I am excited to announce that I am in my final week of my Instructional Technology class. I will admit, I was challenged, but I also had a lot of fun learning about all of our projects and creating my own work. I honestly feel as if I have expanded my technological range and will be able to implement many new ideas into my future classroom.
Toward the end of the semester, my last assignment was to complete a WebQuest. As I was going through all the tutorials, videos, and information that explained what a WebQuest was, I was very overwhelmed. I thought to myself, "I can't do this!" However, I feel I proved myself very wrong. I got myself together, dove right into the material and learned. I learned as much as I could and then tried to come up with an idea for the website. I feel as if this was the hardest part of the assignment. Once I got my topic chosen, I had no problem trying to find resources. Everything else just came together. It took a lot of long nights sitting in front of my computer screen but I accomplished it and I'm thoroughly proud of my end result!
Overall, my favorite assignment to complete was probably my newsletter. I did not realize all that Microsoft Word has to offer and it really helped me expand my range of knowledge. Knowing more about how to use this program in particular is really going to help me come up with new, fun and creative ways to teach my soon-to-be students! I'm so glad I took this class!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Almost done.
With five weeks left in the semester, I am eager to finish! Although the finish line is quickly approaching, I look back on what I've accomplished for this course and I am proud of my efforts. Recently I have enjoyed creating and producing a short video, researching new emergent technologies, and creating a Wiki. The hardest part about starting the movie project was trying to figure out what I was going to do it on. Sometimes my creative juices just don't flow very well. I was going back and forth on some topics but then switched gears completely and tried to imagine how I would want the flow of my video to go. I thought about music and what kind of background noises I could have. I didn't want something unrelated, but something that tied perfectly into my pictures and words. That's when I thought of School House Rock. As I kid, I loved watching their movies and I learned a lot from them. I searched the internet for some of their theme songs and when I found the song for Nouns, I instantly thought that I found the perfect idea. It all came together from there. The only problem I had after that was trying to figure out the new version of Windows Movie Maker. I'm not normally good at figuring out technology. When I completed the assignment, I was pleased with the result! However, it took a while for me to get that song out of my head...
As for researching the emergent technologies, I didn't realize how many resources were out there that I hadn't already heard of. I chose two, one that I had heard of but didn't know much about, and one that I didn't know anything about all together. The Wiki was pretty straightforward as to how it was to be set up and I enjoyed doing that. It became frustrating when I went to search online sources for information on my topics, and resources were limited. I made do with what I could find and did the best that I could. I learned a lot about Podcasting and Dabbleboard and would most likely use both in my future classroom. With the semester coming to a close, I am excited to learn about and finish the last pieces of interactive technologies and end on a good note!
As for researching the emergent technologies, I didn't realize how many resources were out there that I hadn't already heard of. I chose two, one that I had heard of but didn't know much about, and one that I didn't know anything about all together. The Wiki was pretty straightforward as to how it was to be set up and I enjoyed doing that. It became frustrating when I went to search online sources for information on my topics, and resources were limited. I made do with what I could find and did the best that I could. I learned a lot about Podcasting and Dabbleboard and would most likely use both in my future classroom. With the semester coming to a close, I am excited to learn about and finish the last pieces of interactive technologies and end on a good note!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Half way through.
This course has proved to be challenging but very rewarding. I am learning how to do things on the computer that I never knew were even available to me. I am continually learning new ways to use my virtual resources and it's been so mind blowing to me. First, the Kidspiration tool that I used, confused me at first. It took me quite a long time to figure things out on it and get my project started. However, once I explored and figured out the workings of the program, I was amazed at my end result. I was pleased with how I did on that assignment and would definitely incorporate something like this into my future classroom.
Other assignments that I found I really enjoyed working on were the Google spreadsheets and the PowerPoint. I am such an organzied person and already know that when I am a teacher, that my grade book is going to be with me all the time. I find it comforting knowing that I could back up anything that I have on paper, using Google's special document programs. If I had not done this assignment, I would have never known about this wonderful tool. The PowerPoint was another thing that stretched me. Of course, I knew how to make a PowerPoint and make it functional, but I had never known how to use linear and nonlinear links. I would find excitement in the simpleness of linking slides correctly. The hardest part of this assignment was coming up with a theme. Once I had that, however, everything fell into place. The ball got rolling, and I was able to make a game exactly how I had envisioned it.
I am throughly enjoying this course, as it is one that has challenged me in more ways than I thought it could. I am learning new things every week in this class, which is exactly what will help me in my future teaching career!
Other assignments that I found I really enjoyed working on were the Google spreadsheets and the PowerPoint. I am such an organzied person and already know that when I am a teacher, that my grade book is going to be with me all the time. I find it comforting knowing that I could back up anything that I have on paper, using Google's special document programs. If I had not done this assignment, I would have never known about this wonderful tool. The PowerPoint was another thing that stretched me. Of course, I knew how to make a PowerPoint and make it functional, but I had never known how to use linear and nonlinear links. I would find excitement in the simpleness of linking slides correctly. The hardest part of this assignment was coming up with a theme. Once I had that, however, everything fell into place. The ball got rolling, and I was able to make a game exactly how I had envisioned it.
I am throughly enjoying this course, as it is one that has challenged me in more ways than I thought it could. I am learning new things every week in this class, which is exactly what will help me in my future teaching career!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The beginning.
It's the beginning of my Instructional Technology course and so far it's been an adventure! I am learning so many new things about how technology can work within my future classroom, or in my personal life. I have never been a "techy" person so this class has been very enjoyable so far. I am having fun figuring out how to do certain projects and then find ways to make them my own. I am certainly being challenged in this class and am out of my comfort zone but I really feel like this is a good thing for me. I'm looking forward to the rest of what this class has to offer!
One of the projects that I have already completed, the Newsletter page, is definitely something I could see myself using in my classroom in the future. I learned a lot about how to navigate Word documents better and now I can use these skills for my students. I also thought Protopage was such a neat tool! I liked how I was able to attach different links for both students and parents to look at from home. I feel like this site could be an excellent homework link for kids to work on from home, and with their parents. I can always update it, change things, or add to it which I love. This could be something different for students to do rather than taking home a plain worksheet. I would definitely use this as a teacher!
One of the projects that I have already completed, the Newsletter page, is definitely something I could see myself using in my classroom in the future. I learned a lot about how to navigate Word documents better and now I can use these skills for my students. I also thought Protopage was such a neat tool! I liked how I was able to attach different links for both students and parents to look at from home. I feel like this site could be an excellent homework link for kids to work on from home, and with their parents. I can always update it, change things, or add to it which I love. This could be something different for students to do rather than taking home a plain worksheet. I would definitely use this as a teacher!
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