How can I use a blog during my teaching career? In my post for Thing #2, I already wrote how have taken the perspective of a public journal. In this way, I can share my ideas and reactions to what I am learning in class. By making this blog public, I not only receive credit for the class, but I can receive feedback from my fellow students. I feel that this perspective would be an excellent use of a blog by interacting with other teachers in my field.
I can also envision myself using a blog to better engage my students in the classroom. A simple way to use the blog would be to inform or remind students of important lesson material. Another way could be to use a blog as a discussion board. The post-then-comment format of the blog allows time for more reflective contributions from students. The topics of the post could range from simple discussions to elaborate on the unit being learned to enhancing a lesson. An enhanced lesson could take the form of Problem Based Learning where I would post a problem that requires cooperation to solve, then the students would collaborate using the comments section.
Regardless, I must always remember my students' access to a computer before I could use a blog for any type of learning activity.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Crane's Thing #2
Alright, this is my second blog entry. In my first blog entry, I shared my reactions to the "7 1/2 habits of life-long learners" presentation to fulfill the first of the 23 things. This second post is where I will share my thoughts on actually creating this blog.
For the name of my blog, I decided to have it reflect my journey on learning new technology and tips that I could apply to my subject area. I hope that naming this blog "Crane's US HIST-tech" will serve as an effective reminder for me to keep this in mind. As far as my posting name, it was kind of decided for me. Apparently, I already had an account associated with my e-mail when my wife invited me to view and update her blog.
As far as creating my first blog, it was very easy. It did take me a little bit of time to learn how to navigate the editor so I could customize my space. However, just a little bit of time playing around with the templates and features was all that was needed to get comfortable.
I tried to create an avatar that accurately depicts me. I don't think it was very successful, but it was the best I could do with the options offered by DoppleMe. (I strongly recommend that DoppleMe add sideburns as an option!) My avatar does at least resemble me and reflects my personality. I did this because I was aiming toward creating an appropriate avatar that I could use in an education blog.
I'll conclude this post by saying I am surprised that I am actually blogging. Whenever I heard of some one else blogging, I always wondered if I could think of something worth while to say if I started a blog. I have decided to proceed with treating my blog for this class as a kind of public journal, and so far, it seems I have more than enough to blab on about.
For the name of my blog, I decided to have it reflect my journey on learning new technology and tips that I could apply to my subject area. I hope that naming this blog "Crane's US HIST-tech" will serve as an effective reminder for me to keep this in mind. As far as my posting name, it was kind of decided for me. Apparently, I already had an account associated with my e-mail when my wife invited me to view and update her blog.
As far as creating my first blog, it was very easy. It did take me a little bit of time to learn how to navigate the editor so I could customize my space. However, just a little bit of time playing around with the templates and features was all that was needed to get comfortable.
I tried to create an avatar that accurately depicts me. I don't think it was very successful, but it was the best I could do with the options offered by DoppleMe. (I strongly recommend that DoppleMe add sideburns as an option!) My avatar does at least resemble me and reflects my personality. I did this because I was aiming toward creating an appropriate avatar that I could use in an education blog.
I'll conclude this post by saying I am surprised that I am actually blogging. Whenever I heard of some one else blogging, I always wondered if I could think of something worth while to say if I started a blog. I have decided to proceed with treating my blog for this class as a kind of public journal, and so far, it seems I have more than enough to blab on about.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Crane's Thing #1
This is my initial blog for my Instructional Technology class at Austin Peay State University. Although I look forward to my journey into the world of applying technology in today's classroom, I must confess that I have gotten off to a rocky start. I went to the listed "7 1/2 habits of life-long learners" website to complete the assignment for Thing #1 and could not get the audio to work no matter what I tried. However, no worries, the slide show worked just fine. Below are my thoughts to the "7 1/2 habits" presentation.
I, as most educators would agree, am a strong advocate of the life-long learner approach toward life, not just education. Learning is not a static activity and neither is any body of knowledge. New evidence is always surfacing, new technologies are always emerging, and theories are always being tested. It seems as if nothing is absolute. (Anyone else out there remember when Pluto was considered one of the nine planets in our solar system?) The information revolution of the 21st century demands a flexible and open-minded approach.
The "7 1/2 habits of life-long learning" presentation is an effective checklist that serves as a reminder on how to better approach life in general. The easiest of the habits for me to identify with is number 2, accept responsibility for your own learning. I regularly hear many students complain how others, not just teachers, are not giving them all of the material (read as "answers"). Students must take initiative in the learning process, and that starts with accepting responsibility.
The hardest habit for me to incorporate in my life is number 6, use technology to your advantage. This is not because I do not like to learn new things. It is because, and I suspect I am not alone, I am hesitant to learn something that will be obsolete as soon as I incorporate it into my life. This does not mean that I am afraid of technology or do not use it, but it does cause me to be a late adopter of whatever the new it is. (Anybody regret all those hours figuring out and posting on myspace?) I also think that the realm of education is so desperate to incorporate technology in the class room that it becomes a crutch instead of better preparing students for the future. I have seen way too many classes where a chalkboard and chalk would have been much more engaging than the obligatory PowerPoint presentation with accompanying PowerPoint Notes handouts. I think the a better way to word habit #6 is "effectively use technology to your students' advantage."
Overall, I do think the 7 1/2 habits of life-long learning is a very effective approach to incorporating anything new into your classroom, technology included. I look forward to using this approach while learning more about Web 2.0 tools in order to effectively apply technology in my classroom.
I, as most educators would agree, am a strong advocate of the life-long learner approach toward life, not just education. Learning is not a static activity and neither is any body of knowledge. New evidence is always surfacing, new technologies are always emerging, and theories are always being tested. It seems as if nothing is absolute. (Anyone else out there remember when Pluto was considered one of the nine planets in our solar system?) The information revolution of the 21st century demands a flexible and open-minded approach.
The "7 1/2 habits of life-long learning" presentation is an effective checklist that serves as a reminder on how to better approach life in general. The easiest of the habits for me to identify with is number 2, accept responsibility for your own learning. I regularly hear many students complain how others, not just teachers, are not giving them all of the material (read as "answers"). Students must take initiative in the learning process, and that starts with accepting responsibility.
The hardest habit for me to incorporate in my life is number 6, use technology to your advantage. This is not because I do not like to learn new things. It is because, and I suspect I am not alone, I am hesitant to learn something that will be obsolete as soon as I incorporate it into my life. This does not mean that I am afraid of technology or do not use it, but it does cause me to be a late adopter of whatever the new it is. (Anybody regret all those hours figuring out and posting on myspace?) I also think that the realm of education is so desperate to incorporate technology in the class room that it becomes a crutch instead of better preparing students for the future. I have seen way too many classes where a chalkboard and chalk would have been much more engaging than the obligatory PowerPoint presentation with accompanying PowerPoint Notes handouts. I think the a better way to word habit #6 is "effectively use technology to your students' advantage."
Overall, I do think the 7 1/2 habits of life-long learning is a very effective approach to incorporating anything new into your classroom, technology included. I look forward to using this approach while learning more about Web 2.0 tools in order to effectively apply technology in my classroom.
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