What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?
I learned an immense amount of technology in this course that not only can I apply in my classroom, but to also teacher my peers about. The STAIR project was wonderful to use since I am always looking for differentiation for my higher learners. I am sharing my project with not only my teaching partners at the 4th grade level but also at the district level. I also found learning about WebQuests and website creation applicable to my life as a teacher. I even created my own WebQuest for my 4th grade students as a cumulating unit assignment.
How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?
Using MERLOT has been an eye opening experience to both find and evaluate technology. I had been searching on google for sites and resources. This gave me options, however, on many sites I did not know if the contributor was an educator or if the resource was even appropriate for classroom use without trial myself. Using MERLOT has allowed for me to search for resources not only by grade level, subject, but also by technology type. I can also read through the comments and if people have use it before, if there was technology glitches, and the ease of it. It has been nice to view resources that were made by educators for other educators. When evaluating technology works I have become more comfortable since I have been using MERLOT and through our course readings and videos since I have been referring back to the NETS standards.
How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?
I enjoyed CEP 810 but wanted to learn more applications to use in my classroom. This course as allowed me to do this by not only creating resources that can be used, but actually having a chance to apply them currently to my students learning. Making the social studies WebQuest, technology lesson plan using Wordle, and STAIR project have surpassed my goals. Students have been engaged in the new use of technology and have even begun sharing how to use them with peer 4th graders and their families.
Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
My new goal is to use these technology resources and to share them with my peers at school. I am going to share input into the next professional development day we have and see if I can share Weebly, MERLOT, Wordle, and how to create presentation on Power Point in the kiosik mode. If this is not possible, then I will share with my peers a time when they can come visit me to show them the uses or I can send out the info and teachers can explore themselves.
