A Final Reflection
I thought this an appropriate title for this blog post of my reflections about participating in the Spring 2011 EDU 255 course. The quote is from Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Tools for Classrooms.
I was a half-believer and a relative newbie. Sitting on the fence and making excuses for my position. My self talk: there’s not enough time to develop an effective plan to use more technology, many students can’t maneuver the technology, and I will spend most of my time fixing glitches in my work or the work of others.
I was compelled to become enrolled in EDU 255, because I felt myself falling behind in terms of using powerful Web 2.0 tools. I added it during these last weeks at an almost painfully busy time for me. Now I am transformed and surprisingly, to me, am already using some of the easier ways to expand the effectiveness of my classes – podcasts, for example.
Now at the end of the course, I have a true toolkit of resources. The ePortfolio forced me to seriously work with concepts from all weeks and come up with a product to build upon. I really like that, especially that I have started two other blogs that are languishing. Understanding the power of wikis has really opened my mind. It was the requirement to incorporate many Web tools into the ePortfolio that nudged me off the fence.
In my Human Biology class lately, I felt a little guilty simply collecting lab materials onto which I will make red or blue marks and add comments. I am anxious to carry the students learning and longevity of “learning products” to a more sustainable level with a real future and learn what others are doing to facilitate this.
I am a happier, more confident instructor/facilitator now. I probably would never have investigated this world on my own, at least not to the extent required by our assignments. And as a matter of fact, I do not see Web 2.0 (and other materials) as another world but as my world. The final chapter in Richardson’s book really got to me. I have the list of these Big Shifts with my teaching materials, so I can remember where to focus my attention.
Great post Joanne. I am glad you are already finding uses for these things. I see this time with these tools exactly like I what I felt when I realized I could store a word processing document on a computer. That was a revolution in the way we do things. I think the tools we have presented in this class are equally if not more powerful. It is high time we get with learning them!
ReplyDeleteAwesome work!