Thursday, February 1, 2007

Reflection #4

Experiences with Blogs and ePortfolio


I have not learned much about blogs from this class because I have used this website before. Its a neat site that initiataly took me a while to learn how to do all of this stuff. I do not see this being useful in high school settings besides for reflections on experiences outside of the classroom that apply to a particular topic but beyond that, I only see blogs being useful for personal use at this point in time.

On the other hand, I cannot get enough of the ePortfolio. I see this project as being a very useful tool in getting a job. I see it as an online resume that can constantly be updated and modified to keep with my doings in my life. I find myself thinking of things to add to it and I will play around with the lay out as I watch TV. Yes I am a big dork but who cares!

Reflection #3

Summary of Reflections 1 and 2

Not to sound too confident but technology has never been a problem for me. I think it is because I am not scared to push buttons or mess something up. Trust me, I have messed things up many times, but by doing this, I have learned a lot about technology. I think I can relay too much on it at times, but I am not scared to use it. Part of this knowledge was because of the technology in my highschool. I live in a very wealthy school district and the technology reflects that. The teachers were never scared to use it and encouraged us to use it in our own assignments as well.

I want to integrate technology into my class as much as possible because when I was in highschool, the lessons taught with technology were the most interesting and engaging. I know that this will be tough because Math does not easily lead itself to using technology, although I know it is possible. I see this as a challange to myself to integrate technology as much as possible into my lessons but to also remember that mathematics need to be learned both by hand as well as with the use of modern technologies.

My top five technology innovations list is as follows:
  1. Interactive White Board
  2. Tablet PCs
  3. Blogs
  4. Podcasting
  5. Syncron Eyes
I choose these five technologies because I really see all of them advancing the education field. Some will help math education more than others but I can see teachers with in the next five years utilizing all of these technologies. Technology will no longer hold back education like most people think; it will take it to the next level.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Reflection # 4

Experiences/Thoughts/Questions about Blogging and E-portfolio

I have had no experience in blogging so it was a little new to me at first. I never really thought it was hard or anything but I can sometimes forget where to go once I actually get on the blog site. Also, sometimes things can be a little fast-pace in class but I understand that there is a lot on the agenda. It has just taken me a little while to get used to the pace of the class and to get aquainted with the new technologies that we are using.

In W201 we made a webpage but we used a different template and I honestly did not remember much about it. For our e-portfolio I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on things but I can definitely be intimidated by my fear of permenately messing something up on the computer. My luck has strayed me down that path before so I have been a little hesitant while working on my webpage. Hopefully I can get used to using Frontpage and to editing my webpage and my blogspot.

I don't really have any questions about blogging or about the e-portfolio other than just a comment that I really appreciate and find useful the Oncourse messages you send to us. I like the reminders of what is due and when, and I also like the summary of class and your reflections on how it went.

Reflection # 3

Summary of Reflections 1 & 2:

Reflection 1 -- In all three levels of schooling I have experienced that students and teachers use technologies such as telephones, computers, electronic games, calculators, overhead projectors, televisions, and digital scales in science and chemistry.

One of the best technology integrations that I experienced in high school was when we had to re-make one of Shakespears plays using anything we wanted (including technology). My group made a movie, and one of my friends, who was in radio/tv, edited the video so it turned out to look really sophisticated. It was pretty cool to see all of the ideas that the different groups in the class could come up with.

Hopefully by the end of this course I will have a more in depth understanding about making a webpage, blogging, and using programs on the computer such as Microsoft Excel and Frontpage. I would also like to think more about integrating technology into my classroom and gain a sense of confidence towards keeping up with the new technology advances.

Reflection 2 -- My top five technology innovations are as follows:
1) Tablets
2) Blogging
3) Webcams
4) Intellegent Agents
5) Podcasting

I have thought of some examples of some ways in which I can integrate my top two technologies into my classroom. By using tablets I can have students do example problems in class and then I can get an idea, right away, of where students seem to be struggling. I can also use them for games of teams to see who can solve the equation the fastest or to do a quick homework check by having the students put a problem on their tablet. By using blogs my students can ask me questions at home or if they are absent then they can get missed assignments through the blog. Blogging also allows parents a chance to keep up with the class and make suggestions as well.

Overall, I learned that there are various technologies out there -- more than I realized. I also learned that if you don't try the technologies or if you don't know enough about them then you will never know if they suit your classroom better than something you might already be using.

Reflection 3

Summary of Reflections 1 & 2:

I have used basic Microsoft Office Programs since high school, including Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. I have used these programs outside of high school and college to train other people on the capabilities of these programs. The technologies listed in Reflection 1 that I could benefit from learning about are: YouTube, Blogs, Podcast, and Wikipedia. I hope to get help from other classmates in these areas, and I will be able to share my knowledge. I chose a few of these as my top five technology innovations because I am eager to see what they can offer me in a classroom setting. Since we have been working with Blogs, which was my first choice, I have seen that they are a great way to communicate. Since the new generation is heading toward technology (i.e. cellphones, computer games, chatting, etc.), all the technologies that have been and are being introduced into classrooms today are engaging students more in their learning and understanding.

Creating these team blogs was extremely confusing to me at first, partially because we were going somewhat fast in class. I still have some kinks to work out, but I will soon feel comfortable with Blogs and will be able to develop a way to incorporate them in my class someday. By creating team blogs, I was able to rely on my team members to help me out with problems I ran in to.