Final Reflection

Throughout the semester in 306 I have learned how relevant technology is to our lives and the lives of my future students. I am still somewhat resistant to new technology but through this class I have learned how much technology is used in our lives and will be an active part of learning when I become a teacher.  I have learned a lot about online technology.  I have learned to make a blog, twitter, flickr, diggo, and Google doc account.  I have learned NOT to forget to write down all of these online sites and my passwords and user names.  I can see myself using blogs and the Google docs programs for classroom, parent, and school integration.  I like how google docs allows several people to come together to collaborate on one project from different places.  I had a hard time getting used to and into the diggo and twitter sites.  I think they could be useful if I played around with them more but I just didn't spend enough time working with them.  I found the diggo site confusing.  My thoughts have changed somewhat towards using technology in the classroom but I am still resistant towards using all technology.  I really liked learning about the smart board and Google Earth and I am super excited to incorporate those into my classroom.  My advice for future technology situations is to at least give it a chance.  I don't always have to enjoy it or use it but I should at least experiment with it and try it once.  Change scares me but the more familiar I get with change the more comfortable and confident I feel about it. 

Google Earth

I love Google Earth!!! I think the 3-D interaction is amazing and a great learning tool to see the world.  Google Earth is a great way to view different places throughout the world that may be difficult to see otherwise.  I think the timeline tool is a great way to see landmarks throughout the world that have changed over time like the Milltown dam or a great way to see the changing seas drying up.

Twitter

I think twitter is useless, annoying, and another useless internet gaget that is taking over natural human interaction and conversation.  Do we really need to know and have access to what someone is doing all the time?! They have already added similar twitter features to Facebook and other internet social networking sites.  I think this is another step further away from face to face interaction and our youth is loosing that respect.

Google Docs

This was my first introduction to Google Docs and I thought it was very useful, easy to navigate, and well organized for student, teacher, and classroom use.  It is faster than emailing back and forth and groups can edit the information whenever they want.  I could see myself using Google Docs for group projects where several people need to collaborate on information.

About Wikis

I think the idea of wiki spaces are very convient and good for converging thoughts on one issue.  However, wikis can be frustrating to work with and can become very time consuming and unnecessary.  In class we wasted a lot of time working with the wikis because they weren't editing and we sat around a computer for an hour trying to reformat things at the same time.  Not a good use of time management and purposeful learning...

Blogs in the Classroom

I think blogs in the classroom can be suitable for some lessons, for example, technology lessons or specific blogging lessons but I don't think it's necessary for anything else nor do I think I'm comfortable yet with my blogging knowledge to incorporate it into my classroom.

Starfall.com

Website great for younger kids learning to read with phonics.  Fun games related to educational subjects and special fun subjects.  This website is really colorful, easy to navigate, and educationally fit for young learners.

Crayola.com

This crayola website is great for elementary education teachers to use for arts and craft projects, coloring pages, website games, and great teacher resources.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

I am blogging..... this is great...... i am having fun..... blog blog blog