January 21, 2018
Hello all!
Here I am again to add to my blog. This time I have been given the task for my Internet for Educators class (#I4Ed)(#hashtags)(#hip) and I'm quite looking forward to doing it again. I feel like it is a great place to let out some steam, and to put your thoughts onto something more concrete and tangible. I also enjoy being able to read the thoughts and opinions of others in our class each week from their own blog posts, since it always makes me see something from that class in a different manner.
For me, this week offered us the chance to participate in two really informative presentations, from a couple of former students in the class who are now full fledged educators. For the first presentation, we used an online video conferencing program called "Zoom". I want to start by saying that it worked really nicely for us, and the video and audio worked even better than I expected. It is something which I will definitely consider if I ever need to do any video conferencing. Now for the actual presentation, we were provided with some innovative ideas and websites which were being used for the purposes of curation, communication, and assessment in the classroom. It is great to be able to see how other teachers are using technology in their classroom, and to hear the tips and tricks that they have picked up over time. Some of the websites and apps that stood out to me included Quizizz (another great quiz website), Plickers (another option for getting students answers to questions that doesn't require technological devices), and Remind (a communication app that uses phones and emails, without having to exchange that information). I thought that the idea of having the weekly review quizzes was a great idea, and using Quizizz that has read-along options has great potential. For Plickers, knowing what options exist when tech is limited is something that all educators should be aware of; this is one I need to investigate further I feel. In terms of Remind, after reading through all of the other blogs this week, it made me even more eager to check this app out and to apply it to my future practice.
The second presenter who shared their expertise with us was just as informative and engaging. For this presentation, we were able to see how tech was used in an English classroom in a very interesting way. By using social media in his class, and making a competition/game out of certain tasks, students get more involved in what he is asking them to do. It also makes the tasks more authentic for the students, and more relevant to them. I think that keeping students interested and eager to participate is one of the most important things that a teacher needs to do in order for them to be most effective, and I think that we were given plenty of good examples on how we might do this in our classroom.
On a side note, as I'm going through the course this year, I'm making a master list of all of the websites and apps that are suggested, so that I don't forget about any useful ones. Many of these will take some time to set up and to tinker with in order for them to be useful for us in the classroom, but by having the list I feel like I will be more accountable to go back when I have the time to set them up and play with them.
But with that, I say adieu.
Until next time.. B
The master list is a great idea Brody. You might want to touch base with Sonya first since she is doing the same and you might want to collaborate with her on this and not duplicate efforts. I use Evernote to create lists and it is great because you can then publish your lists and others (us included Lol!) can benefit from the collection of resources you have curated. We can chat more if interested.
ReplyDeleteWell said Brody, I was thinking many of the same things in regards to clarifying thoughts by having the task of blogging. To expand on your comment of enjoying what others write, I would add that the process of making the flipgrid for our task had the same effect. It was difficult to watch and listen to myself on the screen but I really enjoyed going through all our classmates flipgrids to listen to their views. Let's compare master list stories IRL (in real life), I have used excel because I can sort the apps and websites in a variety of ways according to which column I want them sorted by.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes a nice comparison between us, post-secondary students, and high school ones. As you’ve said, it is nice to see what our classmates think about the various topics that we see via blog posts such as these. In the same way that most of us like to share our thoughts with classmates I also think current students would like to do the same. Social media is a great way to do this, it engages students and it’s something they are familiar with. Also, that master list sounds very handy, great thinking!
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