Technology

Immediately after the last post, I created a twitter account.  Even though the blog and twitter assignment was a simple one, it took several hours for me to complete it.  Since then, I created the following:  glog (interactive poster) with Glogster EDU, Venn diagram with Kidspiration, Google Docs spreadsheets and forms, Power Point with linear and nonlinear hyperlinks, movie, wiki, Web Quests for research on emergent technologies, and electronic portfolio.  Although I learned a lot about using instructional technology in EDCI 505 Introduction to Principles of Instructional Technology, I just can't imagine myself using it often because it's time consuming work.  I completed the electronic portfolio assignment in approximately 14 hours.

I have six children who are in grades kindergarten through eleventh grade in a public school district and I asked them did their teachers use instructional technology in their classroom.  Some of my children said, "No," including my daughter whose teacher majored in technology for her Master's degree.  One of my sons said, "No, but they use a Smart Board."  Their answers didn't surprise me.  It would be very difficult for a teacher to create a lesson with instructional technology during a school day. 

 

Technology

I am writing this blog around 4:15 a.m.  About one hour ago, I completed the assignment for Module 10.  I created a wiki using Wikispaces.  To create the wiki was easy, but researching emergent technologies for pages one and two was a very difficult task.   Even though, my assignment is a day late, I still can’t submit it because I don’t know how to locate the URL for my wiki.  Hopefully, I will be able to submit it today.  Before this assignment, I made a graphic organizer with Kidspiration and spreadsheet/database with Google Docs Spreadsheets, collected data with Google spreadsheets, and created interactive media with MS PowerPoint.  .  Last week, however, I made a movie about the moon with MS Live Movie Maker.  I was so pleased with the end product that I showed it to my children.  After my youngest daughter saw it, she said, “It’s good!”  I thought so myself. 

Oh Well!

Thus far, EDCI 505:  Introduction to Principles of Instructional Technology has been very overwhelming for me.  Before I took this course, I only used my computer for email, word processing, and online purchases.  Oh, what fun!  For the first time in my life, I have used my computer to create a personal learning environment with Symbaloo EDU, an interactive poster with Glogster EDU, a blog and twitter account.  Oh, what misery!  As a Web 2.0 tool novice, I spent almost 18 hours to develop a “web mix” with Symbaloo and a poster with Glogster EDU.   Nevertheless, I think these technologies are a great way for teachers to visually organize and share the web with students, but it could be a rather time consuming ordeal for a beginner like myself.  As you can see, I was successful in creating my own blog account with posts.  After publishing this post, I will proceed with the Twitter assignment.  It’s a shame I don’t personally know someone who blogs and tweets so I won’t have to spend the rest of the night figuring out Twitter.  Oh well, here goes!

Technology

Thus far, EDCI 505:  Introduction to Principles of Instructional Technology has been very overwhelming for me.  Before I took this course, I only used my computer for email, word processing, and online purchases.  Oh, what fun!  For the first time in my life, I have used my computer to create a personal learning environment with Symbaloo EDU, an interactive poster with Glogster EDU, a blog and twitter account.  Oh, what misery!  As a Web 2.0 tool novice, I spent almost 18 hours to develop a “web mix” with Symbaloo and a poster with Glogster EDU.   Nevertheless, I think these technologies are a great way for teachers to visually organize and share the web with students, but it could be a rather time consuming ordeal for a beginner like myself.  As you can see, I was successful in creating my own blog account with posts.  After publishing this post, I will proceed with the Twitter assignment.  It’s a shame I don’t personally know someone who blogs and tweets so I won’t have to spend the rest of the night figuring out Twitter.  Oh well, here goes!