I'm not so old but I can remember having long discussions about the wisdom of just signing up for an email address. It wasn't that long ago that owning a home computer meant you were very wealthy and/or a total "geek"! Now look at us! Almost every home has a computer and internet service. Now you are expected to have an email address and the question up for discussion is "Do you blog?". I'm glad to say this class, 21st Century Technology for Teachers, is helping me discover the uses of internet technology that I haven't even investigated before. I'm really excited about all the possibilities.
It has also been a great reminder of all the frustrations that come along with using computers. I guess slow internet connections help to even the "playing field".
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
To blog or not to blog
Blogging and texting have taken the place of kitchen table conversations, playground chats and your general "odd conversations". But blogging can be much more useful than just an opportunity to "blather" on about random thoughts. Blogging as an educational tool can actually make learning FUN!
Students, parents and teachers need the ability to keep up with classroom requirements, assignments, group activities, sports events, you name it. All that can be monitored on a blog site. Class calendars with assignment information, due dates and rubrics can easily be posted and accessed at a teacher's blog site.
I'm really excited about using this blog site in organizing my classroom! I will be able to post concert dates complete with maps. It will be a place to review song ideas and musical information needed for class.
I hope to encourage students to develop their own site and help them understand the responsibility of being a "voice" on the net. It will be a place for them to post their homework, share ideas for group projects and share interesting information through links to some of their favorite sites.
The classroom will have no walls!
Students, parents and teachers need the ability to keep up with classroom requirements, assignments, group activities, sports events, you name it. All that can be monitored on a blog site. Class calendars with assignment information, due dates and rubrics can easily be posted and accessed at a teacher's blog site.
I'm really excited about using this blog site in organizing my classroom! I will be able to post concert dates complete with maps. It will be a place to review song ideas and musical information needed for class.
I hope to encourage students to develop their own site and help them understand the responsibility of being a "voice" on the net. It will be a place for them to post their homework, share ideas for group projects and share interesting information through links to some of their favorite sites.
The classroom will have no walls!
RSS in the classroom
It used to be that if you wanted to know what was being said about any given subject you had to go to the local barber or beauty shop. Now, with the net, you just have to google search the subject and a multitude of available sites pop up right before your eyes. Go ahead - try it! Type google.com in that long white space at the top of the computer screen and then type anything you want to know about in the shorter white space on the right. Hit the magnifying glass and it will take you to your own "card catalog" of information available. Place the cursor over the underlined words and click - you are magically taken to a new site with just the info you wanted to know.
Now, imagine you are a student that has been given the assignment of writing about the dangers of a wiffle ball game (it is dangerous, just ask Jason Habisch!). Where would you go to find that out? Just a couple clicks of a mouse and you have a ready made report at your finger tips.
You can even keep up with the changing ideas through the use of RSS (really simple syndication) sites. You can subscribe to your favorite news sites, teachers sites, encyclopedia sites, etc. and "store" their site addresses in a convenient space (such as google reader) where with one click you are swept away to that site. It gives an educator the ability to screen the resource sites for reliable information, assuring the safety of their students. This speeds up the process of acquiring knowledge resources and, with gas prices what they are, saves money, too.
Education and the internet is a whole new world of discovery. There are soooooooooo many tools that are available for internet use. The only thing standing between them and the classroom is the availability of the equipment and the knowledge to use it.
Morning coffee over the newspaper has a whole new look!
Now, imagine you are a student that has been given the assignment of writing about the dangers of a wiffle ball game (it is dangerous, just ask Jason Habisch!). Where would you go to find that out? Just a couple clicks of a mouse and you have a ready made report at your finger tips.
You can even keep up with the changing ideas through the use of RSS (really simple syndication) sites. You can subscribe to your favorite news sites, teachers sites, encyclopedia sites, etc. and "store" their site addresses in a convenient space (such as google reader) where with one click you are swept away to that site. It gives an educator the ability to screen the resource sites for reliable information, assuring the safety of their students. This speeds up the process of acquiring knowledge resources and, with gas prices what they are, saves money, too.
Education and the internet is a whole new world of discovery. There are soooooooooo many tools that are available for internet use. The only thing standing between them and the classroom is the availability of the equipment and the knowledge to use it.
Morning coffee over the newspaper has a whole new look!
My very first blog
I've always enjoyed sharing my ideas and opinions in person but to stay "in touch" with the world today, you need to blog. Or so I'm told. So, here it is my very first blog.
This is one place I won't have to ask "Do you really want to know" when I have an opinion or something to say. It is entirely possible that absolutely NO ONE will read it. Then, too, it may be read but no one can respond to it. I like that!!! I finally have a place where my ideas and opinions can be aired and I won't have to worry about the consequences.
Or do I?
This is one place I won't have to ask "Do you really want to know" when I have an opinion or something to say. It is entirely possible that absolutely NO ONE will read it. Then, too, it may be read but no one can respond to it. I like that!!! I finally have a place where my ideas and opinions can be aired and I won't have to worry about the consequences.
Or do I?
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