Class with Jeff and Kristin is extremely refreshing after a week of intense instruction on traditional pedagogy. I really enjoyed being able to work on creating a lesson plan for the NYC Soda Ban article. Being able to discuss with other students the best way to use it in a classroom transformed the process from theory to reality. I felt that it was probably one of the best ways to see the practical elements of using technology in the classroom.
As is reflected in my previous post, I am generally wary of the usefulness of the technology in helping students develop their intellect. The lesson planning session however, helped me see how I could use technology to improve my instruction. Even if initially I really couldn't think of many technological tools to improve teaching the NYC Soda Ban, being able to hash things out with my peers really pushed my thinking. In addition, Kara - the librarian helping us - suggested multiple tools to assess and excite the students about the topics we wanted to cover.
The most eye-opening (and equally overwhelming portion) of the class however, was when we met as a whole group after lunch and every group had a new website to add to the list of tools we could utilize. Each addition was equally helpful. At first I thought, okay I'll remember that one. Then the next. Then the next. The list just kept expanding and it seemed that there was an infinite amount of possibilities and opportunities for just the one lesson on NYC Soda banning.
I guess the question/feeling I took away from today's discussion was: how can I figure out what the most useful technological tools are and how can I keep up with the ever expanding universe of technological innovation? A course like this will help me get exposed to different tools, but how, when I'm a teacher and not a student, will I be able to find and evaluate the new tools that come about? What can I learn now that will help me do that then? Kristin and Jeff ... Help!
I worry that I won't stay up-to-date with the technology too! I think I'm doing a pretty good job right now.. but as far as teaching in the future, maybe 15 years down the road, how are we going to know which technologies are the best to use!?
ReplyDeleteI think what will help are blogs and websites like http://www.engadget.com/ - it tells you what new technologies are coming out and what they're good for! It also tells you about video games I think which may not be relevant at all.
Hope that helps :)
Hello Rayhan! Thanks for your posting to my blog. You were the first, the one and the only to make a post to my blog :-D :-D :-D. This technology class is a nice introduction to a sampling of technology use that is available for classroom use. Staying abreast of the latest technology, MAY come, I imagine from your peers in education. You may hear of what things they are doing in their classrooms. You may also learn of latest technology developments in magazines, journals, and websites geared towards educators. I hope this helps. I am sure it is not an exhaustive list, but just some ideas.
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I hope more people have posted to your blog!! I think you had some really interesting ideas on there ... I never thought about how much peers could help with finding tech tools ... it seems like such a simple idea, but I kept feeling like after this class I'm going to be released into this huge world of tech tools that I don't know anything about ... Thanks for reminding me that there are other teachers who will help me out =)
DeleteI was very overwhelmed by the amount of resources. It would take a much greater amount of time than we had in class to really search through the databases and pick out something pertinent and useful. I would hope that my school's librarian would be able to assist in this process, but really is a skill that we all must develop as educators in preparation for our classes and also for assisting our students in their own research.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the soda ban article, I too though it would be a useful topic of discussion in a social studies classroom. Again though, I do not necessarily think that technology would have to be employed in the class, but it definitely would be useful in research.
Rayhan,
ReplyDeleteYour conclusion is hilarious. I agree the amount of resources and the speed with which it gets updated is overwhelming. I think they have released like the 4th version of the iPad recently. I think our classes should keep us grounded for a few years but after that we have to keep doing the research to keep up with the newest forms of technology. But then again, we need to be actively researching anyways to be the best educators we can be.