If I were to rate this Technology in Education class on a scale of 1-10, 1 being learning nothing new, and 10 being overwhelmed with new and engaging material, I would without a doubt rate it as a 10. Overwhelmed, in some classes, might be a bad thing, but this is not the case of Tech in Ed. One of the things that we talked about last night is that this class prepared us with a plethora of resources, and not only the resources themselves, but the skills and the confidence to take the initiative and go learn about new programs to see if they would beneficial to one day integrate into the class.
I think one thing that this class has helped me with is confidence in approaching technology. Learning new technology can be very intimidating, but this class helped me to realize all of the awesome resources available (a lot of them for free) and if I'm interested in the program to just go for it: mess around with the tools, see what it can do, etc. It was really cool to see everyone's final presentations and all of the different tools and programs that they presented. I want to go back to many of those sites and mess around with them over the summer (so thank you Professor Sorenson for reading my mind creating a blog where we can access all of these!) As one of my fellow students said last night, this class has helped to make us aware about the need for technology integration into classes, the benefit it can have in engaging students, the accessibility of many of the resources for teachers, and the simplicity of the programs, all to result in giving us teachers a desire to search out the technological and educational world. Technology can be integrated in such creative manners that can make classes more engaging and relevant to the students of toady, and I am glad that I have been made aware and prepared to take advantage of this.
As I reflected on my NETS, I laughed as I naively and foolishly set a goal to make a few different powerpoints over the semester with no relation to any other classes than I'm taking. While I didn't fulfill this goal, I think that I learned something that will be more valuable to me as a teacher and a person who desires to have a life outside of school too: Beg, Borrow, and Steal! Why reinvent the wheel? There are a multitude of outstanding resources available. Now here is where the NETS standards come in. When I find these resources that I want to use in my class, the NETS standards are good to use to evaluate how effective this resource actually is. The NETS standards are very practical and are a good way to keep yourself in check as a teacher to help integrate technology into education for your students as effectively and as beneficially as possible.
Thank you so much Professor Sorenson for an engaging semester that helped me to grow as a future teacher and helped to open my eyes to the benefits and necessities to the TechEd world!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Reflection # 12
What: Developing an Online Personality
So What: When interacting with people online, it is easy, and even tempting, to present oneself in a manner that is slightly different than how someone would encounter you in person. I think most people have a tendency to do this at some level, although not always to an extreme measure. For example, I think just about everybody participates in this one: Posting facebook pictures. People love to put pictures of themselves doing interesting activities or in intruiging places. People also love to put ONLY the good pictures of themselves online. Why do we do this? Because we want to put our best selves forward and show people that we are beautiful and interesting people. Some people even go to extremes and create completely different alternative egos. Is all of this wrong? Or are some things okay to do in some situations but not others? Or should people be free to do whatever they want? This video is a funny song by Brad Paisley that addresses this topic, and even though it is country (for all you haters) it is a funny presentation on this real issue. ***There might be some things that might be offensive to some, a little bit of language, and some content that is relevant to the online alter-ego dilemma, but i don't think it's enough to take away from the message, so if you want to check it out click the youtube link below***:
READ ***ABOVE*** BEFORE CLICKING LINK!
Online by Brad Paisley
Now What: This concept is important for each person to consider because we all interact with people or present oursevles in the online community. It's important to figure out morally about how far we are willing to let our creativity and imagination affect our online personalities, and when it is important to present ourselves as accurately and truthfully to our actual personalities as possible.
So What: When interacting with people online, it is easy, and even tempting, to present oneself in a manner that is slightly different than how someone would encounter you in person. I think most people have a tendency to do this at some level, although not always to an extreme measure. For example, I think just about everybody participates in this one: Posting facebook pictures. People love to put pictures of themselves doing interesting activities or in intruiging places. People also love to put ONLY the good pictures of themselves online. Why do we do this? Because we want to put our best selves forward and show people that we are beautiful and interesting people. Some people even go to extremes and create completely different alternative egos. Is all of this wrong? Or are some things okay to do in some situations but not others? Or should people be free to do whatever they want? This video is a funny song by Brad Paisley that addresses this topic, and even though it is country (for all you haters) it is a funny presentation on this real issue. ***There might be some things that might be offensive to some, a little bit of language, and some content that is relevant to the online alter-ego dilemma, but i don't think it's enough to take away from the message, so if you want to check it out click the youtube link below***:
READ ***ABOVE*** BEFORE CLICKING LINK!
Online by Brad Paisley
Now What: This concept is important for each person to consider because we all interact with people or present oursevles in the online community. It's important to figure out morally about how far we are willing to let our creativity and imagination affect our online personalities, and when it is important to present ourselves as accurately and truthfully to our actual personalities as possible.
Reflection #11
What: When technology fails you
So What: Technology can be a tremendous help in a person's every day life. But what happens when the technology that we are depending on fails to come through? Should there be a balance on how dependent we become on technology? Just last week in class, my laptop went on the fritz and started making noises similar to a fire alarm at volumes that I didn't even know were possible for a laptop. Not to mention that this happened the last week of classes before finals. Fortunately this semester, the only real need that I have to access documents and projects on my laptop is for my tech in ed class, which is where I was keeping my final project. Finally, I was able to get my project off my laptop as well, even though my computer is still far from okay.
Now What: It is important to have a couple different strategies in the back of one's mind for occasions like this when our technology goes haywire. First, it is important to back up everything on your hard drive to an external source. This could save a lot of work from being lost in case your computer crashes. It's also good to know how long your warranty lasts on your computer or even purchase an extended warranty for your computer for service from the pros. Also, have back up plans available, especially when preparing to teach, in case a technological device that you planned on using doesn't pull through. This way, the lesson can still be saved and won't go down as a flop. Finally, thank you Professor Sorenson for being understanding of my tech problems = )
So What: Technology can be a tremendous help in a person's every day life. But what happens when the technology that we are depending on fails to come through? Should there be a balance on how dependent we become on technology? Just last week in class, my laptop went on the fritz and started making noises similar to a fire alarm at volumes that I didn't even know were possible for a laptop. Not to mention that this happened the last week of classes before finals. Fortunately this semester, the only real need that I have to access documents and projects on my laptop is for my tech in ed class, which is where I was keeping my final project. Finally, I was able to get my project off my laptop as well, even though my computer is still far from okay.
Now What: It is important to have a couple different strategies in the back of one's mind for occasions like this when our technology goes haywire. First, it is important to back up everything on your hard drive to an external source. This could save a lot of work from being lost in case your computer crashes. It's also good to know how long your warranty lasts on your computer or even purchase an extended warranty for your computer for service from the pros. Also, have back up plans available, especially when preparing to teach, in case a technological device that you planned on using doesn't pull through. This way, the lesson can still be saved and won't go down as a flop. Finally, thank you Professor Sorenson for being understanding of my tech problems = )
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