Tool #11

Favorites


I have several favorites that I've learned about in this process.  I feel comfortable with Glogster and Animoto, two tools that honestly scared me before.  I also am impressed with Blogger.  I know that my students in the future will probably have at least one blog for Language Arts.  This is very exciting but also very intimidating right now as we begin to teach our students all about the responsibilities of digital citizenship.






Change in Learning

Now that I've been through this process, I can see that technology, although it is changing so much more rapidly than it used to, is somewhat less intimidating because it's mostly web-based.  This is great because students will be able to access it from anywhere.  All those years of programs that are incompatible with my computer or not accessible from home are gone!


I think I am much more comfortable with the idea of learning along with my students or even learning some of this stuff from my students.  Before this, I was kind of held back by my fear of the unknown, but it's not as intimidating as it was before.  This is probably because things seem so much more user-friendly than they used to be.


The changes I will need to make to accommodate the 21st century learner--1)teach digital citizenship early and often.  2)Develop a good system of keeping track of my technology.  3)  Make technology more of a "forethought" than an afterthought.  I want to redesign some of my favorite lessons to incorporate technology or to improve upon the technology that they already use.


Unexpected Outcomes


I really think I will be using a lot more of the tools at my disposal than I ever thought I would do voluntarily.  With Atomic Learning so accessible (I didn't realize the login was the same as for my SBISD stuff), I can go learn about things, get professional development credit, and, incredibly, not have to remember yet another password.  It sounds dumb, but many times I don't go to these sites because I cannot remember my password!  This is huge for me!!!