When I first started this blog, I was hesitant about the whole affair because I didn’t know how I could go about it – I’ve never been that attached to computers. I came into this thinking “Well… it’s for a mark. I better write coherently!”
Over these past few months, it has turned out to be an interesting experience. I never associatedwith blogs prior to when starting this, so it has been as a new environment and a new way of posting my thoughts online, different to the Livejournal and Deviantart journals I’ve used in the past.
I keep wondering now that it’s over if I really will return to this humble blog site and post to it as I gather more experience in teaching. Who knows? Things might change, I’m gonna be marrying soon, and next year is unpredictable, with the possibility of delaying my studies.
I guess just like the unpredictability of where technology is heading, as in many ways it defines the unpredictability of our growth from now into the future. Even with the short amount of time updating this blog, I did notice a change in me – sort of an appreciation for technology in the classroom. I thought to be creative, one has to use scissors and glossy paper.
I think computers can be our glossy paper, if we use them appropriately.
Blogging has given me such mixed feelings since I first started e-learning. At first I pondered over how on earth it could be used for educational purposes, but after watching an interview with Kathy Cassidy and reading “All the World’s a Stage: Teaching Through Online Journals” by Sarah Fallon (2005), I can see how blogs can provide many more opportunities for students and teachers. There are so many advantages, such as the ability to publicly showcase written work when the only way to do that with a journal is to make hundreds of physical copies. Assignments and essays can be accessed in the comfort of one’s own home, and parents can have the ability to visit their child’s page and comment! It’s not often parents are seen commenting on their child’s journal.
There is still a price, though. If the teacher posts worksheets or assignments primarily on their blog, what about the children without computers? Computers are becoming much more common these days, but there are still homes without them. What’s more, some might break down or otherwise be unavailable when a child needs them. Some children might be disadvantaged to such technological advances.
Granted, I’m saying this now in the year 2008. Maybe in ten years time computers will be as common to any Australian household as a refrigerator or telephone. The world is changing…And for those curious about the interview with Kathy Cassidy, here’s the youtube video! Enjoy!
Hello! Welcome to my edublog, which will mainly focus on the impact of technology in children’s lives. I feel this will be an interesting experience over the course of this semester, as I’ve always had a rather.. “traditional” outlook at technology. Computers are very convenient nowadays, for writing essays or making spreadsheets and even making entertaining little powerpoint presentations, but that’s as deep as I thought it could go. Who would have thought I’d be made to create a videoblog in class!
I still remain a bit skeptical over the importance of teaching children about “podcasts” or “blogs,” but this is only the beginning. Three months can really change a person, and I hope that this little blog of mine entertains! It will be filled with more worthwhile content, I swear.
Now for some eye-candy! (Or eye-poison, as the image is really not friendly to resolutions at all.)
I was hesitant to post my mind map to my blog, but now that I think about it, I might as well. My e-learning class created this at the beginning of the semester, so this mind map is dated the 28th of february. We needed to state various technologies that could help teachers or students and have proved most helpful in the classroom. You can tell I went a little wild with the ideas, and my instructor even told me that some applications could be blended. Which is fair enough!
Be warned, the image is incredibly stretchy and I remember grumbling over how to compress it in class. Oh well! This was created in the application “Inspiration,” and I can always toy with it in the future. It’s ideal for making mindmaps in a clean and polished fashion, and I know mindmaps are pretty popular to use in the classroom. So there we go!
Hello! Welcome to my edublog, which will mainly focus on the impact of technology in children’s lives. I feel this will be an interesting experience over the course of this semester, as I’ve always had a rather.. “traditional” outlook at technology. Computers are very convenient nowadays, for writing essays or making spreadsheets and even making entertaining little powerpoint presentations, but that’s as deep as I thought it could go. Who would have thought I’d be made to create a videoblog in class!
