EDCI 5825 Week 6 In-Class

Since the beginning of the semester I have learned that there are a great deal of tools and resources on the internet which can be used to help when teaching. When I first entered the course, I had no idea on how to create or use wikis, and didn't even know things such as Google Docs, Voki, Glogster, etc. even existed. Since this time, I have not only become familiar with the tools but also have become comfortable with using them in my future classroom. I also have learned about how a Mac operates and many of the applications that are available. For instance, I now understand how to use iMovie, Garageband, and run most of the Microsoft applications. I feel that all these resources can be used to plan lessons that are more interactive and lively for my students. I can incorporate new learning experiences using this technology which bring many sources of videos, documents, web resources, and any other instructional technology together to create a lesson which is fun, exciting, but most importantly investigates a topic much more in-depth and builds a deeper understanding for students.

The quality and appropriateness of what you have learned/created this semester.
I feel that the quality of what I have learned was good and the tools we learned about are definitely relevant. While there is not much time in these short semesters to really investigate a topic in-depth and pull all the information out of a program, we did explore many of the key aspects that we can then use to explore the programs on our own in the future. All of the resources that we have learned about can really help to teach our students and provide them with the optimal learning experience. I will be able to incorporate most of the tools that we learned about directly into my curriculum. I would have liked more time to understand some of the projects before we began using them, but as I worked on the assignment I started to understand them better and grew more confident.

Evaluation of your comfort moving forward with technology.
After this course, I feel much more confident moving forward with technology. I began thinking I was proficient with the computer but realize I didn't understand most of the applications. I am now about 80% confident in using my Mac, but realize there are many more programs to explore. Within the programs that I have learned I feel about 85% confident in using them, but 100% confident in that I can learn to use them at their full potential if I just keep practicing.

EDCI 5825 Week 6 Reading Response

After reviewing the blogs via Google Reader, I was able to observe how student’s responses changed throughout the semester. Google Reader makes it easy to follow student’s blog posts as they are updated through the semester. It is also a great tool to quickly compare and contrast blogs or find how another student responded to a question.
One observation that stood out to me was how organization can make a huge difference when reading through the blogs. I particularly like how Anna organizes her pages. For instance, when looking at the week 5 assignment for our technology class, I think it is great how she not only organizes the actual writing, but how she has integrated the links to her web pages directly into her paragraphs. The material is easy to read and aesthetically pleasing so it looks very professional. Everything you need to explore her ideas is right on the post. If I was reading through I could simply click on a link to go to the page she is talking about and follow along with her explanation.
One comment that stuck out to me was by Lori where she was reflecting on our technology class and says,” I am left feeling like I have a lot of morsels but no solid food.” I can certainly understand her frustration when it comes to learning this new technology because it is difficult and complex and we don’t have much time to learn it all in a semester. But I would also like to respond and say that even if we have not been able to master these programs as much as we would have liked, the good thing is that we can take the basics that we had time to cover and now explore them for ourselves. As I look at my computer I can see half a dozen applications that I haven’t even touched because I don’t know how to use them. This class has at least allowed me to feel that I can explore the applications on my own and over time I hope I will begin to gain more and more confidence. In short, maybe it would be better to just think that we have been given the seeds and overtime that plant will grow which will provide the solid food.
In summary, I think Google Reader is a very useful tool that allows you to navigate through a large set of data and responses in a fairly quick and effective manner. Instead of going from blog to blog, I can quickly view all the blog posts by just scrolling up and down.