wiki reflection edci 5825

My class wiki: http://larsenenglishclass.wikispaces.com/

Do you plan on using your classroom blog/wiki in your future classroom? If so, what types of modifications do you envision? Please explain.

Yes, I plan on using my wiki in my future classroom. It is an excellent place for students to post their work and share ideas on the message board. They can also refer back to the wiki for clarification on assignments. I would change the content depending on what books/poems I was teaching. The wiki has Twelfth Night-related material on it now because that is what I will be teaching as a student teacher. I may also add different blogs if I find ones related to what were are studying. I may add different widgets as well, like a dictionary or different Google books. Currently I only have the Google book version of Twelfth Night on the wiki but I could add other books or materials as needed.

Do you plan on having your students create their own blogs/wikis in your future classroom? If so, please explain.

I may have my students create their own blogs, because then they could post their work on their blogs and comment on other students' blogs. This is a good way to reduce the amount of paper used in a classroom, since some of the work is posted online instead of being printed out. I also think a blog allows students to see their classmates' ideas and share their own thoughts/feelings/ideas via the comments. I am not sure I would have my students each create their own wiki, since it is harder to post long entries on there, unless you uploaded them via Google Docs. A blog is more interactive and students can post their works of writing on their blog. This works well for my classroom, since I will be an English teacher.

Discussion of how your view of instructional technology has or has not changed over the semester.

I never realized how many opportunities there were to integrate technology into the classroom. I was aware of SmartBoards and blogs, but I did not see how I would use a blog in my classroom. Now I can see how it would be a good way for students to each have their own space to post pieces of writing and other assignments. I had never seen a wiki before this class (although I was aware of the technology, like Wikipedia). Now I think it is a great tool for a class because you can post the syllabus and other assignments online, and students can add their own work and ideas. I think instructional technology is an important part of teaching, since it allows your students to share ideas and express themselves in ways they may not in a normal classroom discussion. It also can make a lesson more interesting to students, like the Jeopardy game on the SmartBoard.

Discuss the quality and appropriateness of what you have learned and created this semester.

I think I created some high-quality products that can be used in my future classroom. I learned quite a bit about how to use technologies like creating a wiki or using weebly to make a website. I would have liked to actually have used the SmartBoard and seen more of what it can do. I have seen them utilized in schools before but always on a very basic level - I never knew there were programs like Jeopardy you could do with SmartBoards. Also I would have liked more in-depth explanations of how to use IMovie or GarageBand; I understood most of it but a lot of it I figured out on my own.

Evaluation of your comfort moving forward with technology.

I am much more comfortable with moving forward with technology. I have always been fairly good at figuring out things on my own by playing around with them, so I think I will be able to figure out any technology I encounter in the future. Thanks for reading!