Tools

This class opened my eyes to a number of different tools that I wasn't aware were out there. This was my first exposure to Skype. I knew such programs existed, but I didn't know they were so easy to use or that they were available for free. The Flip is a tool that I can see myself using as a teacher, coach, and administrator. (as of yesterday, they are available on Amazon.com for $69.99 for 30-minute recording capability and $114 for 60-minute recording capability, by the way). After discussion during class, I have found that my school is somewhere near the middle of the pack when it comes to technology use and availability.

Last Weekend

I really got a lot out of this class. Most of the technology I was at least familiar with, but it was nice to see the many ways different people use the technology. I was fortunate enough to be advised to take this class early in the program. I think that this class (or one similar) should be periodically required (maybe as a PD requirement before certificate renewal) for all teachers to stay up to date on the ever changing world of educational technology. Congratulations to those who are done with the program and thanks for the food last weekend.

Sunday - Websites and Flip Cam

I was interested in the many websites that we looked at on Sunday. Each one has great links or tools that can be benificial as an administrator. You can find lots of professional development. There are job search engines as well as many other tools. This will be a great resource for me.

I really need to get a flip cam or have the school get a flip cam. It would be a great tool to use to show other teachers, administrators, students, and parents what the students are doing in school or classroom. It will be easy to put it in the computer and add it to a school or classroom website. So many things go on in a school such as assemblies and other important events that parents sometimes miss out on. The flip cam would be a great tool for those situations. What a fun and amazing tool to use in the school.

Saturday - Pod Cast

I found the podcast easy and fun to use. I feel like it can be a great tool to use as an administrator. I would primarily use it as a tool to put on the schools website that would allow announcements, concerns, or other important information that would be communicated better verbally. It would also be benificial to show the teachers how to use it and they can use the podcast for students that are absent or for instructions to homework on their classroom websites. The more I work with podcasting, the more I will feel comfortable with it and use it. It is a great tool for schools.

Sunday - The Last Class

WOW! This class (518) was amazing! So much to learn and so little time to learn it in. This class forced me to jump into Blogs, Wiki's and Podcasts, all of which will come in handy, I'm sure, one day down the road. I have to admit that at first I was intimidated by the list of assignments for this class. By completing some of them in class, my tension was eased and I learned so much. The multimedia presentation was a really neat way for us to use so much of what we learned and put it together as a useful presentation. Thanks for a great learning experience.

Saturday

Today I helped to create my first podcast. Frustrating as it was, it was a learning experience that I enjoyed. I can see how purposeful they can be. I plan on using them in my classroom. Now, when I assign a podcast in my social studies classes, I can help them if they run into the same issues that my group came up against. I am looking forward to experimenting with many of the features attached to Audacity. However, I would also like to visit Garageband to check out the differences.

Final Class

I enjoyed taking this class. One of the major reasons was because of how much of what we learned was applicable to us not only in the future as administrators, but also now as teachers. I consider myself fairly comfortable using technology; however, I can say that prior to this class I didn’t know how to make a podcast, blog, or wiki page. These are all things I can use in the future and am glad I learned. I’ve also realized that it is important to be patient when technology doesn’t work, or at the least, not lose your patience in front of your students or staff. They will look to us as a leader and our frustration isn’t likely to do them any good. If we keep our cool and work at solving problems, there is a good chance we can figure things out. Thanks Dr. Closen for sending me the reminder e-mail about posting, not getting frustrated, and showing us how to use the technology.

Saturday April 18

I can see where pod casts could be a very useful tool for an administrator to use. This type of communication would be accessible for everyone. Being a special education teacher I always think about those adults who can't read and all the "paper" we send home with students. Principals could use a pod cast that was downloaded on to an mp3 player for students who have illiterate parents. This would help with communication. It took me about two hours to find information about our topic and write it out. Our group took about two more hours to record the pod cast and another 30 minutes to send it to Dr. Closen. Hence: It was time consuming. I believe with practice, this could be perfected in a much shorter time frame.

Podcasts

I’ll admit, my group had some trouble doing our podcast initially and it was a little frustrating. At one point I sounded like some sort of a dying, underwater robot. We were eventually able to get our podcast done successfully. I’m glad we learned how to do so, because I think that podcasts have many practical applications as an administrator. If you think about it, a couple hours figuring it out isn’t that high of a price to pay for a practical skill that should stick with us for a while.

Sunday's Class

I really feel like I've learned more about useful technology! For instance, I'm thinking Powerpoint is a little outdated now that Movie Maker is the hot thing!! I really liked the presentations that were done using Movie Maker! I am going to have to start converting mine over!! It was great having class with everyone - I'm sure for those who aren't done - I'll be seeing you around!!!

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i think in all the hoop-la i forgot to post my reflection from the last class... so here it goes - i learned so much from this class it would take quite a while to post it all. this last sunday when Dr. Closen said something about not getting upset when technology does not work because a student will be less likely to try it again really made a lot of sense to me. i thought the web sites we looked at about the various organizations in IL that have to do with education was informative and i see how some will/can be used during the internship process - thanks Gretchen.... overall perhaps the class that had the most information that i will be able to put to use immediately... Thanks Dr. Closen.

Final farewell--Sanders

Okay, my farewell isn't as final as some of you, as I have just begun the program, but at least this is the last post for this class. Like Jake, I find it pretty amazing how much I've learned over 3 weekends. I knew I wasn't the most computer-savvy person walking into the classroom, but now I really feel like the exposure I've had over the past month and a half has given me skills and confidence in the technology area. I have particularly welcomed the Excel stuff, as I am expected to use it more and more for school data. Plus also, now my husband doesn't make fun of my ineptitude as much. Thanks to all for your help this semester. Good luck to those of you moving on.....and to the rest--see you soon!

Sanders - Last Saturday

Since I'm slow to post, I'll reflect on how I remember feeling after Saturday's class. I haven't felt so technologically frustrated and inept in quite some time. The first 10 attempts at audacity for the podcast were painful, and although I was irritated on Saturday, that frustration ultimately led to experimentation on Sunday that helped us be successful. I sometimes forget that just like anything else, you have to give yourself time to just mess around with the technology to gain familiarity and self-trust. I still don't think I'll do much podcasting, but at least now I can do the basics if I want/need to and can enhance my skills from there, if desired.

Final Reflection

Thinking back to the beginning of this class I am absolutely amazed how many new things I have learned. I knew what blogs, wikis, and podcasts were but never would have taken the time to create one without this class. Now I am hooked, I check a few blogs everyday and have added a ton of podcasts to my iTunes. Our society is becoming more digital each year, and I believe many of these technology tools will become necessities very shortly for administrators, principals, and teachers. Thanks to everyone for all the treats, too! (ESPECIALLY THE BREAKFAST BURRITOS)

Final Class 4/19

This class was very beneficial, but like others have said it would have been nice to have had it earlier in the program. I also feel that more topics could have been covered given the amount of down time we had during each meeting time. It seemed like Saturday we got all of our information and then Sunday was more like a catch up day for those that didn't get it or needed more time to work on things. This was very frustrating to some of us that knew what was going on or that had everything finished. If the class continues to run like this, I would make Sundays optional so those that don't need the extra help don't have to make the long drive.

April 18th class

I know what a podcast is! I had heard this term so many times, but never knew exactly what it was or how to create one. I was really nervous about this project, but thanks to my group members I am much more aware of how the process works and we ended up turning in a successful podcast in the correct format. Yeah group! I think this is a fun project for the class and would continue to do it with future classes.

Final Class 4/19

Learning about the moviemaker project was something I found that I would like using for administrative meetings as well as helpful in the classroom. I had difficulty with some of the features but I was more adept at using it than some of the other technology items. When working with technology, I find it frustrating to troubleshoot when you don't have a broad knowledge base of what to try. I have learned some useful applications from this class but I have such a long way to go. It is just so time consuming to work on projects and redo them when they don't function properly. I enjoyed getting to know some of the people in this class. Collaboring and sharing experiences and ideas is part of what helps for clearer understanding from these grad classes.

Sat. 4/18/09

I found the podcasting very confusing. I think having a demonstration beforehand would have been helpful to putting it all together. Having little knowledge of this technology made if difficult to put it altogether. I still know nothing about using audacity. It seems difficult to me and I would have to play around with it for quite awhile before it is clear to me. I would like to see the difference in using garageband. After Dr. Closen explained the use of the teacher using the Podcast with his class, I would like to explore the use of podcasting. Maybe by the time I get around to exploring it, there will be an easier way to podcast.

Sunday

Sorry about my last blog, I hit the wrong button. I can easily say that I have learned how to do a lot of different things using technology that I had no clue how to use before this class. All of these things can be very useful to use in presentations in my classroom. It was also very helpful to be able to work in groups in this class. Different people in the class had different specialties and that allowed for everyone in the class to learn from other peoples' strengths. I really enjoyed learning how to use movie maker. After working out the minor details of movie maker, I was able to produce something that I could present to my principal and other staff members.

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