I am taking a class at Fontbonne University called Instructional Technology Tools for the 21st Century as part of a masters program in Learning Technologies. I am just completing my first year in this program and have been very satisfied with the curriculum. The highest compliment I can give it is that every class I have taken so far has supplied me with something new that I can (and have) used in my classroom. I am also part of a new program they have added on to this program for Computer Science teachers. Find out more about that here: Teaching Computer Science Certificate Program. With more schools looking to prepare students for the ubiquity of technology, computer science teachers are more in demand and more needed. It is a very cool program.
This week I was given a few tasks to complete that might help me establish a personal learning network. We were given information about a few types of websites. Some of these sites I had heard of before or used before. Some I had not. The great thing about this lesson was that it reminded me that I had been using some of these sites at half power. I have a bookmarking page through delicious.com that I use in my classroom to disseminate links that we are using in class that day. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken the time to follow other bookmark pages that could be useful to me. This was a great reminder that although this had become a useful tool to help me connect my students to webpages they need in class, I had neglected to connect myself to other useful webpages. In some ways I was reinventing the wheel, instead of taking advantage of the work that others were already sharing. I have now started to follow some other bookmark pages that look to have useful and relevant links.
I also was tasked with exploring some social networking groups. I was very intrigued by ning.com until I discovered that they no longer allowed any free networks. It appears that they have some nice tools for connecting with others, but the price point was a bit steep for me to swallow. Next I checked out wikispaces. I set up a classroom page. I'm not sure how useful this will be until I am able to explore more about the new Learning Management System my school is moving to next year. I have made a page of videos that I made last year for my computer science class. If our school website doesn't work out, then the wikispace could be a nice alternative for my students (and others) to use as I develop more content and videos for the class. I have become more and more intrigued by the potential uses of LinkedIn. I have seen it used as a networking tool, and am probably going to take that next step and start a page for myself in the next year. I hope that this can deliver as advertised and that the networking available can help me connect with other teachers and educators who can help me become a better teacher.
Once again, with the blog task, like the bookmarking task, I had created a blog for a previous class, but forgot to take the time to see what others were blogging and sharing already. After perusing a number of blogs focused on technology and education, I have started a short blogroll to help keep myself and other readers more connected with relevant and useful content. In creating the blogroll, my rule was simple: If I could find something useful to me without scrolling too far down the page, it was going up. A few blogs looked interesting, but ultimately did not seem to have the practical links or posts I was looking for. Any educator interested in ways to more effectively use technology in the classroom should find the links to the right useful.
I do have a twitter handle: @smellyrebel. If this becomes more centered on technology and education, I may add a twitter feed on this blog, but as of now it does not. I have also curated content for a twitter feed and blog for our school's freshman trip to New Mexico. You can find those here: @PrinNMTrip and Principia School in New Mexico.
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