Monday, July 20, 2009

What I Have Learned in EDM 310

So much was covered in this course! It was almost overwhelming. I don't think that I'll remember it all unless I keep all of my class handouts (which I will try to do). Still, I did learn about some important technological resources available to teachers.

The following are the resources that made the biggest impression on me: blogging, ACCESS, Google Earth, and creating presentations, and creating links to websites. I know that these are only a few of what we covered, and that the others can be invaluable tools as well.

I'll go into a little more detail. Blogging is an excellent way to collaborate with other teachers across the globe, as we have seen in our blog assignments. ACCESS is a wonderful source of ideas and information for teachers. Google Earth is a wonderful and exciting way to share experiences with other people, such as travel, and history. Creating presentations is a wonderful way to present visual material to students. Finally, creating links to websites allows one to share information in a collaborative way by inviting readers to visit the site themselves easily.

I have to say a word about podcasts. I want to acknowledge this very important technological resource. When one visits iTunes or iTunes U, they are presented with an unending wealth of information. The possibilities are endless. Students will now be able to learn class material anytime, anyplace. I was impacted by their importance in the classroom. Now, with that said, I have to confess that I personally may or may not use podcasts outside of the classroom. It reminded me of talk radio, which I despise. The main difference is that the topics actually matter (which is not always the case with talk radio). These are matters of personal preference, and I do hope that I continue utilizing the podcasts for the classroom. As I said before, I do realize the importance and relevance of podcasts.

There is nothing that I learned in this class that I think is useless. I think all of the information about technologies is wonderful. Even if I choose not to utilize some of them, I am grateful to Dr. Strange for exposing them to me. I know that I will use at least some of them in the classroom. I will also strive to become more technologically literate as time goes by, so that I may better serve my students. This class has made me a little more open to the use of technology, and I will continue to try to grow in that openness.

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