Weekly Reflections

Ok, I finally feel overwhelmed. I looked at the material on other tools and hit overload. For this week's project I'm going to look at using photostory to turn powerpoint presentations into vodcasts. I'd like to make a "why you should trust me with your kid" introduction for parents to put on my website. Powerpoint is my tool of choice anyway, and my classroom computers come with photostory – so that seems like a good mesh of tools. Anyway, that's the plan.

As for reflections on the class:

How would you describe this course to a colleague?

Web 2.0 will show you how to use interactive tools such as blogs and wikis. You will also learn about media sharing and about the tools that are available to make and publish media files. Through the interactive aspects of the class you'll have a chance to see how other professionals, outside your particular discipline or grade levels, see the tools and get ideas about how to use them in a classroom setting.

What was the best part of the course and why?

The best part of the class was seeing how everyone else looks at the tools we've talked about. I've gotten some really good ideas from what other people are saying – I'm seeing ways to implement these tools that I would not have figured out on my own.

What will you take away from this course to use in your classroom?

I've already changed my teacherweb page to make a blog the first page. And I intend to ask all my students and parents to subscribe to my teacherweb page. That way I can publish happy hints or pertinent information – and I'm making the kids responsible for getting it. Goodness knows the little weasels already use some of these tools – I might as well put that to use. As a long term goal I'd like to get something like moodle working so the kids can do much of the class on auto-pilot, particularly on days when they are working on projects I'm certainly going to investigate teacherwebs blackboard page – I want to see if this is a way to have the kids do homework on line.

What is one thing you would change about this course for the next group?

Ummm, tell them to figure more than 2 hours a week – not because it takes that long to do the lessons, but because there is just so much to explore.

Would you recommend this course to anyone else? Why or why not?

I'd certainly recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn about web 2.0 tools - or even if they just want to do some exploring. Some of the things we've seen – like referencing podcasts or video – are MUCH easier than I thought – easy enough that I can actually use them. It is better to know what is out there and then decide it isn't for you than to ignore useful tools through ignorance. For teachers it is a matter of put your money where your mouth is – knowledge is always better than ignorance – go learn something.