6.1 Continuous Learning
Candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice. (PSC 6.1/ISTE 6a, 6b)
Artifact: ITEC 7430 Reflections Blog Post
The artifact that I chose for standard 6.1 was created in the ITEC 7430: Internet Tools in the Classroom course. This blog reflection highlights some of the tools that I could immediately begin using in my classroom along with incorporating some of the tools into my capstone project and sharing these tools with my peers.
I really enjoyed this course simply because I got a chance to really investigate a variety of current and emerging technologies. These tools and apps covered a variety of learning areas such as, internet safety, podcasting, visual tools, social networking, virtual environments, productivity tools, and wikis. There were several resources that were not applicable to me, mainly because I work with older students, but I was able to share them with our upper grade teachers through our weekly Beaver Bytes. Having the opportunity during each module to investigate and create a sample from these resources increased my professional practice and personal productivity. Being able to apply these skills and knowledge I was able to determine many of the ins and outs concerning these resources and determine how I could manage them in my classroom. For example, during one of our modules I learned about the resource called Google Tour Builder. This was an amazing site for my students to use to storytell about their chosen states. My students had to embed pictures, videos, and include historical information along their state map. This created interest and excitement about their states for their audience and peers.
While reviewing this personal reflection, I realized that the resources that were harder to use I did not linger on them as I should have. For example, I initially viewed Google Drive as difficult and it was just seemed hard to use. We are currently revising and creating a new gifted curriculum to incorporate the new standards including our grade level standards. Well this year the gifted specialists meet each Friday in Google Hangouts. All of this work is being done on Google Drive. I had no choice but to learn how to use these tool and now it seems second nature. Looking back I should have put in more effort with these tools.
Each week I share new technology tools that I have been learning about in my courses in our weekly Beaver Bytes. This weekly newsletter goes out to our staff and it includes important dates, birth dates, reminders, and my technology corner. During our Techy Thursday’s many of the participants have mentioned that they have tried several of the resources that I have mentioned in the Beaver Bytes. I hope that my teachers are able to use some of these resources to increase their student’s achievement and engagement.
I really enjoyed this course simply because I got a chance to really investigate a variety of current and emerging technologies. These tools and apps covered a variety of learning areas such as, internet safety, podcasting, visual tools, social networking, virtual environments, productivity tools, and wikis. There were several resources that were not applicable to me, mainly because I work with older students, but I was able to share them with our upper grade teachers through our weekly Beaver Bytes. Having the opportunity during each module to investigate and create a sample from these resources increased my professional practice and personal productivity. Being able to apply these skills and knowledge I was able to determine many of the ins and outs concerning these resources and determine how I could manage them in my classroom. For example, during one of our modules I learned about the resource called Google Tour Builder. This was an amazing site for my students to use to storytell about their chosen states. My students had to embed pictures, videos, and include historical information along their state map. This created interest and excitement about their states for their audience and peers.
While reviewing this personal reflection, I realized that the resources that were harder to use I did not linger on them as I should have. For example, I initially viewed Google Drive as difficult and it was just seemed hard to use. We are currently revising and creating a new gifted curriculum to incorporate the new standards including our grade level standards. Well this year the gifted specialists meet each Friday in Google Hangouts. All of this work is being done on Google Drive. I had no choice but to learn how to use these tool and now it seems second nature. Looking back I should have put in more effort with these tools.
Each week I share new technology tools that I have been learning about in my courses in our weekly Beaver Bytes. This weekly newsletter goes out to our staff and it includes important dates, birth dates, reminders, and my technology corner. During our Techy Thursday’s many of the participants have mentioned that they have tried several of the resources that I have mentioned in the Beaver Bytes. I hope that my teachers are able to use some of these resources to increase their student’s achievement and engagement.