My quest to integrate technology into my classroom instruction culminated this past year in the second year of my pilot of a 1:1 student to device ratio classroom using a class set of Acer Chromebooks and Google Apps and Google Classroom as the main platform. It has been an exciting year, and there have been many changes in these platforms. So, the saying “A rolling stone gathers no moss” certainly applies to Google! However, I have found the official blog for Google Apps for Education at: http://googleforeducation.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
(appears at the bottom left of my blog) to be extremely effective at keeping me abreast of coming changes and updated features.
Also, I have found that I am not alone in this quest. I have bumped virtual elbows with educators of all persuasions sharing struggles, ideas and solutions. One such teacher is Alice Keeler, who has kept an amazing record of great ideas she had tried and refined in her own classroom. her blog can be found here: http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/feed/ (appears on the bottom right side of my blog.)
Finally, I sometimes feel lost in a sea of change when I think about how quickly new innovations can completely transform what we do and how we do it. However, there is hope! My experimentation with various RSS feeds and viewing the blogs of many of my colleagues have reminded me that these fascinating new tools have given us the power to collaborate more effectively than ever before. My challenge to all of you is this: Get wired into a network of other tech pioneers. Do virtual classroom visits! Critique one another! Share, swap and collaborate ideas! The result will be a revolution in the how we teach- and the beginning of the kind of instruction our students need and deserve.
Your 1:1 classroom success is exciting hear about as my school district is working toward this very goal currently. This is a challenging venture considering the challenge of uncertain budgets and variances in student access to technology and resources outside of school hours, but exciting nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of technology to keep up with, and while the advances are exciting, they are also daunting as hardware becomes outdated, software requires expensive updates, and educators are pressed to keep up with it all. This is what has drawn me to the IDT field. This course, IDT 516 is among my favorites I have taken in the program to date, opening my eyes to new resources that can be shared in my future work for the benefit of both students and instructors. What an amazing resource we have on the web! These blogs and the links each student provides add to our own personal database.
I am working in my current role to focus on increasing STEM opportunities for girls. I noticed from your feed below 2 articles I cannot wait to review, each focused on kids and code! Thank you for sharing these links!
Amen. I wish I had taken this course sooner!
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ReplyDeleteBlog Post 1 - Debra Eaton Comment
ReplyDeleteThis blog post demonstrates evidence of critical thinking (application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation). Chris is actively involved in incorporating the tools were are longing about in IDT 516 in to his class room environment. He also found Alice Keeler, who is sharing her ideas about topics Chris wants to learn about. He also has started to use RSS feeds. This blog post introduces new ideas. Chris is experimenting with RSS feeds, virtual class room vistis and sharing ideas.
This blog post adds a real-life example of how the tools could be used for your personal and/or professional work to stimulate learning. I like the ideas of subscribing to RSS feeds and collaborating ideas.
Hey Chris, Great blog! I really enjoyed reading it and researching at the resources you provided. Although I am not a teacher or in a current teacher’s role I do hope to be a FYE (First Year Experience) teacher at WIU once I have completed my degree. I agree with you in stating the best way to learn about new technologies is to discuss and critique with other people. I always look forward to reading your posts and researching the resources that you share with us! I feel like I have a really learned a vast amount of knowledge in this class about new resources and resources that I had previously dismissed. This class gave me the confidence to try new things. Some seem more important to me than others but until you take the time to explore you may be disappointed in the fact that you hadn’t found some of them sooner. My thoughts are that you are on a great path to make a huge difference in the lives of you students. It is exciting to think of all the new things resources that have yet to be created.
ReplyDeleteHey Chris, Great blog! I really enjoyed reading it and researching at the resources you provided. Although I am not a teacher or in a current teacher’s role I do hope to be a FYE (First Year Experience) teacher at WIU once I have completed my degree. I agree with you in stating the best way to learn about new technologies is to discuss and critique with other people. I always look forward to reading your posts and researching the resources that you share with us! I feel like I have a really learned a vast amount of knowledge in this class about new resources and resources that I had previously dismissed. This class gave me the confidence to try new things. Some seem more important to me than others but until you take the time to explore you may be disappointed in the fact that you hadn’t found some of them sooner. My thoughts are that you are on a great path to make a huge difference in the lives of you students. It is exciting to think of all the new things resources that have yet to be created.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, I can see, it is not just features you are using well, your use of this blog space for connective writing is right on. I see all those feeds and resources are relevant and useful for your needs.
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