Thing #24

I can't say that I had any particular favorite learning experience with the 23 Things. I did enjoy learning more about Flicker, even thought I have no idea when I will use it. It was nice to see some of the pictures of different places out there. I really did enjoy the Web Quest that I put together. I think this may be something that I can actually use in my classroom. I also think the Excel project that we did was very good. This was a very practical tool that we learned in order to have an affect on the classroom. I also thought that the Power Point activities were good, as they were practical for us for classroom purposes.

I certainly was surprised at how much we tried to cover in this program. I was expecting the program to be based more around software programs that we actually use in schools and in classrooms, and less about blogs and things we do not use in public schools. I definitely think this class has affected how I look at life long learning. This course has somewhat cemented my views on life long learning and the fact that life long learning is something that is best done through life experiences, and that a classroom can only supplement life long learning, and it can not be the main source of it.

I think the biggest thing that can be done to improve this course is to have a more realistic work load. Between the 23 Things activities, which are multiple activities on each step and all of the other projects in this class, there is entirely too much to accomplish in 14 weeks. When we are working full time plus, and then attending multiple classes at APSU, there simply is not enough time to do justice to all of this work. I feel that I did learn things in this class, but I don't think that I learned as much as I could have if the work load had been more practical. I would recommend either cutting back on the projects that are required and keeping the 23 Things, or get rid of the 23 Things and keep the projects. I personally would suggest getting rid of the 23 Things and keeping the projects, as I think the projects were more important to me for my teaching success. While learining how to blog may have been fun for some, it is not a pracitcal use of time when we need to understand how to effectively use technology in our classroom to reach and stimulate our students. The students that teach can not use any web site that allows posting of any kind. Our county has it blocked as a safety measure to protect against on-line preditors.

As for keeping up with web 2.0, I am a technology teacher, so I attend several inservices that cover technogoical developments. I also keep up with state standards for my areas of endorsement. In addition, we have weekly collaborative meetings among all of the technology teachers at our school. I will continue to do this, as well as continue to talk with my students about their findings and discoveries to keep myself up to date.