Before this semester I had not been introduced to most of the technology that we learned how to utilize throughout this course. This summer I found an array of technologies I can use as resources in my future classrooms. Most of these resources were easy to create, to save, and to modify for any course I have or any project I might have my students complete in my classrooms. Technology can be frustrating, but its use outweighs the time it takes to create it or the hang-ups that are involved.
BLOG/COMMENTS ON BLOG
After the initial irritation of creating the blog, I found the blog to be useful. The blog helped me to reflect on the reading, and commenting on my peers’ blogs activated my higher-level thinking. I remembered much more of my reading after completing my blog entry. In the future, I could use a blog for my own classrooms to help facilitate student discussion. Students who might not be as involved in class could log into our course site and participate in deep discussions of class content. I could also ask students to create their own writing blogs as sort of an electronic portfolio and a way to educate them on technology.
On a personal note: I have decided when I have more time; I would like to create a personal blog for myself. I always wanted to create my own fashion or cooking blog, but I thought I would have to pay someone to create and design the blog for me because I’m not highly technically literate. After this semester, I realize how simple online tools are to use.
PODCAST CLIPS
Creating the PODCAST was quick and easy, but I did not enjoy creating the podcast. Recording was not the problem. I did not enjoy the rerecording because I found myself uneasy listening to my recording. It is perhaps a common issue: I have never been comfortable listening to the sound of my own voice. I had to rerecord the podcast at least 5-6 times because there was life going on in my house. The cat was meowing and climbing on my keyboard. My brother was yelling at his friends over a computer headset. I was pulling my hair out trying to rerecord for almost an hour. The uneasiness of editing myself, I need to get over. I can be very helpful to my students by recording lectures, course introductions, and expanded learning assignments; and with so many people engaging in distance learning, it is a useful tool (being able to record) should I end up teaching these students. Podcasts will be helpful to my students who are not strong readers, or for students who are auditory learners. Despite my uneasiness when recording them, I will be utilizing this useful tool in my classrooms.
VIDEO CLIPS
This semester I made my own MOVIE using iMovie. Perhaps using another moviemaker would be easier, but I had a multitude of problems trying to use this application. The controls were hard to navigate and not having a separate window in the moviemaker to work with the audio component was insufferable. Even my finished project was evidence of my inexperience. I’ll need more practice making movies before I feel comfortable sharing them with my students. I could see asking my students to create their own video clips to use as a presentation tool. However, I would not ask them to upload these movies to YouTube. It took me over an hour to upload my moving and I am not an extremely patient with my computer.
HANDS-ON PROJECTS
Creating these hands-on projects was interesting and easy. I learned how to create a LESSON PLAN and HANDOUT online using Google Docs. I also used Forms to create a GRADEBOOK. The lesson plan had real life application potential because I will be creating lesson plans for my Master’s course classes and in my future classrooms. It was useful to have the extra practice when creating my lesson plan. I also created a PRESENTATION using Google Presentation. Both Google Doc and Google Presentation will be a useful resource for my students and for myself. Google Doc is a free resource for my students who might not have access to an updated version of Microsoft Office. It has basically the same functions and can generate the same documents. I can also use Google Docs for my personal documents because they do not take up physical space on my MacBook (which is highly precious to me).
I can use Google Forms to create SURVEYs for my students to take online. We created an online survey this semester related to technology. The technology survey is one I will improve on and submit to my students to fill out at the beginning of the semester. In addition to creating surveys, I can create a QUIZ and post it on my COURSE SITE for students to complete as homework. The course site I create will be useful for me to use for my class even if the school already has its own webpage. I can use the course site as a supplemental resource (if this is the case). I liked creating the course site because it was easy to design, and it will provide useful resources for my students. A FORUM is one of those resources I created and linked to my course site that can help students’ discuss content outside of class and get their questions answered quickly by myself or by other students. A forum will be regular tool on my course site. It only takes a couple minutes to add the function, but its potential is limitless.
Other resources that I used are available online for free. Free resources are always useful for me and for my students who might have limited resources. I find enormous value in THINGLINK, SCOOPIT, and the DIIGO ONLINE BOOKMARK. I used thinglink to create an image containing tags linked to useful videos, podcasts, and websites. The longest part of this process was finding a photo to use. Where can I find images? Using scoopit, I created a page devoted to resources about Modernism that can be added to in the future. I started my scoopit with five scoops. The Diigo bookmark let me save my favorite pages. The ease of these resources makes them something I can ask my students to use to do research during computer workshops or at home.
To test their knowledge after all the resource searching, the ONLINE TEST will tell me what I need to focus on in class or whether my instruction for a particular unit was adequate. I am not sure I will be creating many online tests, but if time is tight it could help me cut off on printing time.
ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS
I have already decided to use online portfolios for my classroom. It is easy to have everything in one place. It allows students stress-free assess to the material for editing or add-ons. It also allows me easy assess for grading. Keeping up with portfolios is a hassle that is eliminated when they go electronic. It also helps pass writing samples from one instructor to another or to share the materials with parents. I had no difficulty creating my own electronic portfolio this semester, so I think my tech savvy students with more time than I had can also grasp the concept. I had some difficulty sharing the links on Blackboard. I am not sure why this was the case. I copied and pasted from my web browser. That is something I will get with practice.
Overall, I got so much useful information out of this class this semester. I got the opportunity to interact with my classmates without having to depend on them for my grades. I learned how to use a lot of technological resources I would never have found on my own. I also discovered my comforts, my likes, and my dislikes of using different technologies.
BLOG/COMMENTS ON BLOG
After the initial irritation of creating the blog, I found the blog to be useful. The blog helped me to reflect on the reading, and commenting on my peers’ blogs activated my higher-level thinking. I remembered much more of my reading after completing my blog entry. In the future, I could use a blog for my own classrooms to help facilitate student discussion. Students who might not be as involved in class could log into our course site and participate in deep discussions of class content. I could also ask students to create their own writing blogs as sort of an electronic portfolio and a way to educate them on technology.
On a personal note: I have decided when I have more time; I would like to create a personal blog for myself. I always wanted to create my own fashion or cooking blog, but I thought I would have to pay someone to create and design the blog for me because I’m not highly technically literate. After this semester, I realize how simple online tools are to use.
PODCAST CLIPS
Creating the PODCAST was quick and easy, but I did not enjoy creating the podcast. Recording was not the problem. I did not enjoy the rerecording because I found myself uneasy listening to my recording. It is perhaps a common issue: I have never been comfortable listening to the sound of my own voice. I had to rerecord the podcast at least 5-6 times because there was life going on in my house. The cat was meowing and climbing on my keyboard. My brother was yelling at his friends over a computer headset. I was pulling my hair out trying to rerecord for almost an hour. The uneasiness of editing myself, I need to get over. I can be very helpful to my students by recording lectures, course introductions, and expanded learning assignments; and with so many people engaging in distance learning, it is a useful tool (being able to record) should I end up teaching these students. Podcasts will be helpful to my students who are not strong readers, or for students who are auditory learners. Despite my uneasiness when recording them, I will be utilizing this useful tool in my classrooms.
VIDEO CLIPS
This semester I made my own MOVIE using iMovie. Perhaps using another moviemaker would be easier, but I had a multitude of problems trying to use this application. The controls were hard to navigate and not having a separate window in the moviemaker to work with the audio component was insufferable. Even my finished project was evidence of my inexperience. I’ll need more practice making movies before I feel comfortable sharing them with my students. I could see asking my students to create their own video clips to use as a presentation tool. However, I would not ask them to upload these movies to YouTube. It took me over an hour to upload my moving and I am not an extremely patient with my computer.
HANDS-ON PROJECTS
Creating these hands-on projects was interesting and easy. I learned how to create a LESSON PLAN and HANDOUT online using Google Docs. I also used Forms to create a GRADEBOOK. The lesson plan had real life application potential because I will be creating lesson plans for my Master’s course classes and in my future classrooms. It was useful to have the extra practice when creating my lesson plan. I also created a PRESENTATION using Google Presentation. Both Google Doc and Google Presentation will be a useful resource for my students and for myself. Google Doc is a free resource for my students who might not have access to an updated version of Microsoft Office. It has basically the same functions and can generate the same documents. I can also use Google Docs for my personal documents because they do not take up physical space on my MacBook (which is highly precious to me).
I can use Google Forms to create SURVEYs for my students to take online. We created an online survey this semester related to technology. The technology survey is one I will improve on and submit to my students to fill out at the beginning of the semester. In addition to creating surveys, I can create a QUIZ and post it on my COURSE SITE for students to complete as homework. The course site I create will be useful for me to use for my class even if the school already has its own webpage. I can use the course site as a supplemental resource (if this is the case). I liked creating the course site because it was easy to design, and it will provide useful resources for my students. A FORUM is one of those resources I created and linked to my course site that can help students’ discuss content outside of class and get their questions answered quickly by myself or by other students. A forum will be regular tool on my course site. It only takes a couple minutes to add the function, but its potential is limitless.
Other resources that I used are available online for free. Free resources are always useful for me and for my students who might have limited resources. I find enormous value in THINGLINK, SCOOPIT, and the DIIGO ONLINE BOOKMARK. I used thinglink to create an image containing tags linked to useful videos, podcasts, and websites. The longest part of this process was finding a photo to use. Where can I find images? Using scoopit, I created a page devoted to resources about Modernism that can be added to in the future. I started my scoopit with five scoops. The Diigo bookmark let me save my favorite pages. The ease of these resources makes them something I can ask my students to use to do research during computer workshops or at home.
To test their knowledge after all the resource searching, the ONLINE TEST will tell me what I need to focus on in class or whether my instruction for a particular unit was adequate. I am not sure I will be creating many online tests, but if time is tight it could help me cut off on printing time.
ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS
I have already decided to use online portfolios for my classroom. It is easy to have everything in one place. It allows students stress-free assess to the material for editing or add-ons. It also allows me easy assess for grading. Keeping up with portfolios is a hassle that is eliminated when they go electronic. It also helps pass writing samples from one instructor to another or to share the materials with parents. I had no difficulty creating my own electronic portfolio this semester, so I think my tech savvy students with more time than I had can also grasp the concept. I had some difficulty sharing the links on Blackboard. I am not sure why this was the case. I copied and pasted from my web browser. That is something I will get with practice.
Overall, I got so much useful information out of this class this semester. I got the opportunity to interact with my classmates without having to depend on them for my grades. I learned how to use a lot of technological resources I would never have found on my own. I also discovered my comforts, my likes, and my dislikes of using different technologies.