This 5 day course went by so fast, but there has been a lot to think about throughout our time together. Every minute of the day was filled with learning about useful tools that we as teachers can use in our future classrooms. I think that I will use a lot of the things we learned about in my future career. One of the things we learn about a lot in Palmer is how important it is for us to be adaptable, evolutionary librarians in this age of technology. I definitely think that this course is a valuable part of the curriculum and a valuable step in our preparation to be librarians. Without an understanding of technology and it's place in the library, none of us would be successful in our career aspirations.
Before this course started, I definitely didn't consider myself tech-saavy, but I knew my way around the Internet. When I read the pre-course assignment, I agreed with the author and I thought I understood everything in the article. However, after completing this class, I now realize that I did not understand just how much there is out there. I now understand that in order to stay up to date with the Web, we must collaborate with other teachers and professionals from all over. It is impossible to know or learn everything, but with help we can definitely find and use Web 2.0 tools effectively in the classroom.
Out of all the tools we learned about, there are quite a few that I would like to continue to use. I have used Wikispaces.com before, and I think that it is a good way to organize information for us beginners who need an easy and fast tool. I will hopefully use this again in the future. I loved the features of Big Huge Labs and Wordle. I think they are really fun and again easy for a teacher or student to use. I would definitely use PhotoPeach again for a quick slideshow, but I would also use Prezi if I was looking for something a little nicer. I also had a lot of fun with the ToonDoo site, so I think I would definitely use that with students. Glogster is also a tool I would definitely use for all sorts of things.
Out of all the tools we learned about, there are a few that I am not sure if I would use again. Twitter is something that I'm not sure will grow on me. I realize that people are constantly posting great resources on it, but it is so overwhelming to look at all of them! I like to read blogs, so RSS feed is a good alternative for this. I will also probably not use Mindomo again, because Webspiration was much easier to figure out.
I have only just scratched the surface of the useful Web 2.0 tools that are available, but this class has definitely given me all the knowledge I need to keep exploring and learning.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Day 5 -- The Last One!
Today we looked at some websites that help organize information. Live Binder is a really interesting and helpful site. It is arranged in an easy to follow way and can hold a lot of information without getting really confusing.
It was really nice to learn about the Google forms and documents, since they are not only easy to use, but easy to make as well. Google forms are really useful for all ages and for many different reasons. I really like the idea of using a "survey" on Google forms instead of a quiz in order to assess learning in a class. This is better for both the teacher and the students, since the survey is fun and the results are all recorded right away.
Creating a Google site was really easy. Although I definitely need to explore it further, I feel confident enough with the skills I learned to be able to figure it out later on my own.
I thought it was really important to talk about the web evaluation, safety, and copyright issues. It is easy with all the resources on the Internet to forget about any one of these things. When doing research or exploring the web, both teachers and students need to remember to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of a site. Also, safety is easily forgotten sometimes as well. Students need to be educated in safe ways to navigate the Internet. Lastly, teachers and students need to realize that things they find on the Internet are the property of owners, and not necessarily free to use however you want. I'm glad we went over this in class and I hope I remember it all in the future!
Whew! We made it!
It was really nice to learn about the Google forms and documents, since they are not only easy to use, but easy to make as well. Google forms are really useful for all ages and for many different reasons. I really like the idea of using a "survey" on Google forms instead of a quiz in order to assess learning in a class. This is better for both the teacher and the students, since the survey is fun and the results are all recorded right away.
Creating a Google site was really easy. Although I definitely need to explore it further, I feel confident enough with the skills I learned to be able to figure it out later on my own.
I thought it was really important to talk about the web evaluation, safety, and copyright issues. It is easy with all the resources on the Internet to forget about any one of these things. When doing research or exploring the web, both teachers and students need to remember to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of a site. Also, safety is easily forgotten sometimes as well. Students need to be educated in safe ways to navigate the Internet. Lastly, teachers and students need to realize that things they find on the Internet are the property of owners, and not necessarily free to use however you want. I'm glad we went over this in class and I hope I remember it all in the future!
Whew! We made it!
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