I have learned so much about web tools this semester. There were a few I had already put to use, especially Edmodo and Twitter but I truly appreciated the expansion of knowledge I received about other tools in this course. I have to admit that at the beginning of the semester, I was very overwhelmed by the idea of blogging every week but found upon our discussion of using student blogging in the classroom that there were so many different ways to incorporate this tool. I knew that to have student buy-in that I would need to familiarize myself with it. I am grateful for this for two reasons. First, I have actually come to love reflecting on what I have learned about the different tools we have tried this semester. Second, I did use student blogging in my classroom for the main tool in my lesson plan project and I am still astonished at how it transformed my students. I never expected them to like it as much as they did and I can’t wait until the fall when I can begin the year with this tool and really take it to new heights. Another thing I especially appreciated from this course was familiarizing myself with internet safety. That may seem silly to some, especially considering my students are in high school, but I ended up having a few parents have many questions about using web-based publishing in the classroom and I was so grateful to have such solid ground with which to inform parents.
There were so many tools to try out this semester and I still do feel that I haven’t gotten to know them as well as I should to be able to use them to their full potential. It was pretty arduous to learn about a new tool every week and keep up at work with so much going on in the spring (testing, curriculum mapping for a new course). I felt that during the fall I might have been able to give each tool the time it deserved. That being said, I did learn a lot and am excited to continue to implement what I have learned about blogging, wikispaces, and other tools in my classes and to teach my colleagues about them as well.
There were so many tools to try out this semester and I still do feel that I haven’t gotten to know them as well as I should to be able to use them to their full potential. It was pretty arduous to learn about a new tool every week and keep up at work with so much going on in the spring (testing, curriculum mapping for a new course). I felt that during the fall I might have been able to give each tool the time it deserved. That being said, I did learn a lot and am excited to continue to implement what I have learned about blogging, wikispaces, and other tools in my classes and to teach my colleagues about them as well.