Reflection 3

I began this class hoping to learn more about blogs and how to use them in a classroom. Blogs were just the icing on the cake of the class. Wiki’s, Delicious, podcasts and the future of technology in our world are the filling. I think that a classroom blog that the kids put together with podcasts of the work they are doing as well as the direction of the course would be beneficial for teachers, students and parents. School 2.0 is hopefully in the near future because technology is here to stay and we all need to keep up with it or be left behind. I anticipate using my blog and delicious account more effectively in the future after my son’s senior year. I enjoyed the class but think that I spend more then thirty hours working on it.

Web 2.0 World

This looks like the ideal school setting that would engage every student. It all looked great but there were a few things that I thought should definitely be kept such as the frog dissections. Virtual dissections would probably save money as well as be extremely interesting as well as informative to watch without the formaldehyde smell. The online access to grades and permission slips would make life easier for both parents and teachers. The computer classes for students and parents that was presented would open doors for some parents who don’t have access to the technology. One of the obstacles would be getting everyone on board with the program, community, parents, teachers and students.

Thoughts on Dr. Zhoa's podcast

What struck me most about Dr. Zhao’s podcast was the point he made that the United States is so far behind other countries. He compared our education system to a communist government. Schools definitely need to integrate technology more into the classroom. Dr. Zhao’s idea of visiting schools in other cultures is a great one. Financially districts probably can’t afford to physically send teachers to schools in other countries but with today’s technology there has to be another way. I wonder if it would be possible to visit other classrooms through the use of webcams. I know kids are very into the virtual world and if it were to be part of a class curriculum students would become more engaged. Another way to engage and motivate students I thought was on-line courses for high school students. I would be interested to see how Michigan uses those on-line course

Lesson 9 Collaborative Project

Kevin Honeycutt is a very engaging speaker to listen to, probably even more so to see as well. I think that podcasts are very useful they are missing something for the visual learner. He brought up a good point in how are kids “wired” today. I am not sure we as adults can fully understand. I am not sure with his statement that we should “expect them to make bad decisions” is one I can agree with. Should we expect them to make bad decisions so we won’t be upset or disappointed? I can understand a 4 year old making a bad decision but not a 15 year old. Even if the 15 year old has had no exposure at home as to how to make good decisions they have certainly been taught in school.

As far as a lesson to collaborate on I agree that the kids today are very tech savvy and they could probably teach me. I think it would be interesting to see what they would come up with. Not being a classroom teacher I am having a hard time coming up with a particular project. I know that in English I see students struggle with theme when they read novels. In the 9th and 10th grade literature there are universal themes. I think it would be interesting to explore theme in a collaborative way. They could work as a team to explore theme and find facts to support it. It would be interesting to see if students from other countries would find the same universal themes as we do.