use of technology through the student perspective, and give me new ideas, websites, and applications that I can directly implement in my classroom. As we have adopted this new way of teaching, we are reminded that the best practice for the iPads is to integrate the new tool into the proven teaching strategies already being used. But there can be hiccups along the way as many websites and programs that run flawlessly on laptops and home computers we use while writing lessons and creating assessments, don't always work well with the iPads/ mobile devices. By using my own iPad for this class, I hope to be able to see what works well, and what I can do/ use with my students. The use of portfolios is one way that my district is helping students meet new 21st century teaching and learning requirements. Portfolios are a great way for students to keep track of their progress and also reflect on their work; to be able to see their accomplishments as well as the speed bumps they may have encountered along their educational journey. Being self-aware and being able to reflect on their academic progress is a great skill that will allow them to grow both personally and professionally. My district uses the Schoology interface, which allows students to create digital folders to store their projects so that they may reflect on and learn from them throughout their entire school career. Throughout this degree, I too have created a digital portfolio filled with new projects, websites, and applications that strengthened my curriculum, measured my students’ growth and performance, and updated they way I deliver assessments.