I definitely learned a thing or two (or three or four) from the video, the article, "A Day in the Life of Web 2.0", and from creating a blog. The big ideas that I came away with are...
#1. that kids today are much more "digital learners" than kids in the past, and many educators are not meeting their needs. I think that some, like me, are a little intimidated by all of the technology that is out there. That is one of the main reasons why I am partaking in this professional development opportunity. I want to be confident in the use of all of the wonderful resources and tools that are available. I also want to be able to find creative ways in which I can incorporate them into my teaching. Others are trying to find the time and resources into their classrooms, what with increased emphasis on standardized testing and diminishing budgets.
#2. that I have a lot to learn about technology (thus the "Digital Immigrant" title). I have visited blogs in the past, just recently joined a Wikispace, and have been a part of social networking sights like Facebook, but have yet to "Twitter", create a social calendar, or partake in podcasts. I look forward to delving into all that Web 2.0 has to offer!
#3. that I can create a blog, post, and add avatars and images to my posts. How excited was I to realize how easy it is? For years I have been struggling with wanting to create a new way for my students to respond to their reading. In the past, I've had them keep journals where they respond to specific prompts that I give them. I've also had them write letters to me and then I would respond to them in letter form as well. Both of these have been very beneficial in many ways, however, the journals were cumbersome to take home and correct, handwriting letters to every student on a weekly basis was a lot of work, not to mention, time-consuming, and to be quite honest, the kids dreaded them. After seeing how easy it is to create a blog, I'm thinking that this might be the perfect solution to Reader's Responses. Students will be more motivated to produce a better product if they know that they have an audience other than me, the teacher. Additionally, they will be able to learn from viewing and reading each others' posts. Not to mention the fact that now they'll be able to use their favorite medium...the computer, rather than having to hand write each of their journal responses. Now I need to find out how I can make this work with a class of 24!
#4. that with knowledge comes responsibility. In response to the question, "How does writing on the internet knowing anyone can read it change how I write or feel about writing?", I feel that I need to be mindful of not giving out too much personal information. It's a bit disconcerting to know that a total stranger could be reading my posts and learn more about me than someone I know personally. Furthermore, I feel that it is important to make sure that privacy settings are in place and that I act professionally at all times. Finally, as an educator, I feel that it is important that I am careful to be grammatically correct and to not fall into the IM'ing-type language, abbreviations, and emoticons.
Needless to say, in just two "things" I've already learned quite a bit that I didn't already know. However, there is one final thing that I learned....
I need to keep all of my usernames and passwords straight! I'm already confusing them and I've only done two things!
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