As
I mentioned in my first post, I likened beginning this course to standing on
the edge of the diving board for the second time, now knowing what happens
next, and not being quite sure that I wanted to take a second plunge. Now, that I am a few
weeks back in the pool, I am feeling much more comfortable with my
edge-of-the-board perch and repeated jumps in. Let me explain…
- What attitudes, skills, and concepts have you gained from participating in the course so far?
First and foremost, my attitudes
about being on-line and immersing myself in the tech world have improved dramatically
from our readings and my growing familiarity with various platforms, programs,
perks, and features of being in educational technology. I have become more
adept at using Twitter, my reader, countless other cool sites and programs, and
even blogging, which has made me much more comfortable being online. I have
learned that a fully online course can be collaborative, dynamic, and even fun!
(past experiences had shown me otherwise) My mind is swirling with everything
that I have soaked in over the course of the past few weeks including: Google
(aka Big Brother :) ),
ECE-tech gurus, wikis in classroom, web-based portfolios (aka blogs!), and much
more.
- What have you learned in the course that you will not forget tomorrow?
Although
there is little that I will forget from this course, one tool/ aspect has
completely changed me, and I will use it from this point on. It’s my…wait for
it…my reader! Wow! Is that an awesome tool! Before the course, I worried about
how much time using tech/ being online would take me, and that it would consume
my life. I have realized though, that many tech pieces actually make my life
easier, and although I am synced with the online world throughout the day, I do
not feel overwhelmed by this connection. My reader is the number one reason
that this is the case. Before knowing about it, I was checking different sites,
blogs, and online features every day, typing url addresses in and waiting for
the upload. This would take forever! Now, having all of my content delivered to
me, especially since I have it on my Android phone, has been a huge
time-saver! I always have my phone with me, and I have been using it for email
and calendar features for quite some time. Since I am not an avid Facebook user
(for various reasons :) ), I find that I don’t have too much
to do on the phone while I wait in my day-to-day life. Now, that I have the
reader, I find that I can stay current on the aforementioned blogs, sites, and
features during this time! Finding awesome ed tech, ECE, and advocacy bloggers
to follow has helped me to feel more informed and connected with what’s happening
in schools and across the country in a way that I could not be without them. My
reader just packages this up so nicely for me—can you tell I love it?
- How will you apply what you have learned to your teaching and future learning?
How won’t I? Since the first reading
in Reach, my creative and planning wheels have been churning over how I can use
what I am learning in this course with my undergrads in the fall, not only for running my own
course, but for helping them learn how to use technology in their own future
practice as classroom teachers. Although previously, I used various online features
including Google sites, docs, and Vimeo in the past, this upcoming semester, my use of tech in the classroom will be
really ramped up in an intentional, meaningful way. Some specific uses that I
plan to employ include: a class wiki for sharing, discussing, and posting; a
YouTube channel for sharing great ECE social studies lessons and tools; Pinterest,
for sharing and commenting on Internet finds as they relate to ECE and social
studies; the Digital Citizenship sites that we explored in Module 1 to share
with my teacher candidates for their own future use; Brainpopjr.com for sure,
for content and future use; and many more pieces. In addition, the goals I hold for my
undergrads now include a much more focused and tailored view of how I can help
them learn skills to bring technology into their own practices. If you can’t
tell already, I am pretty excited about this work, and of course, there will be
more to come…
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