I really wasn’t prepared for the broad scope of IT 645: Computer’s in Education. The title really does describe the course. We covered many aspects of computer, and technology use in the classroom: from the standards that make the web run smoothly to the specific web-sites teachers can use to accomplish their teaching goals. In the current times we live in it is essential for teachers to be well versed in technology. If the teachers are not prepared then they cannot effectively prepare their students for the world. Today’s students are bombarded by information from many sources, and we must teach them how to effectively use this information, as well as where to find it effectively.
The blog is an effective and interesting way to complete class requirements. The open nature of the blog is important in that it allows everyone in the class and elsewhere to share knowledge. Anything we put there is instantly available for anyone to see. In this way we are contributing to the body of human knowledge, which I think is pretty awesome! The comments are also a wonderful way for the members of the class to be able to interact with one another. I would often point out things in my group members blog postings that I thought they might have missed, or things that I thought were specifically interesting. My group members also did this for me. It is hard for one person to see all the different aspects of a topic that might come into play. The groups also allowed us to split up the coursework so we could focus on one aspect each week. A blog project is definitely something I will want to incorporate into any course I teach, especially an on-line course. Since we do not see each other in class, it is important to bring this interactivity to the course.
A listserv is something I will use in the future as well. It is another easy way to share information with a group, but it is not quite as open as a blog since only members of the listserv can see what is posted. It is an excellent way to answer questions originating from one student so that all students may benefit from the answer. In this class we did not use threaded discussions, besides the first discussion where we posted links to our blogs. In this class it was not really necessary since we had the blog, but it might be useful if we had wanted a more private location for our discussions to reside.
The podcast clips provided by Dr. Wang were helpful, but I don’t feel like I learned more from them than i did with the Powerpoint, video clips, and the book. It is good that an audio version of some of this information was provided, since one can listen to it while doing something else perhaps. I do think that I would enjoy producing a few podcasts for certain types of information, like classnotes, but it would probably accompany a visual aid such as a powerpoint, or video. Since this is the case I think a video clip might be a better choice.
The video clips provided by Dr. Wang were very helpful in giving detailed information on how to complete tasks. Sometimes I would feel lost and without direction when attempting to complete a particular assignment. Then I would remember to go and check out the video clips. These usually provided excellent step-by-step instructions on how to go about completing the assignment, and what would be expected from us. I think that videos would be great to use in a class. They can be rehearsed and edited until they are just like you want them. You can also save them and use them later in another course. You can even publish them to a website so that anyone can access and learn from them.
We had quite a few projects in class where we got a little more familiar with certain software or websites. These projects were very helpful. We used Word, Excel and Powerpoint to produce a flyer, progress chart and quiz for our fictional class. These were interesting projects for me since I had not ever made these sort of documents for this context, but it proved very informative to finish them. These types of projects will certainly be of use later in a classroom. For the flyer project I tried to use some of the design rules I have been learning IT 567, but I am not sure I was that successful.
The rubric, puzzle, and test projects were not really all that interesting to me in the beginning, but I am glad to know they exist. The RubiStar was a very helpful tool. I had honestly not thought much about rubrics before. This tool however, will be invaluable in producing a quality rubric, easily. It can then be modified to fit your needs exactly. The Easy Test Maker is nice in that it allows you to make so many different types of questions. I think allowing students much variety in question type is good.
Evaluation is an important part of choosing any media or resource for your class. The website evaluation project made me realize some of the things that I should have been looking for when choosing the site in the first place. It is important for the content of the site to be appropriate for your class. We also must ensure that the site is easy to navigate and find information on. I will certainly use website evaluation in the future, perhaps using the forms that were provided to make my own customized ones. TrackStar was a really cool resource to learn about. It allows a teacher to guide their students through sites on the web which they think are important. I can see myself using this in a class in the future, but also in my personal life. Sometimes it would be helpful to devise a guided tour of some information for a friend or relative. This sort of “tour” is more helpful than just a list of links.
Building a website using Google Sites is a fairly simple procedure, but it’s lack of customization lead me to believe I will probably continue to use some other tool when building a simple website. In my experience using iWeb, I’ve been able to accomplish the same things as Sites, but with better looking results. iWeb is also extremely easy to use, and you have the options of publishing your site anywhere you wish. Google Groups, however provides a great collaboration space for a class. It is also easy to create a listserve within google groups, so that you can share information with your class over e-mail.
Making a movie is something I will leave to the professionals. It does not really interest me, and I am fairly sure I could find a movie for anything I wanted to present. The only movie I can imagine myself producing would be more like a video podcast, where perhaps, I lead the students through an example as Dr. Wang has done for us.
In this class I did have some trouble keeping up with my assignments. I am going to blame this on the on-line nature of the class, but I am sure that is not the only reason. In the future I hope to keep up better with the on-line classes now that I know what to expect. I am not much of a self-motivator, so I need to work on that. I think I am still very strong in my proficiency to learn new software and ways of doing things. I enjoyed learning about all the on-line resources we studied, and I look forward to putting them to use.
In the future I hope to continue on my way to earning a Master’s in IT. I look forward to learning more about teaching in general as well as applying technology to the classroom setting. I am also interested in learning from my professors what works for them when teaching classes (both on-line and off) and overall what it takes to be a great teacher.
Will Ford
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