Week 8 Reflection

As I have read back through my GAME plan, I realize that my initial goal was to encourage digital citizenship. I had stated that I wished to create a poster and student sheets for use when searching the internet in order to encourage student accountability and fair use practices. I still need to continue to focus and implement these changes. My Geometry in Art students are currently engaged in a project to create or report on something that is geometrically artistic, and I realize that this course has influenced the means by which I have encouraged my students to partake in this activity. I have encouraged students to use the laptops while working on this activity, but in monitoring of the activity, I realize that I still need to encourage students to acknowledge the work of others as the use images.

My use of Delicious has become quite extensive and I have begun to substantially and carefully Tag pages as I mark them so that I can go back and re-investigate at more opportune times. I intend to share these bookmarks with my students for future implementations. Among my bookmarks that I have added, ePals, Moodle, Wiggio and Ning are the most interesting to me.

Utmost, I am reminded that the NETS Standards are not simply a stand-alone document. In order for the standards to be truly met, teaching and learning must be interwoven into a mesh of technologically driven advancement along the lines of student interest and educational evolution.

Week 7

My first thoughts in regard to the blog post this week are that Walden has run out of good questions with which to challenge students.  (It’s my blog)  “Consider how the NETS-S and the NETS-Tare inter-related.”  Really????? Do we need to do this in a double column note format or could we simply state that in order for students to advance along the prescribed direction of technology as addressed by the NETS-S, that teachers must be accomplished guides and ambassadors that accompany students along the technological journey.

Just as I have taught, so are my students to learn. As I teach, I model the joy of learning. In my discussion this week, I spoke of how I first had an idea to create a voice thread by using screen shots to create voice threads as problems were worked on the Promethian board. In turn, students implemented the same techniques to create their own voice thread “Digital Story” presentations.

Therefore, I believe that teacher and student NETS are best seen together as parallel maps through the technological frontier.  Teachers must move forward with technology and constantly model the tools by which students might best learn.

Finally....

I feel that my game plan has finally gained direction this week. As I watched the video presentation, I was rapidly bookmarking sites. I have a lot to look into still, but at least I have a place to look. ePals, Moodle, Wiggio and Ning all interest me greatly, but Ning appears to be what I have been looking for. Of course, I need to secure some funds, but since the price is so low, It shouldn't be a problem. I really look forward to having some real educational networking established inside and outside of my classroom, and I now feel that Ive got some places to begin.