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Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
A BIG Thank You
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| Image from:owl-thank-you.png |
I have recently done some web 2.0 tool exploring and happened upon a fun, delightful tool that could easily be used within the classroom to engage learners. As I end this semester of school and my digital learning lessons come to a close, I was looking for a nice way to thank my professor and really let everyone know that digital learning is a worthwhile, engaging experience. I used Go animate and easily made a fun video to showcase what this digital learning course has enabled me to do. Technology is evolving every day and has become such a huge part of our society and daily lives, therefore, it is ignorant for an educator to think that the use of technology within the classroom can be ignored or discouraged. It is my responsibility as a future teacher to model my lessons in digital learning and embrace, explore, and collaborate with technology to provide my students with positive, and diverse learning opportunities.
A Labor of Love
Blogging has become a labor of love for me. When I started my digital learning course in September blogging was foreign to me. In fact, I was even a little apprehensive about navigating through digital technology in general. I have alway stuck with what I know and to go beyond that and explore the digital world seemed a little intimidating. However, since then I have evolved and have come to really enjoy creating and writing posts about the various things I have learned throughout my digital learning journey. At times, I even amazed myself with my technical abilities in some of my blog postings.
Now that my digital learning course is over, the journey doesn't end. I often find myself going back to the course website and re-evaluating what I learned. I spend countless, enjoyable hours sitting at my laptop sipping on coffee, navigating through/ experimenting with a creative tool as a way to express my understanding of the content introduced to me. My blog has become a diary of sorts. It is a valuable tool for me to express and reference what I am learning and have learned.
When you are an undergrad student, busy is an understatement. You are inundated with assignments, readings, exams, presentations etc. There is little time for reflection or creativity outside of the course load requirements, however, now that the semester has come to an end, I can catch my breath and really reflect on this digital learning journey.
This course has made me a more resourceful educator. It has aspired me to think outside the box and explore new and diverse ways of using technology; especially within the classroom. Being a responsible digital citizen is now a part of who I am. What I have learned will help me to be more creative and current in the classroom. I can collaborate and become part of a global network of educators rather than limit myself to my immediate surroundings. I now have more tools to engage learners and the ability to show them what it means to be a part of the digital world. From here, the journey does not end, it begins. Since I have been given the tools and awareness of a limitless technological world that is so vast and emerging so quickly, how could I ever just sit back and ignore the capabilities of it? I plan to continue on the path of accessing, analyzing, creating, reflecting and taking action to ensure my newly discover talents are not forgotten.
Word Cloud created using Tagxedo.com
Heart Images from: google clipart
Newspaper Clipping Created using Fodey.com
Now that my digital learning course is over, the journey doesn't end. I often find myself going back to the course website and re-evaluating what I learned. I spend countless, enjoyable hours sitting at my laptop sipping on coffee, navigating through/ experimenting with a creative tool as a way to express my understanding of the content introduced to me. My blog has become a diary of sorts. It is a valuable tool for me to express and reference what I am learning and have learned.
When you are an undergrad student, busy is an understatement. You are inundated with assignments, readings, exams, presentations etc. There is little time for reflection or creativity outside of the course load requirements, however, now that the semester has come to an end, I can catch my breath and really reflect on this digital learning journey.
This course has made me a more resourceful educator. It has aspired me to think outside the box and explore new and diverse ways of using technology; especially within the classroom. Being a responsible digital citizen is now a part of who I am. What I have learned will help me to be more creative and current in the classroom. I can collaborate and become part of a global network of educators rather than limit myself to my immediate surroundings. I now have more tools to engage learners and the ability to show them what it means to be a part of the digital world. From here, the journey does not end, it begins. Since I have been given the tools and awareness of a limitless technological world that is so vast and emerging so quickly, how could I ever just sit back and ignore the capabilities of it? I plan to continue on the path of accessing, analyzing, creating, reflecting and taking action to ensure my newly discover talents are not forgotten.
Heart Images from: google clipart
Newspaper Clipping Created using Fodey.com
The Important Skill of Website Evaluation
This past weekend my daughter came running up to me, excitedly jumping up and down, saying "Mommy lets make a squishy doll in the microwave....... I just saw this video where you put marshmallows in water, microwave it for a few seconds and you make a doll.".... WOW!!!
Oh! "YouTube" is a wonderful thing, and to some kids a frequent resource of a wealth of information and insight. That got me thinking, a big part of helping students become responsible digital learners and citizens is using the internet as an effective resource tool. Throughout their student career and beyond they will be accessing the internet as a primary source of information, therefore it is essential that they develop a means of effectively evaluating web content.
I made this trading card as a neat, engaging way to help students develop the important skill of effectively evaluating websites. In addition to the card, I have attached some links that further discuss the importance of Website evaluation.
Happy teaching!
ABC’s of Web Site Evaluation
5 W’s of web site evaluation
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Oh! "YouTube" is a wonderful thing, and to some kids a frequent resource of a wealth of information and insight. That got me thinking, a big part of helping students become responsible digital learners and citizens is using the internet as an effective resource tool. Throughout their student career and beyond they will be accessing the internet as a primary source of information, therefore it is essential that they develop a means of effectively evaluating web content.
I made this trading card as a neat, engaging way to help students develop the important skill of effectively evaluating websites. In addition to the card, I have attached some links that further discuss the importance of Website evaluation.
Happy teaching!
Image of "Brain with Big eyes" used on trading card was taken from: Google clipart images
Links for Website Evaluation:
Grade 3-5 lesson plan on website evaluation
A one-page quick reference for evaluators
A checklist for evaluating web resources
5 W’s of web site evaluation
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Sunday, December 6, 2015
Connect, Share, Collaborate
During my Digital learning course, we explored wikis and how to create content collaboratively in a wiki environment. The application of wikis into student learning environments and within the curriculum can create new opportunities for students to work collaboratively. There are various Web 2.0 tools that can be used for global collaboration. When the educator embarks on exploring and investigating such tools this creates a much more diverse classroom that extends beyond the school walls. Wiki sites allow for inputting and sharing of information for various purposes.
Linked here is a wiki space site that may be of interest to educators and educators to be, as it list many online tools for use within the classroom.
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| Connect, Share, Collaborate |
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Today's Task......
Today's task is to explore and get to know my inner teacher..........
As I was reading through some of my digital learning course content, I came across a link that was an educators blog post mentioning the top qualities of a good teacher. As I read the article I began to reflect upon the driving forces behind me embarking on pursuing my dream of becoming an educator. I then asked myself what qualities and characteristics do I have that will make me an effective educator. I decided to make some notes using a tool called Lino-It. Once I finished, one theme became clear, I love to learn and I have a passion to share my love of learning with others. My goals and aspirations as a future educator are to take the good and the good from the bad and live, laugh and enjoy every moment. Every opportunity is a learning opportunity and I believe there is nothing more satisfying then helping others see their potential as learners.
As I was reading through some of my digital learning course content, I came across a link that was an educators blog post mentioning the top qualities of a good teacher. As I read the article I began to reflect upon the driving forces behind me embarking on pursuing my dream of becoming an educator. I then asked myself what qualities and characteristics do I have that will make me an effective educator. I decided to make some notes using a tool called Lino-It. Once I finished, one theme became clear, I love to learn and I have a passion to share my love of learning with others. My goals and aspirations as a future educator are to take the good and the good from the bad and live, laugh and enjoy every moment. Every opportunity is a learning opportunity and I believe there is nothing more satisfying then helping others see their potential as learners.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Molly Mae talk'n about Social Media and Digital Citizenship
Well the semester is coming to an end, and frankly my fingers are raw from typing assignments this week, so to engage you in a serious topic I have created an avatar alias Molly Mae using
Doppel Me. I then used a web 2.0 software tool called Blabberize to have her tell you all about responsible digital citizenship and social media. Hope you enjoy!
Links as mentioned in discussion:
Ontario College of Teachers
Themes of digital citizenship
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Teacher Standards and Student Standards Article
Role of Digital technology in the 21st-century classroom
In addition to these links, there are also some wonderful Networks that educators can connect and gain insight into social media perspectives and usage within the educational system. K-12 is a great connected network that is a Professional Learning Board where a team of experts delivers research-based, relevant, effective, respectful, and timely professional advice for enhancing professional development and quality professional practices.
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