Week 6 Reflections

This week as I created my podcast I was amazed at how easy it was. There are so many things I have already done with my students this year that would have been so much easier if they could have watched the process first before doing the actual lesson. Jing was SO easy to use. I really enjoyed watching the podcasts from the other class members also.

For my Journal Article Presentation I read an article on Wikis and how they can help build learning communities. There are so many uses for Wikis. I have seen the benefit of using them in this class.

As I read through the course notes and the descriptions on distance learners I realized that I was very lucky to have a supportive family. I am very self motivated and due to my work schedule I would not have gone back to college if I was not able to do it all online. With a husband and three busy kids, a full time job, and a part time job at my church I do not have time to sit through classes but by being able to do it online I can do a little at a time when I have the opportunity. Sometimes I do work during my conference period, sometimes late at night, sometimes at church. Have laptop....will travel.

With all of these tools available the possibilities are endless. If we use the technologies available we can create more active learners. As a teacher I can make my lessons more interactive. As a learner I can collaborate with my classmates to do group assignments. There are several things preventing teachers from using these tools. One of the main things is the school filters that block access to many Web 2.0 technologies. Another thing is lack of resources. I would love to have ipods in my classroom to help my low First Graders. I have seen wonderful resources using podcasts for young learners.

If I had a magic wand I would wave it at the school and get rid of all of the fears that my co-workers have about technology. It is amazing how some teachers are so set in there ways and are unwilling to try anything new. There is so much technology out there that makes teaching so much easier and creates active learners that if teachers would try it they would be really surprised with what can happen in their classrooms.

Week Five: Wonderful Wikis

I had fun this week with the creation of my wiki. I chose to do one for personal use but I can see many ways to use this for educational purposes. I set up a wiki to help coordinate a slumber party that all of the females in my family are having at the end of next month. We usually have 30-40 females in attendance that come from all over Texas so it was a great way to put the information out there and let the others fill in the blanks. I have already begun to implement it by inviting my sister and my mother to join the wiki and then I will continue to add the other family members as I collect e-mail addresses. I used wikispaces to do my wiki and it was very user friendly. I have used wetpaint in a previous class.

I can see many benefits to using wikis. I think it would be a great way to organize class parties and parent volunteers. My sister teaches Middle School and she would like to use a wiki to connect her classes with my first grade class on a project. The options are limitless. The main disadvantage of using wikis is the feeling of lack of control. There is also the fear of someone accidentally erasing what you have worked so hard to create.

Since wikis are so easy to use I can see a digital native being engaged with one. I think that digital natives are scared of the concept of "creating" a web page but if all they have to do is go in and add or edit the page it is not as scary.

While exploring the eLearning Tools wiki I uncovered several web2.0 technologies that I would like to explore. I was really interested in the Storytelling tools, Publishing tools, and Virtual Field Trips. Maybe over spring break I will get a chance to play with some of these other technologies from my house since so many of them are blocked by my school filter.

Reflections from Week 4

Along with all of the research I did on Assessment for Learning and e-portfolios this week I realized how important mobile technology has become. We were without power for almost 48 hours this week because of the snow. Luckily the roads were clear enough that I was able to take my laptop to McDonald's and get in a little bit of work.
I was really interested in all 10 of the principles of AFL but I chose to focus on AFL develops learners' capacity for self-assessment so that they can become reflective and self-managing because as a teacher of first graders I am not used to learners being self-managing.
I can see a lot of benefits of to using portfolio assessments. I have used portfolios in my classroom for years but by doing them electronically it makes them more permanent. I would love to see electronic student portfolios that could follow them through-out their school career. I can see my personal portfolio being useful when I graduate and get ready to begin applying for librarian positions. I think school administration would be interested in seeing the products that I am compiling in my e-portfolio. Creating this personal portfolio is making me really put some thought into the reasoning behind the products that I am producing for this class and will continue to make me put extra thought into my future assignments.

Reflections from Week 3

I found the MAPping activity to be very interesting. At school I normally use Google to search and at home I use Yahoo. I now know that I really need to pay attention to what comes up at hits. If I am looking for any type of research information I usually go through the EBSCO databases. I picked the California's Velcro Crop Shortage to do the MAPping activity with because the title sounded ridiculous to me. It made me wonder if there was a different type of Velcro out there than what you use to make stuff stick together. The activity showed that this was definitely a fake website. This activity made me realize that I need to look at the web addresses and decipher them when I search for a specific topic. I usually try to use web sites that I am familiar with when I am using the web, especially if it is a site I am using to show my students something. I think it is very important for students to learn how to decipher web addresses. Our filter at school blocks out a lot of sites that are inappropriate but in most cases the students are using the Internet at home unsupervised. They have no way of knowing if they are getting accurate information if they are not taught how to decide if it is a trustworthy site.

I really like using Delicious. I had used it before to help me keep up with my bookmarks between home and school but I never realized that you could network with other people and see their bookmarks. I can really see this as an advantage. I like the idea that someone else can find a really cool site and bookmark it and then it is there for everyone in the network to use.