The End is Just The Beginning...
This is the last blog entry for Teaching With Digital Tools, but it is not the end of blogging. By using this blog, I have discovered a few things: 1) I need a topic to write about; though I am an English teacher, I am not a journaler. 2) It is no fun to write when you don't have readers. I will keep this in mind as I have students blog. Being sure that different students commented on different blogs kept blogging interesting in this class. I looked at blogs I may not have been originally drawn to just to follow directions, and I was happily surprised that it was more the style of writing that I enjoyed (the personality behind the info?) rather than the specific topic. 3) You need to do it to teach it. I couldn't really have my student blog effectively if I hadn't tried this on my own. Seeing other people’s blogs gave me a good idea of how different people use this medium.
Teaching With Digital Tools was an added class, one I didn't need to take and only at the last minute decided to take (even with the idea of dropping it if it got to be too much!). Interestingly, it is the first class that I was able to actually implement what I learned, even before finding a job! This course has made me aware of what kids these days are doing to communicate. I don't see the fact that they spend so much time texting and on Facebook as necessarily bad, they are communicating. In my family we share YouTube videos we enjoy, share photos uploaded from mobile devices, and I am following my daughter on Twitter. My youth group 7th and 8th graders have their own wiki page (complete with each members own page) to use to communicate and share. We post videos, discussions, and they all seem to love to write what is going on in their lives.
I am still looking for a job; not knowing what district I will end up in makes it difficult to know where my new found knowledge and experience with digital tools will go. I do know that I have great ideas that I am excited to use, great knowledge to help me at interviews, and most of all, I am a digital immigrant that can now say I am, at least partly, assimilated into the world of digital natives...
Lastly, this course has also taught me that there are so many tools out there to use, that you need to keep it organized and under control. As much as I have LOVED this course, I have also been frustrated. Many times I felt that the content was chaotic and hard to follow. I wasn't sure where to find assignments; do I look on the wiki, thinkfinity, school web? Where do I submit the assignment, or do I just post it? I will use this to help me as I go forward and use these tools in my own class environment. I think this is one of the growing pains felt as we use and learn about so many tools. I know that a main issue we are always discussing as Youth Leaders in church is how to get information to students and parents-there are just too many ways available!
Devra:
ReplyDeleteI too am an English teacher and often find my students (and myself) in the same predicament – what should I write about? Sometimes they appreciate the flexibility of being able to choose their own topics, and other times, they get frustrated because they are stuck for an idea and can’t seem to get started. I love that they can respond to other authors’ writing (whether it is well-known, published authors or classmates who have produced their own blogs!) to spark their own ideas and writing.
I agree with you that this class has been great. Unfortunately, I have also taken undergraduate and graduate classes which I enjoyed, but felt that many of the skills couldn’t be transferred to my classroom. Fortunately in this class, after reading about and implementing wikis and blogs, I was able to use them in my classes and the kids really enjoyed them. Good luck – I am sure you will find a job soon!
Kat
I empathize with your confusion as to where to find certain key pieces of information, but I do agree that sometimes being a little lost is the best way to really learn your way around something. I think we all became just a little more assimilated into the technological world through out this course ... it would be interesting to see what this course is like once the Millenials get to college. You make a great point in your first paragraph about walking the talk ... I agree, unless you do it yourself and fully experience the ups and downs of the resource your students will be using, your implementation of the digital tool will not be effective. Good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteJohanna
Your suggestions are welcome on how you would like to see the information presented.
ReplyDeleteDevra,
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you summed up your experiences in this this class. I too, have learned a great deal about the various ways one can incorporate technology in the classroom. I can not wait to implement all of my new knowledge when I begin teaching! I agree with you as well about some of the confusion with the various assignments of where to find them and submit them. That was the only part of this class that I did not like either. But other than that, I am glad that we were able to gain so much from this course!
Good luck finding a job!