Tech Classes

What I hope to get out of this course?

I want to learn more about how to effectively integrate technology tools in the classroom. I also want to make sure that using certain technologies will be meaningful for the students.

1. My thoughts on Personal Learning Networks:
I found the Skype-cast with Clearance Fisher very interesting. I like the fact that he shared a few examples of projects that his students have worked on in his classes. I also appreciated his honesty that not all assignments/projects have been successful. Perhaps the fear of failure, the fear of learning new technology tools, and the fear of releasing a certain amount of control to our students inhibits many teachers from trying such networking (hub) projects. I can make a personal connection to these feelings when my students participated in a Ning book club last school year. Although I loved the idea of my students networking with other students from around the world, I felt frustrated about the technology tools and "class management" of this project. These frustrations included the amount of lost time due to technology problems, the screening student posts, commenting on posts, and managing club participants ( I had difficulty with deciding who can participate when I have no idea if the student will add or distract from the project). Overall I felt the project was not worth the time/effort involved for both my students (who wasted a lot of time posting their thoughts), and my own time. However, I'm not completely opposed to trying a similar projects in the future once I've learned more about how to effectively implement technology into the curriculum. I also liked how Clearence said, "The teacher is no longer the source of all knowledge". Students can learn so much from each other, and today's digital native children have come to expect immediate feedback and opportunities to interact with their peers rather than sit passively as the teacher pours knowledge into their minds.


2. How do we address truth and bias in the classroom?
Chris Betcher provided some gems in his Skye cast that I will immediately use in my own class room. Primaraly the information he provided about how to narrow google searches will be very helpful. I will now be using google for educations, and the google advanced search engine. I also learned that the advanced search feature can allow you to search for certain types of files (and that Shockwave files are great for Smarboard lessons). I also liked the interactive aspect of Chis' presentation. It allowed us to try our hand at narrowing on google searches. I think my students would also enjoy (and learn a lot) by participating in such web scavenger hunts. The hoax websites were also fun and can be used to help students be more discerning about the information/misinformation that is on the web. The conversations about Wiki was also interesting. I feel more comfortable about using it in my class. To paraphrase one of our classmates: It can be used as a first source, but not as the only source. I also enjoying learning about how the history of a wiki article can be viewed. It's amazing how quickly an article on wiki can evolve. I also like the fact that if someone were to maliciously erase the latest post, it can be easily restored by searching and re posting a version from the history. Although I had recently learned the difference between .com, ,gov, .ac, etc. sites, it was still a helpful reminder. My question about Chris' presentation is: At what age/grade level are students ready and capable to critically evaluate the validity of a website?