Reflection

Before I started this class I had no idea what blogs, wikis, or podcasts were. Having to journey through the web 2.0 tools has given me many ideas for my own classroom and has made me a strong “technology” person. It has given me the confidence that if I can create these things, my students can definitely be successful with them also. This course has opened many doors for my classroom in which my students will be able to explore new ideas and concepts on their own to build their educational foundations.

A way in which I have deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process is that students need to collaborate with one another more in and out of the classroom. I see how much I learned in this short eight weeks researching and collaborating with my classmates. It would be amazing to see how much my students could learn in 90 days!

I have come to realize that learner-centered teaching allows ideas and concepts to stick with students better than me up at the board chalkin’ and talkin’ to them. Students can memorize concepts but if they can not apply the concept then it is going to get them no where and be a waste of time.

I will start and continue using the web 2.0 tools I have learned about in this course in my very own classroom. I will also participate in any professional development my district has to offer. I will do everything in my power to get my colleagues on board with integrating technology into their classroom in order to try and make this a school wide goal. The more consistent we educators are the more confident and successful the students will be in the learner-centered environment.

My first goal in transforming my classroom is to get a class discussion board up and running. My students work so well with one another in class, they complain when they go home; they have no one to work with. I have been fortunate to be enrolled into blendedschools.net which allows us to have a class discussion board that everyone has access to anywhere, anytime. The students absolutely love it and wonder why we didn’t start this at the beginning of the year.

My second goal is to create a class wiki in which my classes from year to year can use and add to this classroom resource. I would start the wiki by setting up the specific pages and students would be responsible for adding and changing the content on the page. I would start this project in school with my students by taking them to the computer lab and allowing them to explore for a class period. After that, they would have to find their own time whether it be at home or before or after school in the school’s computer lab.