Final Reflection

Through this class I have been exposed to some new technology tools that I had not considered using in the classroom. It has been a fruitful experience in this class. I cannot wait to go deeper with this stuff in my classroom. While not forgetting that students need to know the basics. If we ignore the teaching of typing and other entry-level skills the students will never be able to keep up.

Teaching has never been about me. I would much rather stand around and watch the kids do some hands-on projects that will allow them to explore and learn at their own pace and in their own way, but until the basics are learned, teaching must be somewhat more teacher directed.

As a change agent, I have to not only make the lab more open to use when there is not a class, but even go to the point of encouraging it. At the same time, I need to convince teachers and administration that an elective exploratory is a need concept, cannot be expected to achieve students learning technology when they come either once a week assuming the day is not cancelled. Three times a week will not help either when students can choose their class and I only see maybe 20% of the class because they choose it. So in short, I need to make the lab more accessible and have students in it a lot more than they have in the past.

21st Century Review

I am not impressed by the site. First it is a political site. While I am not trusting of PACs or SIGs. They are usually self serving. The site mainly has that kind of junk. There was not to much that surprised me. I found what I expected from that site. It is horrible that only groups like this mess up the lives of the masses serving the minority. There were any number of disasterous national conferences and initiatives that do not help out the people who need it. Students and educators are going to drastically effected by them if they are not stopped. Education is a local event. It does not help to have everything organized b y a centralized office. Problems like hi stakes testing, uneven funding and inclusion are just a few that get pushed beyond the point of acceptability just becaue the decisions are not made at a local level. I may be abnormal, but all schools are local. Tests are not the end all be all, and funding should be based on individual need, not lunches or test scores. I welcome any and all feedback.

Just like email, I can see using the blog for a whole host of possibilities. These do include those from the list: showing student work, peer assistance, teacher guidance and instant news feeds, but there are surely others that I have not yet found. In the beginning, I will start with the survey, chat, class assignments and so on. Once I have developed a bit more experience with blogs, we will move into video streaming, chatting and as many other features as are out there by that point.

Using a blog can make such a huge difference in the classroom. Just as chats, emails and websites have in the past. In teaching 2nd to 8th graders about technology, it is important to expose them to as much as possible. They need to develop proficiency in basic systems, but also be aware of more advanced systems.

Hello,

There were only 2 votes on the past survey and they lead to brand and extras being the deciding factor when it came to computer purchasing. In the new survey, we will be looking at the favorite teacher resource: EdHelper, Teacher Vision, Gaggle.Net, Teacher Created Material or other. Please take the time to vote and encourage others you to make a quick stop by and vote.

Welcome

Hello Classmates,

I have been part of one of these blogs for quite a while, but have not had much of a reason to use it until now. Hopefully, we can share quite a few great ideas on this thing.

I have been a technology teacher for the past 9 years. My school is in the urban part of Chicago. The students are truly amazing at how well they can pick up technology when they just try.

I have plenty to share, but for now, just saying hello. Have a GREAT time here at Walden and hopefully we can truly grow in technology use.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Steven M. Ohren