Week One Reflection Questions
1. What did you learn?
While I have ventured into the blogging waters somewhere around my calves (text/photos), I am anxious to actually get out there and ride the waves of possibility! Embedding video, interactive lessons, podcasting...I am THRILLED with the idea of putting lessons online for students/parents to use at home! I basically learned that I have a lot to learn, and that's fantastic!
2. How will you use what you have learned? (Please see answer to question number one above.)
3. How did you feel about this tool?
Can't you tell??! I love blogging! I am excited about the opportunities it will provide for us!
4. What do you not want to forget about this tool?
...Where the help section is...Seriously, power is knowing how to access information you need...
5. How can this be used in the classroom?
Students have the space to pose questions to each other, publish their thoughts and texts for feedback, and to offer their influence to improve their writing. They also have the forum with which to explore ideas safely and with encouragement, and that's priceless!
6. Should you use this in the classroom?
But of course! I think everyone should have blogs! The onset of air conditioning and television in the 1950s really changed the way neighbors and communities related to each other, with lasting effects. Even the front porches disappeared from our homes, creating an isolation that changed forever who we know and how we know them. Jet forward to the new millenium and you have social networking sites that have the power to create "virtual communities"...both amazing and terrifying in their power on the individuals behind the avatars. With a new medium that changes so dramatically each DAY, society and the individual must create a code of ethics and a PLAN for how to integrate and populate this new space. We mustn't become a slave to it; We must craft our relationship with it. This is at the core of what I hope to explore with my students in coming years.
7. What questions do you still have about this tool?
I am concerned about moderating and protecting my students while also giving them appropriate freedom to publish...respecting each other throughout the process.
~V
While I have ventured into the blogging waters somewhere around my calves (text/photos), I am anxious to actually get out there and ride the waves of possibility! Embedding video, interactive lessons, podcasting...I am THRILLED with the idea of putting lessons online for students/parents to use at home! I basically learned that I have a lot to learn, and that's fantastic!
2. How will you use what you have learned? (Please see answer to question number one above.)
3. How did you feel about this tool?
Can't you tell??! I love blogging! I am excited about the opportunities it will provide for us!
4. What do you not want to forget about this tool?
...Where the help section is...Seriously, power is knowing how to access information you need...
5. How can this be used in the classroom?
Students have the space to pose questions to each other, publish their thoughts and texts for feedback, and to offer their influence to improve their writing. They also have the forum with which to explore ideas safely and with encouragement, and that's priceless!
6. Should you use this in the classroom?
But of course! I think everyone should have blogs! The onset of air conditioning and television in the 1950s really changed the way neighbors and communities related to each other, with lasting effects. Even the front porches disappeared from our homes, creating an isolation that changed forever who we know and how we know them. Jet forward to the new millenium and you have social networking sites that have the power to create "virtual communities"...both amazing and terrifying in their power on the individuals behind the avatars. With a new medium that changes so dramatically each DAY, society and the individual must create a code of ethics and a PLAN for how to integrate and populate this new space. We mustn't become a slave to it; We must craft our relationship with it. This is at the core of what I hope to explore with my students in coming years.
7. What questions do you still have about this tool?
I am concerned about moderating and protecting my students while also giving them appropriate freedom to publish...respecting each other throughout the process.
~V
Comments
I had never thought of how front porches symbolized how communities socialized before. That was a very interesting connection in your reflection. I have questions also about how to keep our blogs "safe" for students to use as an educational tool and to make sure that students aren't being bullied, etc. through our blogs. I guess like everything else, we will have to teach them our expectations and have consequences for those who don't respect others.
Vicki
Times have definitely changed but there are as many goods as bads that come along with it I guess. Being a Tech Guru one would think that I’d have a different philosophy, but I believe the best contact is personal face to face contact. That being said, I believe technology can open the possibilities of reaching more people and even some that you couldn’t reach any other way. I guess the key is diversity!
I enjoyed your post! These are the kinds of posts that make people think. Keep up the good work!
Victoria,
This is a great statement. I totally agree with the need for a plan for use and not becoming a slave to the technology. I am afraid that at this point we may be too late and it would be closing the barn door after the cows are gone. Brings to mind the mother that "stalked" the 14 year old girl posing as a teenage boy. I do fee some people are trying to have a plan with rules. Parental controls and supervision. Firewalls in the schools. Michele