Final Reflection
Heidi Hopp
EDL 575 and EDL 755
Fall 2011
Looking Back:
During the last three months I have learned a lot about Web
2.0 technology, as well as how technology impacts the culture of learning for
our twenty first century students. I
admit that when I took the online survey relating to how much I knew about
computers and technology in September, I wasn’t able to check a lot of the
boxes. Now, even though I am still not a
pro, I can honestly say that I have been exposed to more technology and have
grown more comfortable with it. Since I
work with younger students, I quickly realized that not all of the technology
we learned about could be implemented into my first grade classroom. However, being introduced to the new
technologies has been beneficial for me because now I am more aware of the
possibilities that exist.
What I learned from
the hands-on practice:
I was glad that our first class addressed wikis and
blogs. I had some previous experiences
with both prior to the start of our class and felt comfortable learning more
about them. For me, the greatest value
with using a wiki is the ability to collaborate and share information, with the
updates being instantly visible to the users.
I also learned about the importance of being cautious while editing on a
wiki. The blog is useful to publish
information that you would like to share with others. I enjoyed reading classmates’ blogs to learn
about their thoughts on issues we covered in class.
I most enjoyed learning about Google Sites. Creating the “Getting to Know You” survey is
a useful tool that I plan to use in the future.
I also like how the sidebar has all of the components of the site listed
and easy to see. Previously, I had used
a classroom web page, but I think the Google Site is much more practical and
organized for me. Google Docs are still
something that I am getting comfortable with.
These take the place of e-mail attachments, making it easy to share and
collaborate with others. Since these are
used often within our district e-mails, it is a goal of mine to create more of
these and use them when communicating with others.
Using Diigo was something that I had never tried
before. I enjoyed looking for sites,
bookmarking them, and tagging them with key words. I can see the benefit of using it if you are
researching a topic and want to find out what is out there. However, I still find myself just browsing
the Internet to find what I am looking for and forgetting that there is another
way to look for useful websites that other people have tagged.
Screencast-O-Matic is a tool that I think I will use in my
classroom as a tutorial for my students.
Once the message has been captured and uploaded to YouTube, it can be
replayed as many times as necessary.
Being able to record my voice and use the yellow highlighting circle
will help focus students’ attention on what is being taught.
I was very excited to learn more about Prezi. When my family was at my niece and nephew’s
birthday parties, I asked my other nieces if they had ever heard about Prezi,
and of course they said they had. When I
asked them about it, they said that you could zoom in and zoom out to show
pictures and text. They were right, but
I didn’t realize that it could be organized into slides and be shown in a
presentation format. Zooming in, zooming
out, rotating pictures and text makes the information appear in a fun and
creative way. I think this tool would be
a great way to introduce new topics, as well as review concepts that have been
covered before.
Learning Experiences:
Overall, I enjoyed the format of the learning
experiences. I found that many times I
was challenged and wanted to learn more about the technology itself, as well as
how I might be able to use it in my classroom.
It was helpful for me to hear about the class topic in class, as well as
having the instructions set up for me to be able to practice more on my own at
home. Since many of the topics were new
to me, I needed that extra time and practice to feel more comfortable and
confident.
I appreciated the opportunity to work with a small group of
other first grade teachers to create our online learning materials for our
plant unit. It was beneficial to toss
around ideas and help each other out when necessary.
What I learned from
the textbook readings:
After reading our three textbooks, I realized some key ideas
that I was aware of, but never really thought about in depth prior to our
class. First, I realized that technology
goes way back. It just appeared in forms
different from what we think of as technology today, such as the invention of clay
tablets or the printing press. Second, I
realized that with new technological advances, there come questions that we
need to live with and answer, such as how will we use the technology? Will we sacrifice our environment just to be
more comfortable or to have something more convenient? Third, I realized that technology is changing
the way we read, perceive and take in information. Breaking tasks apart, reading shorter
snippets of information, and working for shorter periods of time are all
changes that I have noticed in myself and in my students. I also learned that with the use of technology
we have the means, motive, and opportunity to use our surplus of free time in
various ways. People today can quickly
and easily collaborate and share information.
Keeping these ideas in mind will help to drive my instruction and
integrate technology whenever possible.
Looking ahead with
applications to the classroom:
I think it is important to accept that new technological
advances will be a constant thread in our society. Realizing this fact, as a teacher, I need to
decide which technological tools will benefit my first grade students the
most. I realized that some of the topics
we were learning about could not be used by my students, such as creating and
updating a blog or wiki. However, some
could be used by parents, such as the class Google Site. After our technology courses I am more
comfortable with technology, but by no means am an expert. I am making it a goal of mine to include more
technology in my classroom. Updating my
Google Site, using Voice Threads, and creating Prezi presentations are a few
activities that I feel will be most beneficial for my young students. Trying to stay current, learning with
colleagues, and sharing new information about technology will help me reach my
goal of using more technology in everyday life.
