This semester has presented me with an abundance of new information. We have been given so many resources to use as we go forth and carry out our duty as teachers in our communities. My opinions about technology and teaching have drastically changed from the beginning of the semester. I now understand the need for digital literacy and the importance digital literacy plays for me as a teacher. I have progressed from being scared and frustrated with technology to a teacher who is prepared to embrace the great benefits that technology has to offer. I am commited to using technology to assist me with preparing my students to compete in a technology filled world. I am grateful for the way technology enhances my abilities and simplifies my life. I know that this is just the beginning of of what is out there, technology is always changing but it has sparked my fire to make sure that I am always seeking to increase my knowledge of technology. 

The recently article on plagarism was definitely a great resource for me. The strategies that are presented gave me a great understanding of how to help students avoid being dishonest. I never really tried to breakdown why someone would cheat. I always just looked at it as a cat and mouse game. The truth of the matter is most students aren’t really trying to plagiarize and giving them a criteria to follow will help avoid the situation all together. That is a proactive way to handle the situation in my opinion. For the students who are really trying to cheat setting a criteria is a great way to prevent the temptation. As educators we commit ourselves to being lifelong learners and that means keeping ourselves updated with the latest techniques that technology provides to assist students with teaching and what technology we can use to prevent that from happening.

I see podcasting as another great way to communicate with our “digital natives”. It is not very hard to create a podcast as I recently learned when I created my first podcast for this class.  Truthfully I would like to see more school’s take advantage of this great resource. I learned that you can post your podcasts for free and that students can download them providing they have access to a computer and an ipod or device that plays podcasts and their good to go. It is also a great resource for parents too. Teachers can use it to communicate with parents about what is going on in the classroom and the school. Podcasting is another great way teachers can use technology to enhance their students learning experience.  Especially students with disabilities. I see podcasts as a great benefit for students who miss a lot of school due to illness or have difficulty retaining information. Students can also use  it as a great way to review before assessments. The possibilities go on and on for podcasting. 

I must admit I am not totally sold on the idea of blogging. I see beneficial ways that blogging can be helpful. For example blogging can be a way for teachers to help students find their creative voice. Blogging can also be an effective way to reach “digital natives” who are use to using the computers to do all of their communicating. However just as I talked about in the last post students  usually don’t use these tools as they were meant to be, and although I know that blogging can be a way to actually show students responsible use I am hesitant to introduce something new that may end up doing more harm than good for them.

Social networking is the new craze for many of the students we teach. Even though if you use the term social networking to them they probably will look at you with a look of confusion. I like the term social networking because it describes exactly what sites like myspace and facebook are really for. Unfortunately teens are using sites like these as a way to share intimate details about temselves that should not always  be shared. I think it is highly important that we emphasize to students that they need to be careful of the pictures and details that they post on line. Especially when it comes to illegal activities.  I can’t even count the amount of stories that have evolved about cases where myspace and you tube have been used to show off things that people (in my opinion) should not be proud of. In fact as we have seen in the news lately it can also be a motivation behind things they do. For example taping yourself beating up a girl to post it on you tube or my space like the recent case out of Florida. We have talked in class about the way we as educators handle this issue. For the most part schools have banned the use of most of these sites. I think that we should re-evaluate our approach to sites and talk with our students about why we have sites like those in the first place.

The benefits of a wiki are plentiful. In my opinion another valuable resource introduced to me as a result of taking this class. Who knew? I guess a lot of people because there are so many out there. I recently came across a wiki page that give info about a restaurant I was considering dining at. I was able to view the different opinions that people had about the restaurant. As an educational tool a wiki can be used in so many ways but the main thing is that students and their parents understand what a wiki is and how they work. One way we can do this is utilizing them for our classroom and explaining to students what they are and how they work. I know that I will.

In all I feel my experience with the PowerPoint project was a positive one. I normally feel out of my element when it comes to being creative, but the possibilities that were presented created a spark in me. The ideas were easy to come up with but my difficulty came with executing them.  I imagine that the difficulty I had, had a lot to do with the fact that using PowerPoint in that way was new to me. Even though I had trouble with the end product the process of being creative was good for me and that is why I say that it was a positive experience. I can imagine that allowing students to use PowerPoint to create presentations with the right guidance can provide a positive learning experience for them as well. Especially students at the middle school age.