Technology #4

1) After completing this seminar, how do you see your use of technology in the classroom?
I really think I am lacking in this department. To some degree, I have always known this; technology is not a focus at our school in the classroom because of the amount of technology our students are exposed to outside of the classroom (in a daily computer lab course and daily accelerated reader quizzes taken online). However, it is something I have noted that I am personally lacking in and could make a much great effort to incorporate. I am excited to teach the lesson on expression and end marks that I modified for this unit-- I can imagine that teaching it may lead me to other ideas of how I can use technology to help with writing especially. Overall though, I just think I've been pretty deficient in this area and need to seek out my own resources for technology since they are not provided by the school/district.

2) What resources are you going to explore next to continue your own learning and growth in this area?
I have started looking into how to use different elements of Reading A to Z-- both in classroom and externally to benefit my own planning. Before, I had only been using one portion of the sight but am now looking into having my students interact with the comprehension quizzes that are online, the science units that are available etc. I also am going to explore different resources that I will be able to use in our January science unit on States of Matter and in our Spring Geography unit-- I know that videos and interactive materials exist online which I should be showing my students, especially because of multiple modalities and the technology "gap" or "divide" that my students are susceptible to.


3) [We did in fact use our regular blog]

4) What were the strengths and drawbacks of an online seminar? What could enhance the quality of online instruction, in your opinion?
I really enjoyed the online seminar for two reasons. First, I felt like I was able to delve a little deeper into the material on my own and explore my own interests within it. I think this came down to the format and it's inherent freedom. I worked on this primarily over a three-day span, which personally helped me to keep the information fresh. Secondly, I appreciated that this seminar in particular offered so many options. We had options of what to read, there were multiple pieces to Internet Safety video, and we had options in terms of which webinar to read. This freedom helped me to feel like I had choice in what I was learning and was able to really use the pieces that would be applicable for me in the classroom. I did not particularly see any major drawbacks with this course and would definitely be willing to use online courses again in the future.