Final Reflection

I have learned an incredible amount of information in this class, and I am looking forward to taking that information into a classroom. I was extremely apprehensive at the beginning of the course, and I would go as far as to say I was even dreading it because I thought I would fall so far behind. The pace of the class allowed me to keep up and actually learn how to use technology. I now not only feel that I can use technology without it being a struggle, but I am confident that I can use it to effectively enhance the learning of my students. I expected to learn a lot because I knew so little to begin with, but I learned far more than I ever imagined within these few months. I am still in shock that I know how to use blogs and wikis and how to create websites and use other web tools. My favorite part of the class was learning about the different web 2.0 tools. The course design was brilliant to allow us to learn about a variety of tools. Of course there are some tools that I will forget about, but there are others that I will use without a doubt in the future. I am extremely excited because I believe that having this knowledge will be beneficial in both my professional and personal life. I plan on incorporating technology into the classroom any way that I can. I hope I will be able to engage my students and relate to them better with this knowledge. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course, and I cannot wait to put what I have learned into practice!

My iMovie

iMovie

When we were first introduced to iMovie, I was extremely intimidated. The project seemed daunting, and it took me awhile to get started. I carefully tiptoed around the project for some time before diving in. I have a PC so I was unfamiliar with iMovie. Once I jumped in and started really learning how to use the tool, I loved it. My movie took awhile to create because I was discovering all of the different effects. Now that I have used iMovie, I think that I will be able to use it with ease in the future. I also think that digital stories are incredibly useful in the classroom. Kids need to be engaged, and a movie to introduce a lesson is a perfect way to do that! A majority of students use technology for a significant amount of time every day, and I want to be able to speak to my students in their own language. I am thrilled to have learned about digital stories, and I will use them often in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.

Spreadsheets

Before working on this spreadsheet project, I was not too familiar with Microsoft Excel. I just associated it with math and science, charts and tables. I had no idea that it could be used in a classroom as an interactive spreadsheet for any subject matter. It took me a little while to pick up on, but I will definitely use what I have learned through this in my future classroom. Interactive spreadsheets can be used in so many ways, from practice for students to measures of assessment. Here is a screen shot of the spreadsheet I created for students to identify verbs, nouns, and adjectives.

Animoto

Stephen and I presented on Animoto last Thursday. I feel lucky to have had Animoto as the tool that I presented on and learned about more thoroughly because it is unique and different from the other tools. I think back to how excited I was when I first discovered it. I made a variety of videos that I sent to my family. I thought it was so cool that what I was learning in class could be beneficial outside of class and outside of a teaching setting. I sometimes became frustrated in trying to narrow my pictures down in order to fit them into a 30 second video, but it is still a great tool!

Animoto can also be useful in the classroom. We made a video on the special olympics, so Animoto could be used to document and share field trips or special class events. It could also be used for instruction. A video could be made and used as a snapshot at the beginning of class to engage students and prepare them for what the lesson is going to be about. Animoto could be used in a number of other ways in the classroom as well!

Google Forms

Out of all the tools we have learned about so far, I have favorites. And Google Forms is one of them! Google Forms has obvious uses for the classroom. Teachers can quickly and easily create quizzes or surveys. Not only is it easy to create these quizzes or surveys because of the guiding structure and many options of Google Forms, but it is easy to assess them as well. I love the way that Google Forms organizes and provides the data for easy-to-read results. This tool can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used for parent surveys, for classroom quizzes, and students can even use Google Forms to create their own surveys or quizzes. I am very excited about Google Forms, and I will use it frequently in my classroom!

Inspiration

Inspiration is a tool that I think would be extremely useful for the classroom. The benefits for both teachers and students are numerous. I found Inspiration easy to use once I got the hang of it. I love that it is so easy to create graphic organizers that are clean and colorful and that text and notes can be added. My favorite aspect is that an outline can also be printed from the organizer for students who learn in different ways. For my project, I created an organizer on safety signs based on a standard from the Tennessee alternative standards. This will definitely not be the last time I use Inspiration!

Wordle and Tagxedo

I enjoyed learning about Wordle and Tagxedo in class last week. Again, these are two tools that I had never heard of and had no idea that they existed. At first, I was hesitant with the tools and did not really see the purpose. As I experimented with them more, I grew to like them. I now see how extremely useful they could both be in the classroom. Not only could Wordle and Tagxedo be used to spice up the classroom when used throughout the room for various postings such as classroom rules, but they could also be used for a number of instructional purposes relating to a specific person, subject, or term. I also like the idea of having students make clouds that describe themselves for a beginning of the year activity. Although the two tools are very similar, they do have differences. I like the aspects of Tagxedo that allows the user to create shapes and search terms in the news.

Twitter and Delicious

I was completely against using Twitter until about a year ago. It sounded simple and pointless to me. Why would I want to know in 140 characters or less what a friend was doing, and why would anyone want to know what I was doing? I thought I could use a phone to find those things out, or even facebook. But I gave in and opened an account. I was quickly proven wrong. I discovered that I could keep up not only with friends but with sports and other topics. My relationships grew because I knew what my friends and family were doing when a phone call would have been too much. I now love Twitter, and I believe that it could be especially useful in the classroom. I will encourage my students to use it and follow one another. Twitter would be perfect for students to request last minute information from each other regarding tests or projects. Another tool I learned about for the first time last week was Delicious. It seems complicated to me now, but if I explore a little more I think I will find it very useful. Delicious will be great for projects in which the students are required to begin the project at school and finish at home.

African Wildlife

Opposites Scavenger Hunt

Smilebox and Storybird

I enjoyed learning about Smilebox and Storybird on Tuesday. I was not sure how all of the web2.0 tools that we are learning about could differ greatly. I thought that they might just be slightly different variations of one another, but Smilebox and Storybird serve nowhere close to the same purpose. I am a big fan of pictures so I liked learning about Smilebox. I want to make use of photos in my classroom to help bring it to life! I could use Smilebox for slideshows of classroom events to enhance the classroom community, or students could make slideshows demonstrating what they have learned. Storybird has a more specific function. I think it would be very useful in an English classroom. I was not particularly enthralled by the tool, but my classmate who sits beside me certainly enjoyed it. And it is good to have Storybird in my repertoire of tools because you never know when it could come in handy. I am going to have favorites out of the tools that we are learning about, but it is certainly useful to hear about and play around with all of them.

Picnik and Glogster

I was pleasantly surprised last week with both picnik and glogster.  I had no idea those kinds of tools existed at no cost to me.  Glogster seems like a fun and creative way to have students share about themselves or even create posters for projects.  The graphics seem like they might appeal to a very distinct younger age group.  I am more than obsessed with picnik!  I really enjoyed experimenting with this tool and discovering all of the uses.  I had never heard of it before, and I am thankful that I was exposed to it in class.  Picnik is something that is useful to know about in general, but it could be especially useful in the classroom.  Being able to edit photos and add text among tons of other features could come in handy for projects, a classroom website, or anything that involves a picture.  I am learning so many new things each class, and I cannot wait to learn even more.  I think I am becoming a technology person! 

Webquest

I had never heard of webquest before this week, but I had participated in a few throughout my college courses without knowing the name.  I really enjoyed the class activity because it exposed me to several different examples of webquests.  It was good to analyze the sites from different perspectives too.  I like that an assignment or project can be so engaging and fun through webquest.  I will without a doubt use webquests in my future classroom.  I want to take what I learned through the class activity in searching for or creating a webquest.  I will use webquests that involve collaborative work, give directions clearly and simply, and require that the students make good use of the internet. 

Reflection on Wikis

I first heard the word "wiki" last semester when my classmates who were also taking TPTE 486 at the time were discussing assignments.  I had no idea at that point what a wiki was;  I just thought it was a funny word.  I have come a long way with this web tool and am now quite fond of it.  After using wikis for multiple assignments, I realize the benefit.  I have had trouble in the past with emailing when collaborating with classmates on projects.  The multiple copies being constantly edited and sent back and forth becomes overwhelming.  The wiki is a nearly perfect solution to this problem.  The only aspect of the wiki that I do not like is the lock.  I found it a little frustrating when I wanted to edit something and had to wait on someone else to finish editing and save their work first.  Overall, my experiences with wikis have been positive.  I will definitely make use of wikis in my classroom.  I think they are extremely useful for group projects, and I could also use a wiki to share information and classroom happenings with parents.

Recommendation and Reflection on Evaluating Websites

I highly recommend the educational website starfall.com. The information included on the site is accurate and backed up by research.  The material is fun and useful.  The site includes an "about the authors" section that provides a descriptive background of the author and the design team.  Their credentials are valid, and the dates of creation and revision are provided.  The only hesitation I have in recommending this website is the reliability of the publishing body.  After reviewing and considering all of the above elements, I highly recommend this website for use in a classroom with younger students who are learning to read.

Through this activity I learned a lot on evaluating websites.  I learned the major elements that must be looked at to determine if a website is valid or not.  In the field of education and in this technological age, I am constantly finding myself searching for websites to use as references for educational assignments or for students to use in a classroom setting.  The web has so much to offer in terms of education, but it also includes a great deal of inaccurate and ineffective material.  I will now be able to find the best and most reputable websites to ensure that I am receiving accurate information and giving my students the best web experience possible.

Website Evaluation

I found this website evaluating guide from Duke University.

It appears to be a valid guide for evaluating websites.  Duke University is a reputable source, and the guide includes several topics with criteria and questions to consider as well as tips and ideas.

Expectations

I am both apprehensive and excited about this course.  I have very little experience with technology so I feel completely out of my element.  Because I know so little, I am expecting to learn a lot.  I know that the information that I acquire in this class will be extremely useful, in both my teaching and my personal life.  Students spend so much time with technology everyday, and it is incredibly important to me as a future teacher to know how to navigate that technology in order to engage, relate to, and teach them in their world.  I believe that technology can be very useful in special education, and I look forward to learning how to incorporate it into the classroom.  I think that this course will be challenging, but I want to take advantage of it and push myself to dive into the world of technology.

Introduction to the class

I was born and raised in Knoxville, and I attended Bearden High School.  I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee where I am majoring in special education.  I grew up with a friend who has a disability, and I knew at the end of my sophomore year that I wanted to work with people with disabilities.  Through this friend and through working with other people with disabilities through various organizations I found that I wanted to teach and be an advocate for people with disabilities.  In my free time I like to spend time outdoors.  I also enjoying reading and taking naps.  I love playing and watching sports. I have little experience with computers and technology, but I look forward to learning a lot!