the end is here

I finished my class tonight..What a learning experience it has become..I have learned so much in such a short time..My next class starts tomorrow night..Six more to go and I have my masters..YES!

Piaget discussion

This week I realized that the philosphy of education lies in how the educator presents the material to the learner. In the past, most classrooms were taught in a lecture setting. Students were passively learning  material through rote memorization, repetitions, and drills. Today, the educator actively engages the students through various strategies and technological advancements. The challenges lie in making a well balanced approach to learning and still convey to the learner the necessary skills to be an effective 21st century learner. As a teacher, I have used a variety of styles and strategies in my teaching throughout the years. One thing I have tried to stress to my students is the importance of learning for tomorrow.  Students need to develop lifelong learning strategies to achieve success.

week 5 summary

Wow, what a week of learning! I was able to see various sites such as Facebook, Ning, and PBworks created  from my classmates. Reviewing each site gave me insight on how to tweek my individual accounts. I was impressed with the various wikis. Also, I joined several groups created by my class on Facebook. I  had created a Delicious account earlier in one of my other classes. I am truly impressed with the possibilites of this site. It makes life easier for usage of great internet favorites. Plus, I get to save some of the classmates choices of bookmarks that I feel will benefit me in my job.  The article I had to read about brains being rewired really made me think about how my life has evolved throughout the years.  I don't believe my brain has been rewired. I think it has just been upgraded to the next level of learning. Multitasking is definitely becoming my friend.  When I had to write a letter to my principal about social networking sites, I had some reservation about the assignment. I don't believe in young children being allowed on such sites. Consequently, I wrote my assignment on younger versions of such sites that are safer for internet privacy. Finally, I had to answer some questions pertaining to microblogging. For this class, I have discovered that Twitter can be useful somewhat, but for me I just feel it is another way to have short conscise blogs.

Week 4-summary

During this week, I found that I was becoming overwhelmed with the various sites I had to upgrade for my assignments. My Facebook account is utilized daily. I often sign on to my Facebook account to keep up with my friends and family daily postings. I also enjoy the various applications such as Quiz Monster and playing the various games. As for educational applications, I have to admit not until this class, I had not realized how many there are on this social bookmarking site. I plan on reviewing several of them more.
I wasn't impressed with Ning. It turned me away immediately when it required a credit/debit card.  After I gave in to signing up a trial account, I reviewed some of the applications it offered. I did like the ability to add videos differently than Facebook. I also found some good educational tools. However, both sites are blocked in my school. So it is needless for me to use with my students or further investigate applications that will help my students' learning.
PBworks impressed me with its various pages to add. I can see this being a great site for me to continue to use with my students. Wikis are definitely an educational tool that I feel will benefit student learning.
After reading the article, Minds on Fire, I thought about how a car drives off a lot and depreciates its value. Educators need to be up to par when it comes to providing the learning and skills needed for our todays' students. Multitasking is everywhere. When I was younger, I never thought I could work on an assignmnet on the computer using the internet as a reference, answer the cell phone, watch television, and still bounce back and forth to Facebook chatting with my friends. Today, as a 48 year old woman, I am learning to become successful in doing these tasks somewhat. Such places as Second Life, allow for social learning for individuals without ever leaving their living room. Times have changed. Evolving into the future means willing to accept the changes and adapt to them. As an effective teacher, I must be better prepared to do this and most importantly willing to do this as well.

Ning Account- Week 3 Assignment

This week I started a Ning account for my class. This social bookmarking site has some similarities like Facebook, but for the most part it is somewhat different. I am still exploring the various applications to add to my page. I really like looking for educational applications to use with my students or fellow teachers. I am curious if this site is blocked as well at school. I hope not. It seems like it might be better to use to share with my parents. However, with it requesting credit/debit card information then it is highly unlikely that I will be able to get parents to create a page of their own. I would like to look for a good social bookmarking site that is free and great to use with my students and parents.