Final Relfection

I began this course with somewhat of a closed mind. I enjoy technology, but don't have a positive opinion about social networks, and wasn't about to change my mind. After completing this course my opinion hasn't changed a great deal. There are some sites and valid reasons for using these social networks, but there are many instances where it seems like a lot of work for what its worth.

VoiceThread - I enjoyed the concept of VoiceThread in an online college course format. After multiple semesters in an online course its nice to hear a voice for a change. Reading reflection after reflection starts to become tedious. VoiceThread gives you the opportunity to speak your mind rather than write it. It puts emotion into your message.

Blogger - This site should be self-explanatory. Blogger allows you to create your own blog for free. Again, this is a great method for online courses, and your more traditional classroom methods. As a special education teacher in a middle school environment, I don't see a place for blogging in my classroom.

Delicious - If you remember from last week's post, I'm not a fan of delicious. The concept is great. You get to save any website you need on the internet. Its like having your favorite bookmarked webpages from your computer available anywhere you can get the internet. The reason I don't like it, and won't use it in the future is the user friendly factor. Right now, it seems like too much work for what I would get out of it.

Wiki - This is my favorite new tool that I had no idea existed even while I've been using Wikipedia. Wiki's give you the opportunity to allow multiple people to contribute to one site. I like the option of having an administrator (teacher) control the content to insure the safety of use. I look forward to implementing this tool in my classroom next year. Work can be done at school and at home.

Flickr - Flickr is a nice social network site to mainly share images to anyone you want to share with. Another great idea, but for my classroom and for my personal use, there isn't a need. If I want to share images with friends, then I'll just email them. It could be useful for maybe for a photography class.

Facebook - I have been a member of Facebook for many years now. It is the only social networking site that I update on a semi-regular basis. You can chat with friends, write posts, join groups, share photos, etc... I recommend this site for personal use, but don't recommend it for use with students.

Twitter - I remember at the beginning of this course I vowed not to join Twitter. I thought it was a pointless website that only encouraged people to become more anti-social and avoid personal contact. Since that time I have joined Twitter, against my will, and understand its addictiveness. I find it more exciting on a personal level, and it can have it's uses in an education setting to share small amounts of information a quick and easy format. I don't see Twitter helping me develop as a professional. I tried to follow different people through Twitter, but for the time being it isn't useful.

A personal learning network (PLN) is an effective way to continue your professional development throughout your career. I wish that I had a PLN while doing my first PDP plan. My PDP plan was and arduious process that left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I received very little support from my district, and when trying to get help, it cost me a good chunk of money. A PLN could have provided free support that would have helped me dearly.

At one time I thought I was pretty tech. savvy, but after taking this course I've realized how far off this assumption is. Learning these new tools to incorporate in my classroom has been, at times, frustrating, but enlightening. Students today seem to always have some type of technology in their hands. MP3 players look as if they come installed in children's ears at birth. Each tool I saw in this class is a way share and present information. As a teacher, how you present the information can mean the difference between a student learning the material or a student viewing it has useless. If the content can be presented in an organized and structured media, then that tool is valid. If the educator doesn't have the media mastered, then that media is yet another hurdle that needs to be cleared.

Considering my resistance to change and the positive opinion I have of wikis, I will further my exploration of wikis as a starting point for integrating technology in my classroom. I look forward to the end of the school year, but more so, look forward to the start of next year.

Del.icio.us and tagging

I have a feeling my experience with del.icio.us is going to be more different than everyone else. I don't like it. I like the premise, but find it very confusing and difficult to navigate. When searching for sites and trying to bookmark, I get very overwhelmed and turn to putting my hands up and surrendering. Maybe it's the stress of the end of the year combined with this master's course and coaching track.

The choosing of tags wasn't difficult, but it felt like I could put about 40 different tags for each site that I found. I basically would narrow it down to 4 or 5 tags for each site. I don't know how I would approach teaching tagging to students, especially my students who have a hard enough time performing simple tasks.

Bundling related tags can help organize your bookmarks when you've gather a large quantity of websites. Right now it doesn't seem to difficult to manage since I have so few sites, but when my list becomes rather large and contains a wide variety of topics, bundling will be helpful.

To answer the remaining questions about del.icio.us, I will have to respond with, "I don't know." I don't how you would use the Network feature. I don't know how I would use this with my students. If I found the site confusing, then how would 7th grade students with learning disabilities be able to use it? I'm sure the site can be useful and benefit me eventually, but right now it's just annoying. I even get annoyed typing the name... del.icio.us.

The wiki, as far as other Web 2.0 tools that I feel could be used particularly in my school/classroom, is a great tool that I can begin to effectively use in the classroom next year. Currently our staff uses wiki to post assignments for parents to view. I don't think I would need to ask them. Last year our special education department bought and put 10 computers in my room for the middle school special education students to use for testing and any other computer needs.

It wouldn't take much to convince my administrator and tech advisor to allow the use of the wiki in my classroom. They are very supportive when it comes to incorporating technology in the classroom. The wiki is one option that really excites me. Sorry to del.icio.us and those who love her. She's not my type.... too high maintenance.

Twitter and new tools for schools

How do you see Twitter benefitting you and/or your students?

As an avid Packer fan, I know that certain players tend to say the dumbest things on Twitter, which get them in trouble. One fine example of this is, Nick Barnett. His most recent blunder is a comment made about a former Packer, let's call him, Brent. The comment was in reference to "Brent's" possible surgery on his ankle and Nick's desire to have Brent come back for redemption.

Having Twitter will benefit my unhealthy obsession with the Green Bay Packers become an addiction as I now am a follower of Nick Barnett, Aaron Rodgers, and the newest addition Brian Bugala.

On another personal note, my family has, on numerous occasions, mentioned to me that I tend not to communicate a frequent basis with them. Maybe Twitter can help.

As far as school is concerned, I know Twitter could help with communication between staff and the community as far as event schedules, conferences, weather delay info, etc... Students could benefit from reading the thoughts of their teachers during the year, and maybe develop a closer relationship (school appropriate of course).

How might Twitter be used in education?

In the Twenty-Nine Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in Education, I found the polling site, http://twtpoll.com/ to be the most helpful. Since I teach a self-contained math class, the number of students are not large enough to create a personal survey. With a Twitter poll, my students can create their own survey/poll and the whole school can take the survey. The benefits could go further than just the math skills they would develop by having to graph the results and analyze them. Thinking of good polling questions, and seeing the affect they can have on their school is not a daily occurrence in special education.

New Tools and Use in our School...

I looked at social networking (www.dailymile.com), GoogleEarth, and the use of surveys.

Social Networking (dailymile.com)

I liked this site the moment Sarah E. started to describe it. Students and coaches can track what their athletes are doing during the weeks of summer and can track their progress during the season. They have the ability to motivate, challenge, set goals, and suggest training tips or workouts.

As a distance track coach it would be great for me personally and as a coach. This site can help me monitor their efforts and mine. Sometimes I tend to tell my athletes to do as I say and not as I do. Now with this site, they can keep me honest to my goals.

GoogleEarth

I love geography, and enjoy GoogleEarth. Before viewing the wiki on this site, I knew GoogleEarth was a neat site, but I didn't know all of the features it can do. I can create my own virtual tour of different nations, continents, regions, cities... In fact GoogleEarth will become part of my unit project.

Surveys/Polls

I had mentioned earlier that Twitter can allow my students to create surveys for the whole school to take. Surveys can also benefit me as a special education teacher. I have around 20 students on my caseload, and they have a wide variety of teachers that I cannot stay in contact with. A beginning and end of the year survey can help me to understand what I need to change in order to be an effective case-manager. Doing these surveys online can keep the comments anonymous and quicker to complete rather than the paper and pen version.