I like the idea of receiving information
alerts and RSS feeds as described on page 135 in the textbook. After reading how busy first year teachers
are in the beginning of this chapter, these tools will be very helpful. I just created two alerts in Google to see
how it works. The first alerts I chose
was 21st century technologies for the classroom and the second alert
I created was tips to help teachers stay organized. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me
before becoming a teacher so I want to start now learning all I can to help me
be prepared for my first classroom. I am
sure as I go along I may think of other alerts to create or change, but I feel
this is a good place to start.
I also like the idea of using www.portaportal.com to manage websites
for students to use in the classroom.
This way you are sure students will be more apt to read and learn from
the content you decide is appropriate and relevant to the subject being
taught. I have already created a portaportal
account of my own and set up a few categories so I can start adding relevant links
as I find them. This website could also
be used to organize web resources that are tied to Florida standards as
discussed on page 138. The only thing I
don’t like are the ads that are constantly displayed, but those can be deleted if
you are willing to upgrade to a paid account.
While researching online I found a good example of a 4th grade teacher that
is using portaportal.com for her students. I like how the content is organized
which makes it easy for students to quickly find just what they are looking
for.
I am beginning to see more and more how technology
certainly does enhance education. There
are so many possibilities that teachers can use to create a great learning
environment. For example, a virtual
field trip is an excellent way for students to see a new place and learn about
that location without leaving the classroom.
On page 141, there is quite a list of online trips that are available to
visit and plenty of opportunities to go exploring and learn about other parts
of the world.
Maloy, Robert,
Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park
(2013). Transforming
Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Look at you - putting ZooBurst to good work not only telling a digital story but also incorporating interaction within it - awesome! :) Can you see students working on creating their own stories with ZooBurst. It is an engaging tool that gives fun results. Love that you explored it as a digital tool.
ReplyDeleteRSS feeds and Google alerts are great ways for information that you select come to you instead of you seeking it out. I think you will find great value in them, but do be sure that you don't overload on them - be selective in the topics you need at the time. Some ideas you may need to specify more to hone in on what you want and others may lose value over time. It sounds like you are off to a good start.