Post #6

I believe Web 2.0 technologies would be very helpful as a teacher. It would allow me to share the information that I have learned with other colleagues or teachers outside of my local area and it would allow me to educate myself from what other teachers have learned. Networking within subject areas seems like a vital component to keep education fresh and alive and to help the student benefit to his/her utmost capability.

I think Wikipedia is a fun tool. I would never use it as a foundation source, but I do use it from time to time to compare other websites' information to see which seems more accurate. I also use it in passing to get a general idea of a subject or topic just for my own personal use. As an educational resource I am a bit more wary. I would rather have more accurate, solid information with which to share with my students to the point that there is no question of validity regarding my lessons.

I think learning how to do things like Wiki and the PowerPoint slide linking will really help in mixing things up in the classroom. Because school years are not equal to an actual calendar year, there is a lot of information to be presented in a short time. Learning new activities and presentations and how to share your resources and ideas will be vital information for me as a teacher.

That's all for now :)

Post #4

I believe that technology is completely essential within the classroom. Through podcasts, powerpoints, handouts, movies, clips, sound bites, and so much more, the classroom can actually be an inviting place for students to be. Especially in this day and age, kids communicate through technology so bringing it into the classroom can only help.

I would definitely encourage my students to use storyboard and/or outline ideas. It is a really great visual way to connect your ideas in your head and to visually see the path that your paper or project is meant to go in. It connects visual and manual learning together.

I have really enjoyed working with Inspiration. It is very easy to gather your thoughts and organize them in a very neat order in ways that will interest my students. It also is fun for me, which just makes creating lesson plans even better!

That's all for now!

Post #3

In my lesson plans, I intend on using many clip art graphics so as to liven up lectures or handouts I give to my students. When a page is completely filled with text only, it can seen intimidating and unimportant, or possibly too important. I also plan to use PowerPoint as well. I would also hope to be able to let my high school kids get into a computer lab and use the Internet for resources and research, as well as Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and such.

http://www.sharpened.com/web/about/rules.html

Copyright is a very large issue among the technology world. Especially with new technonolgy coming out daily that allows every day users to burn cds and burn dvds, there are many simple infringements that occur with copyright. In the educational realm especially, I believe it is very important to give credit to whomever the credit is due. If there are not your brain cells attached to the idea, necessary and proper credit needs to be adhered to. As for my work, I would hope that I instill a sense of respect within my students for other peoples' works. Stealing is never ok, even if it doesn't seem like stealing.