Final Blog...

Question #1

Here is the list of what I learned... How to use blogger in my future classroom and for personal use, GoogleDocs which is amazing and free, I-Tunes U which is

great and will be a great study aide for me, Comments 4 classmates, teachers and kids were very useful, making movies and podcasts were all really great, the future of technology in schools was interesting, and viewing the tutorials on Mr. Chamerlain's class blog when I was lost (due to the fact that he teaches middle schoolers they were easy to understand and were fun), and I liked learning about TED talks which are inspiring. I also forgot to mention Timetoast, I think I may make a timeline of my family's ancestry.

Question #2

I would have liked more help at using Twitter effectively, I can see my self experimenting with it in the future but I just can't see myself doing anything with it at the moment. I don't think I got enough out of the handouts, tutorials, and everything else. Also, I think I may be a little long winded for micro blogging.

Question #3

No, I actually saw a use for everything that I completed in this class for the first time in my long educational career.

Question #4

What excited me the most about this class was my freedom to think outside of the box and be creative. I get so sick of boundaries, guidelines and restrictions. The fact that I was encouraged to be creative made me the most excited. I guess I'm a round peg trying to fit into the square most of the time and this class allowed me to think for my self and express my self. I also got excited about the face that I made connections with people from around the world and got to peak into their classrooms. This broadened my perspective of what education should be like and it made me aware of some changes that could would benefit schools here in the US, especially schools in lower income school districts. This light truly came on when I got to see the classrooms of Wellington New Zealand.

Question #5

The fact that this class was not a burp back class was the most challenging aspect for me. Burp and Back are the two words that describe the majority of my past educational experiences. Ive had some amazing teachers/professors that have impacted my life; but there was always some form of having to burp back information for them. Due to this fact, this is how I learned and it was what I got used to. EDM 310 was huge change in the fact that I had to take information, decipher it and use it. My teacher was a guide than a dictator of facts and information. At times this was a little overwhelming because this takes time and a lot of effort; but when I managed to get used to it I liked it.

Question #6

What I got bored with in this class was that I had to continually blog on technology in schools and how it's implemented. I got bored with continually blogging about how schools have to change and be ready for the future. I just felt that some of the blog subjects were a little redundant. I think that we should have gotten to choose what we got to blog about a little bit more than just the past two blogs. I would have liked to have seen a blog that dealt with how we as educators would be able to implement technology effectively in a school district with very little or no resources. Also, I would have liked to know the SES demographics of the stateside districts that we observed in some of the blog assignments. I guess this issue is near and dear to my heart because Ive worked for nonprofit organizations and my parents chose to teach in impoverished rural communities throughout Northern Idaho. Therefore, Ive seen the types of schools that could benefit from technology but did not have the means to provide it for their students. These schools were not depicted throughout the blog assignments. I guess I got a little bored of seeing middle to upper class schools keep improving and having to write about it.

Question #7

There are a few things that I would change in this course. The first and only being the syllabus/novel. I think it could be shortened and be a little bit more clear. This would be very helpful.

Question #8

At the moment I feel that I'm right between medium and good but closer to the good side. I think that if I would have taken this class during a semester that was less demanding I would have walked away from it being excellent. However, I did build a strong base and feel way more comfortable than I did at the beginning of the semester. At the beginning of the semester I new how to navigate the Internet and send emails but that was the extent. I was also more into the publishing side of technology rather than the collaborative side.

Question #9

I plan on using the tools that have been mentioned in question #1. I'll try to change with them as they change. I hope to keep up with my PLN throughout the rest of my career as a student and as a teacher. I will also continue to use or contribute to the EDM310 Alumni Blog to keep up with technology. I just hope it doesn't leave me in the dust.