Monday, March 7, 2011

Final Thoughts (for now!)


The title of this post is not implying that I am finished with this blog, as I hope to continue it as I head off for student teaching, but rather signifies an end of another semester and in fact the end of another degree!
I created this blog as an assignment for the Internet for Educators course that I have been taking this term.  It has been an excellent course and I have certainly been introduced to many new ideas regarding education, technology in education, and ways to continue to learn and grow as an educator.  

Throughout the course there were some very clear themes presented to us through a variety of presentations regarding the internet and education.  The idea of creating PLN’s or Personal Learning Networks for ourselves and our students, the idea of incorporating Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Ning into the classroom and to use them as a learning tool.  We looked at ways students can learn online through virtual worlds and web-based courses, how we can incorporate mobile devices into the classroom, and use Web 2.0 tools for student assignments and learning.  As well we touched on many issues regarding using technology in classes, such as safety, blocking and filtering of sites in schools, what type of mobile device could be best suited for the classroom, and on how we need to educate students to be responsible digital citizens.  We covered A LOT in the few weeks that we have been in this course!  

When I paused and reflected on everything that we had done in this course and on what I had learned in the course for our summative assignment, I decided that I wanted to create something that could serve as a future resource to myself and others covering what we had done.  We were introduced to so many valuable resources and ideas throughout the course that I wanted to try and compile them into one resource.  This resulted in creating a LiveBinder at www.livebinders.com, titled 'Internet for Educators'.  LiveBinders was a site that I was introduced to during the course and had felt that it could be very valuable to an educator as it is an easy way to keep all resources on a particular topic in one place, and as well save some research for others working in the same subject area.  I feel that the use of LiveBinders holds some serious potential for students in our classes, especially for any research projects that they may do.

Feel free to use this binder as you like.  I attempted to put in many of the resources that we had discussed and as well find some other resources that could assist us when attempting to incorporate technology into our classes.




3 comments:

  1. Wow! You've included so much. I'm definitely going to be dipping into your live binder when I need to track down something.
    You're right, we have covered a tonne in the class and I am looking forward to incorporating a lot of what I've learned. But the best part is now we have all these connections and know where to look for things we'll be allow to constantly adding to our professional resources.
    Great summative project Alanna!

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  2. I liked it too. That's actually a pretty good idea that I might have to steal from you... Most of my good ideas are stolen, lol. Great final project and very practical too.

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  3. Wow - what a great resource, Alanna!

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