Reflecting on the past eight weeks, I have developed many new skills. Until this course, "Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society," I had never created a wiki or a podcast. I had created a blog for a previous class but not an aggregator account or RSS feeds. These were relatively easy to figure out yet eye opening time savers. The wiki assignment was a great exercise in collaborative work using web 2.0 tools. The podcast presented many challenges but through help sites and much trial and error, I was able to successfully create and share a podcast. These projects gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities to figure out and use new technologies.
To continue expanding my knowledge of technology integration, I plan to continuously visit the blogs I have bookmarked and the sites listed on the wikis created by the three groups during this course. There are so many great ideas being shared by educators around the world. I also plan to attend technology inservice courses when offered.
One goal for increasing technology is to create one project per trimester that incorporates the new tools learned in this course. I already have my students creating a podcast for a culminating social studies project this spring. Next year, I hope to create a book club blog site, and a science wiki project.
Another goal for increasing the integration of technology in the classroom is to become an instructional leader for technology in my building. Currently we do not have any elementary technology teachers (those positions were eliminated last year) and the classroom teachers are expected to teach the tech curriculum in addition to the core curriculum. I hope to share ideas with staff that demonstrates technology is not an additional piece, rather something that can be easily integrated into the core curriculum to enhance teaching and learning. By sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm for using technology, I hope to help make other teachers more comfortable using technology with their students. I feel it is part of my professional responsibility to be a resource for others in the building and help them become more interested/comfortable with new tools and ideas.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Profiling the Students of Today--Week 5 Assignment
To access my podcast, please visit the links below.
http://www.box.net/shared/ezmqhsmmub
http://www.box.net/shared/8gcd41dm7l
This was my first experience with podcasting. While I learned a great deal through this experience, I felt extremely inefficient. I spent a great deal of time figuring out how to record audio on my computer. I ended up recording my students using an iTouch, then I emailed the audio file to myself but had to convert the m4a file to a WAV file. Once the file was saved in WAV format, I learned how to edit audio files using audacity. The edited audio then had to be saved in WAV, not as an audacity file in order to share it.
Once I figured out the technical aspect of the assignment, I focused on the content. I was very suprised to learn how much technology my students actually do have access to at home. My students average three computers per household, and eighteen of twenty two students say they go on-line at home. Not too surprising, boys are more interested in video games and girls are into cell phones and email. I would say that my students are indeed digital natives based on exposure but there are wide ranges in terms of use. All of us, myself and my students, are definitely digital learners.
http://www.box.net/shared/ezmqhsmmub
http://www.box.net/shared/8gcd41dm7l
This was my first experience with podcasting. While I learned a great deal through this experience, I felt extremely inefficient. I spent a great deal of time figuring out how to record audio on my computer. I ended up recording my students using an iTouch, then I emailed the audio file to myself but had to convert the m4a file to a WAV file. Once the file was saved in WAV format, I learned how to edit audio files using audacity. The edited audio then had to be saved in WAV, not as an audacity file in order to share it.
Once I figured out the technical aspect of the assignment, I focused on the content. I was very suprised to learn how much technology my students actually do have access to at home. My students average three computers per household, and eighteen of twenty two students say they go on-line at home. Not too surprising, boys are more interested in video games and girls are into cell phones and email. I would say that my students are indeed digital natives based on exposure but there are wide ranges in terms of use. All of us, myself and my students, are definitely digital learners.
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