I am participating in 23 Things, because I hope it will help me to become a more effective teacher. I never thought about how important technology could be in today's classroom. I hope that by taking the 23 things course that I will learn some new techniques to use in my classroom to help spark engagement and thus improve learning amongst my students.
I was shocked by how Thing 1 told us that we are still needed by our students to help them sort out the over abundance of information. It just goes to show us that even though our students are tech-savvy they still need direction in how to locate and sort out what is considered to be "good and reliable" information from information that is "not reliable or bad."
I kind of like the idea that anyone can read or respond to what I write on my Blog. It is a good place to put out information to my students and parents and allow them to ask and answer questions. I also think it is a great way to have a group discussion. Sometimes I feel students who are shy or do not like public speaking will enjoy being able to engage in group discussion, through the use of a blog post.
At first I was a bit overwhelmed with the idea of creating a Blog, but this was actually pretty painless. I will definitely start using this in my classroom.
Hi Dan and welcome to the 23 Things. Kids ARE technologically savvy, but in my experience, I have found that they still treat technology basically as a toy. Our job is to teach them how to use it as a tool. Kind of like a pencil. They will basically doodle and draw pictures until we teach them how to write and take notes. Not as fun, but necessary to learn. There are a TON of resources on the Internet that are cool and fun and hopefully this program will show you how to use them to engage students in learning. If you only get a couple of ideas out of this experience, you will have gained a lot. Feel free to post any questions if you have any and most of all, have fun!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that you have started the 23 things! I think that the support of others who are completing this will be helpful. Also, I think that as a grade level we need to support each other too! It will be great to hear about all the things you are incorporating in your classroom!!
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