Final Thoughts on CEP 416

Throughout the course of the semester, I have been introduced to many different kinds of technology, that I can potentially use in my future classroom, and I can thank CEP 416 for this! I really enjoyed this course and playing around with many different types of technology. One of my favorite technologies that I have learned about this semester is Weebly, which I used to create my online portfolio. Weebly is an awesome, and easy to use tool that you can use to create a website. There are some advanced features that you have to pay for, but most of the features are free! This is definitely a tool that I will use in my classroom. 


Another technology that I found very useful was Delicious. Before this course, I did not know what Delicious was, but I think that it can be very useful when teaching, especially if you team teach. Next year, in my student teaching placement, I know I will be working very closely with another third grade teacher, and another intern, because my CT team teaches with her. I think this will be a great way to incorporate technology into our lesson planning because your Delicious bookmarks can easily be shared with others! I have been using Delicious all semester, not only to bookmark educational sites, but sites for my other classes, wedding planning, scholarships, and my study abroad resources. I think that I will be using this technology next year and into my teaching career!


Aside from my favorite technologies that I have learned about throughout this course, I really like the way that CEP 416 is set up, where you have tasks to complete each week, and you are able to view your classmate's work. I thought that this was very helpful, especially early on in the course, when I was unsure of what to do. I also think that the Facebook group and Twitter hashtag was useful because not only was it another way that I could see my classmate's work, but it was a way to get a hold of Sara, my instructor. Normally, with an online course, you communicate with your teacher through email, and that's it. But with CEP 416, Sara was available though email, Facebook, Twitter, and Skype! It was great to just be able to Tweet Sara when I had a quick question, rather than write an email, and wait for a response! Overall, I really enjoyed the course, learned a lot, and plan on incorporating many elements of the course into my own teaching! 

Jessica's Highlight Showcase

First off, I really liked how Jessica used Jing as her screenshot technology. I tried using Jing once during the semester, but got frustrated with it, and gave up on using it. It was really great to see someone use Jing, and successfully use it! I also really like how Jing shows a bigger preview of what you are showing, rather than VoiceThread, which shows a very small preview. I really liked how Jessica concentrated on showing her three favorite technologies that she has learned about throughout the semester. It was nice to see how she included her portfolio in these technologies because I thought her portfolio was really well put together, and it is a Google Site! I used Weebly with for my portfolio, but after seeing other Google Site portfolios, I will definitely have to look into Google Sites! I thought that Jessica's highlight showcase was very well put together and I really enjoyed watching! Maybe I will try to use Jing again, after seeing Jessica's video! Nice work Jessica!

Courtney's Portfolio Showcase

I really liked how Courtney used VoiceThread because it allowed her to show previews of her portfolio that we have worked on during our class, and then she was able to talk about the specific elements of her portfolio. I really liked how she went through each page of her portfolio because it allowed me to not only see the pages of her portfolio, but allowed me to hear her thoughts or her comments on these elements, which is not always known from reading a person's portfolio. I also thought that it was great to see that she used Google Sites, which I have not really had much experience with. If Google Sites is easy to use like Google Docs, I will definitely look into using this resource in my classroom. It was great to see each piece of her portfolio that she has created throughout the semester and the picture that she used at the end was very cute! Good work Courtney! 

Bethany's Portfolio Showcase

I thought Bethany's portfolio was really unique because she showed many different technologies that she had used and learned about throughout the semester, not just one. I really liked how she showed each technology and described how she used it and how it can be useful to use in the classroom. I especially enjoyed learning about Artisan Cam because I think that an online picture book maker can be a great tool to use in the classroom. During CEP 416 I found another online picture book maker, but it was not as good as Artisan Cam, so I will definitely take note of that resource to use in my classroom! I also really like VoiceThread as well, and this is the first time I had actually seen a VoiceThread video. I think that VoiceThread can also be a really great resource to use with your students in the classroom because it seems like it is easy to use, and students could make their own presentations using their own voice. Very cool! I also found most of the technologies that she mentioned useful and some of my favorites, so I was glad to see that she included these in her showcase! Nice job!

Portfolio Showcase

Here is my portfolio showcase! Check it out!

Thoughts about technology integration

I think that with the growing dependency on technology, the use of technology is almost necessary in education Technology is becoming more prevalent in our student's lives with computers, internet, Smartphones, iPods, iPads, interactive video games, etc., so why not integrate technology to enrich our lesson plans and engage our students in creative and thoughtful lessons? Technology can really be a great tool to use in the classroom because it can be so interactive and versatile. I believe that technology not only benefits students, but it also engages the teacher into the lesson and allows for learning for both the students and the teacher. I hope that as I develop into a more experienced educator, I can learn how to integrate many types of technology into many of my lesson plans! 

Wikis

I think a Wiki is a great resource to have in the classroom! Wikis are versatile because unlike a standard website or a blog, a wiki can be edited by all members. This could be a great way for students to create their own pages, add content to them, and have other students in the class view them. I have used Wikis in the past, for some of my teaching classes, and they are a really great tool for sharing lesson plans, digistories, etc. I think that I would be able to use this in the same way in my classroom.

I also think that a Wiki would be a great tool for parents of my students. Parents could have access to the Wiki and post questions or comments that they have for me, view their student's work, or even use it to sign up for parent teacher conferences, holiday parties, you name it. I think that a Wiki could be a very beneficial tool that could be used for ultimately anything in the classroom!

I have started a Wiki for my own use! You can find it here

Google Docs

Google Docs is a great resource that can be easily used in the classroom. I can see myself using Google Docs in a variety, both with students directly and indirectly. In the classroom, Google Docs or Google Spreadsheet can be used to write stories, write science reports, enter data, etc. and then it can be shared with the entire class. You can also use Google Docs on any computer that has internet, which is good for classrooms that only have one or two computers.

Google documents can be a great way to collaborate with other teachers or parents, very easily. You can share Google Docs with other teachers for planning lessons, sharing student data, important dates, etc. For parents, you can share student work, parent teacher conference times, weekly or monthly newsletters. There are really endless ways that you could use Google Docs in your classroom. The great thing about Google Docs is that you can share your documents with any email address. This is definitely a resource that I will be sure to use in my classroom!

Here is a link to a Google Form that I created on my website!