This week gave me many opportunities to use Web 2.0 tools in preparation for the class assignments. First, I got to view Group 1's powerpoint, and create my own powerpoint with audio narration. Next, Diana and I created our own powerpoint which was about podcasting. This was a new idea for me, as I had never created podcasts before, only listened to them. It ended up being a valuable learning experience, and I found a lot of great resources that I can use in the future. One of the biggest things that I learned this week when creating my powerpoint, was how easy it is to record a video of your laptop screen! Using quicktime, you can record your whole screen, or part of your screen, and add narration through your built-in microphone as well. This was awesome to use when making my powerpoint and gave me a chance to give step-by-step instructions about creating podcasts. I think that podcasting would be a really cool tool to use in the classroom, and could even be a new way of assessing students' knowledge on material.
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Based on Shulman's article, as well as prior knowledge, I came up with a few things that I believe I already know, and some things that I need to learn to be an effective teacher. I think the visual representation speaks for itself, the knowledge I have is coming out of my head, the knowledge I need is going in (hopefully). What I do know, I have learned from my previous classes or experience within the classroom or coaching soccer. While it is not really included in the article, I added "how to connect to students" because I believe this is one of my biggest strengths as a teacher. I have been lucky enough to work with a great number of children in many different settings, and I have been able to communicate with them in a very positive way. For the other side, I thought of things that I believe are essential to becoming an effective teacher. The first one, to me, is one of the most important. I may have the content knowledge, but I need to learn the curriculum for the school or district where I will be working. This is extremely important for planning, knowing the progression lessons and units, and assessing my students. Hopefully as I progress through school and the profession, I will be able to say that all of these concepts are under the "what I know" column.
I decided to save the reading about Web 2.0 Tools for my ICT reflection, because I thought that was the easiest way to do it. I enjoyed this reading, which gave a nice overview of how the internet has evolved, and what Web 2.0 has to offer. One of the main ideas that I took away from this reading was the idea that the internet is completely open sourced, and democratic. Anyone who has access can add to the volume of knowledge and content that can be found on the web. It is interactive, and can be used as a great tool for collaboration. We're lucky that technology is so rapidly evolving and advancing, as we progress within the field of education. Web 2.0 Tools can be used to effectively instruct directly, as well as enhance instruction within the classroom.
As for my own technology use for class this week, I sort of hit a road block. Last week, I created my blog using Google Sites, which I had never used before. It was fairly easy, and I was able to set up my website and post my first two blog posts. After doing this using my Gmail account, I realized that UBmail addresses were blocked from commenting on these posts. I tried to change the settings, and even share directly through email, but nothing worked. I decided to just start over and create this Weebly blog instead, since I had used Weebly last year for a class. While this was time consuming, I like using Weebly's interface, and now I am glad that I have this blog. I look forward to seeing other classmates blogs, reading their posts, and commenting each week. I am very lucky that I got matched up with two group members who I get to see every week. Alexis is in most of my classes during the week, and I work at EduKids with Diana. Even so, I learned a few things about my group members that I didn't know, like Diana having a Chug (didn't even know that was a type of dog)! After meeting and talking about it in a group chat, we decided that we will meet in person throughout the semester so we can work together while completing our group assignments. I am excited to learn more about Podcasting with my group members, so we can present to the class. I listen to Podcasts daily, so I'm very interested in using the Web Tools to create our own.
First thing's first, only male in the class! I am very used to this by now and it wasn't actually a surprise. Based on the results, its seems like the class has a fairly strong background knowledge of technology, and hopefully this knowledge helps us throughout the semester! I was surprised that based on the results of content knowledge, that literacy was the highest rated based on self understanding. It seems like most of the class feels comfortable using technology to help students learn in the classroom. There was a wider spectrum of answers regarding combining technology and subject areas, compared to just using the technology to assist while teaching. It was interesting to read about the different experiences my classmates have had in their previous classes. Some aligned with professors that I have had in the past, and some were completely different. Overall, it seems like everyone has had similar experiences, but is very interested in learning more about how they can use technology in the classroom. It seems like this should be a very useful course and that we will all come away with more practical knowledge regarding technology in the classroom!
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