MY EDM 310 BLOG IS COMPLETE!

My blog is finally complete. I've enjoyed my first blogging experience. I'm glad I learned so much in class but I'm ready for the holidays! I hope everyone has a safe holiday season and I enjoyed being in class with you. And thanks to Dr. Strange who let me know how much is out there lurking in cyberspace that I didn't know about!

What I Wish I Had Learned

If there is anything I wished we would have learned this semester but didn't I think it may have been just a simple introduction to what a Smart Board is and similar technology that is in the classroom right now. I know most classrooms don't have these but when I saw one I was really fascinated but did not have a clue what it really did. However, I feel like I learned so much more than I was expecting to learn. I really enjoyed this class and I feel like it has made me more excited about using technology in the classroom.

What I Learned

This class has truly been beneficial for me. I wasn't excited about taking it because I figured it would be basic Microsoft Word and Power Point. However, what I learned was much more than that. I don't think that anything we learned in class was something I knew before hand. I think the main thing that I liked was everything we used was free. Therefore, when I'm a teacher on a tight budget I can still have amazing video resources and technology tools right at my fingertips. Here is a list of the things I learned this semester.

1. How to create and manage a blog
2. How to do ALT and TITLE modifiers so that someone visually impaired can "see" my pictures
3. All the free tools Google has to offer (I thought it was simply a search engine)
4. Wikipedia isn't always a trustworthy sight
5. How to create an IGoogle page
6. How to use ITunes
7. How to find educational podcasts and videos on Itunes
8. How to make a podcast (and what they were)
9. About ALEX and ACCESS

Before this class I was stuck in a technology rut, everything I knew about computers was about 2-3 years old and so much has changed since then. The scary thing is that I know technology changes daily so by the time I become a teacher this information will probably be out of date. This is why it is important to keep up with changes in technology gradually. Its not ok for teachers today to be technologically illiterate but its easy to see how it happens.