During the past semester I engaged in many meaningful and valuable learning opportunities focused on Technology, Learning, and Culture. My learning experiences have directly impacted my personal, social, and professional life in ways that have really changed my perspective. I look forward to learning more about some of the Web 2.0 tools that we explored as I continue to work with them. In addition, I am excited to share my knowledge with my colleagues, students, friends, and family.
Prior to starting this class, I felt that as an educator, I was integrating technology into my teaching and family communication fairly well. Yet, after this class I feel like I have so many new skills and knowledge related to Web 2.0 tools and their implications, that I have been able to expand what I know to integrate new things. My knowledge has also expanded into my use of technology in my personal life, where I have become more connected by utilizing Twitter and reading others’ blogs.
Throughout the course of this class, we utilized blogs to share information with our peers and in turn to gather information from others. I enjoyed creating a blog and reading the reflections by others in our class, however I don’t see myself using this in my personal life. However, this tool has the capability of reaching a large audience, so using this to communicate with my students or the parents of my students would be very effective. I would be able to post entries about what we are studying, important dates, photos, websites for students, resources for parents, two-way communication with parents, and ideas for other educators. Besides creating my own blog, I have become more aware of blogs written by others. There is a wealth of knowledge and ideas out there. I have enjoyed reading blogs for my own professional development, lesson plan ideas, and on a more personal level, recipes, craft, and gift ideas. I am looking forward to utilizing a blog for my classroom.
In addition to blogs, we learned about Google sites and Wikispaces. Both are similar to creating a website with many features that allow you to embed videos, upload photos and documents, and create surveys. My school district uses a program called CMS4 Schools, which stands for Content Management System for Schools. CMS4 Schools is a website management tool for school districts to use to create low-cost engaging websites. The program is very similar to Google sites and Wikispaces, however after this class I feel most comfortable with Wikispaces. My district did not provide me with and training in using the CMS4 Schools program, so I intend to link my Wikispace to the website provided for me by my district. My Wikispace will be a place for me to communicate with parents and share information and resources about Kindergarten and our school.
Google Docs is a unique feature provided for anyone with a Google account. Google Docs is a user friendly word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool that allows individuals with Google accounts to collaborate, share, and submit files. This tool is such a lifesaver. In my previous school district, all of the employees had a Google account. We were able to share documents and collaborate effectively. I also enjoyed being able to retrieve my school files from my home computer. Educators of older students were able to allow their students to utilize Google Docs for group projects or submitting assignments. As a Kindergarten teacher, this isn’t realistic, however simply being able to collaborate with my teaching partner no matter where in the world we were, was priceless.
One social networking application that we explored and utilized this semester was Twitter. Until this class I avoided getting an account because I just didn’t feel it was necessary. I was already using Facebook, and I was able to connect with the people I wanted to that way. However, Twitter has been useful in that I am able to follow some professional groups that post articles and photos related to education. I now look at it as another professional development tool. We also explored social bookmarking, using Digo. This was a new tool for me, but again very useful. I used the site to bookmark websites for research, lesson plans, and personal gain. It would be a great tool to utilize in middle school and high school education.
As a visual learner myself, I see great value in utilizing visual learning tools in the classroom. I currently have a SmartBoard, which is basically an interactive computer screen. I use it to share videos, provide hands-on lessons, and provide visual support. In class we learned how to create our own Youtube videos utilizing Screen-cast-o-matic, as well as edit photos using Pixlr. These tools can be used by educators to create lessons, but are also great tools for students to use to create presentations. Prezi, another application that is similar to PowerPoint, is a visual tool for teaching and learning. I have created Prezis for lessons in my classroom as well as presentations for graduate classes.
In addition to learning about and practicing with Web 2.0 tools, we also spent time reading books about technology and culture. Some of the titles were Web 2.0 how-to for educators, From Leonardo to the Internet, Cognitive Surplus, and The Shallows. I think this was one of the most important parts of the class. By reading these books, I learned a lot about how culture shapes society. I think that reading From Leonardo to the Internet was very important for this class because it helped me realize how all of our current technology came to be. We never know where we are headed without knowing where we came from! Also, The Shallows and Cognitive Surplus showed how technology and culture are affected by each other.
In summary, I learned a great deal about technology, learning, and culture during the course of this semester. All of the technology that I am now able to use will help me to be a better educator, but the perspectives I gained on the history and culture of technology are just as important. I look forward to continuing to grow in my Web 2.0 skills as an educator and in my personal life.
