I am enjoying this Intro to Ed Tech class as much as I had hoped I would but I am overwhelmed by the number of technology resources that are available to use in the classroom. It is a challenge to master any technology, hardware or software, so the number of options that we can explore as teachers is tremendous. I think that you basically just have to find one area in which technology will be a value add and then dive in and figure out what tools might help you achieve that goal. You can't do all of these things but it is great to be exposed to them all. I just hope that we will have enough time to explore what we have seen on the Resources page. I also hope we might have time to brainstorm with others in the class about how they might use the technology. I can see how it might be applied by reading their blogs but it would also be nice to devote a bit of class time to exploring ideas together.
One thing that I find difficult so far is marrying the technology to mathematics. You would think that technology and math go hand in hand but it seems so much easier to find application for other subject areas. I think that you have to think outside the box a bit to figure out how to fit technology into the class. Can you use a blog as a math journal? That would be different. How can digital picture be incorporated into a lesson? Where might digital storytelling be used? These may or may not find a home in a math classroom but I at least now will always be thinking of their potential use when I think about a math topic.
One last note is that I hope there is a way to stay connected or become connected with students who have gone through this class. Some of their websites are still up and running. It would be informative to see how former students are using what they learned in this class. What successes have they had? Have they found other resources that might be helpful to us? What challenges have they had? I would love to know.
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