This class came highly recommended to me by my classmates and I can honestly say I am not the least bit disappointed that I decided to embark on this journey. I knew before taking this class that I was extremely illiterate when it came to technology, but I had no idea I was this far behind! I have watched some of my classmates pull up their amazing blogs in the classroom like it was no big deal. I envied them because it seemed like something I would never be able to do. After taking this class I realized that with a little more practice I too can create a blog/teacher page just as noteworthy for my future students and parents.
I really enjoyed everything about this class, but I think my favorite exercise was the portion on blogging. I took this class to learn how to create and implement web tools that would be beneficial in the classroom, and I feel that blogging is the most valuable for me personally. I see blogging as a way to connect with the parents of students and help keep them informed about what we are doing in the classroom. I can post topics of study, class activities, homework assignments, upcoming field trips, study guides for tests, and links for various websites which will help parents stay up to date on what their child is doing while they are away from home. A classroom blog is also another way for parents and me to communicate with one another. In most cases when parents have a concern about something, there is another parent who has the same concern. By posting their comments and concerns on the blog all parents can see my response. This could make communication quicker and easier.
I think a classroom blog is also helpful to students because they can check what their assignments are and when they are do. I can also set up class discussions on the blog which will make it so every student has a chance to participate in the “discussion.” There are just so many things I can do with my own blog, that I don’t see myself not using this tool in my classroom.
Like I have previously stated, in every module I learned something that I did not know before either from my classmates or by viewing the material posted. However, I cannot say that these new discoveries have changed my overall learning goals, but it will most certainly assist me in achieving my learning goals. As a teacher, I want my students to be able to effectively work together as a group to complete certain tasks. This class has taught me that the proper implementation of wiki’s can help make group projects easier for students because it enables members to communicate more efficiently. Wiki’s are an easy, convenient way for students to share thoughts and communicate ideas to their classmates. As a teacher, I can view the students’ wiki and see who has been contributing to the assignment in addition to how the students’ ideas have developed and improved over time. WebQuests will also be a useful tool to incorporate because they capture students’ imagination and allow them to explore issues and find their own answers in a guided, meaningful manner.
I was very surprised about the social bookmarking module when I first started the class because for one, I had never even heard of it, and two I had no idea how it connected to the classroom. Once I started to read up about it however, I realized that it would be very beneficial to both educators and students. I like that I can keep all my favorite websites in one place and not lose them when I move from my home computer to another computer. I think this is an important component for students as well because they too are never on the same computer all the time. This tool can help make finding and returning to websites less of a hassle for everyone, which can cut down on class time.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this class. The information provided was very informative and really helped me through the online learning process. One of my fears with taking an online task is the thoroughness of the information provided. This class was very easy to navigate through and the information provided to learn more about the topic was very appropriate and helpful. The discussion portion of this class was extremely valuable. It was very interesting to read other people’s ideas and see how they will or have used these tools in the classroom. One thing that was a little challenging at times was finding where I had responded to other’s ideas. Is there a different way to set up discussions so it is easier to follow what I commented on? After lots of people responded it became somewhat confusing tracking what I said and who responded. Having something set up where you could more easily find what you specially wrote would make things much easier.
If another discovery program like this is created in the future I would definitely participate again. I feel much more knowledgeable now and would love to continue learning about useful technology tools to use in the classroom, especially because it seems to change so quickly.
