Week #3

This week we learned to put together a website. This skill is one that I think will be extremely helpful when I become a teacher. If I teach the older grades my students will be able to just check the website if they miss a day, and I will also be able to remind them of important information over the website. This tool will also be useful for communication with parents. I will be able to post announcements and also post a calendar which will help parents know what is going on during the school year.

This tool can also be useful in achieving class objectives. I can post assignments and quizzes on line, and also keep the students up to date on their grades using these online tools. The only problem I see with this tool is that students are already spending to much time online in my opinion and this a website could just add to this time. This is also a positive though because it may reduce the time they spend on other websites because their class website will be just as easy to access and use. It was very frustrating setting the website up, but I can see what an asset it will be as a teacher once the initial set up process is complete. It wasn't nearly as difficult to set up a website as I thought it would be, and I can't see why more teachers aren't using these tools Google puts out. They are very user friendly and similar to programs that are already being used so the transition shouldn't be very difficult, yet many people aren't using the tools. This website will definitely be something that I use in the future, and it is something that I may start using in the college classes I mentor.

The video this week was an interesting one. When I clicked on the link, youtube informed me that the video was no longer available, but I had watched the video early this semester and found the video on another website. I thought that this video presented some very fascinating ideas. I had never though of using cell phones or podcasts as teaching tools! I love the idea of multiple intelligences so when they brought up the Digital Learners idea I thought it was amazing that no one had thought of it before. Every student has their own way of learning, but almost all of them love technology and use it daily. I myself know the power that learning through technology can hold. I love using blackboard, and websites as a student, and I am sure that when I become a teacher my students and their parents will feel the same way.

I also thought the part that talked about how students are born into a world where they are expected to be able to remix, create and share things with each other was interesting. I'd never thought of it that way, but it is very true. It is amazing what Jr. High students can do with music and other things today, and it would be very beneficial to these students if their teachers could integrate these things they can do into learning. Students live in a very fast paced world, and if teachers can find a way to keep that pace going in the classroom I believe students would benefit greatly, and learning would increase.

I thought the research done on how often students get to ask questions was also very interesting. I believe that self discovery is the best way to learn and one of the ways to reach that is by allowing students to ask questions. A teacher should facilitate a discussion, and guide the students to discover what the teacher wants them to learn instead of the teacher feeding the information to the student.

I thought the list of how to use the www's to our advantage was also very interesting. I can see how using a tool like google earth could enhance a history lesson, or geography lesson. I know I would have loved to see the areas we were discussing in my 6th grade class! It is mind blowing how many tools we have as humans on earth at this time, and it makes one wonder what is next. Technology needs to be used to enhance learning, or students are going to quit learning in school and learn whatever they want, when they want online. As teachers we should be teaching them how to use these tools to learn, and using them to instill a love of learning. Instead we tell them they spend too much time using the tools.