Mid-point

As the semester is starting to dwindle down, I am becoming more and more confident in my technological abilities. TPTE is my favorite class, and I use things that I learn in here in other aspects of my life. I am really getting the technology that we are learning down and I am confident that I will be able to effectively use these tools in my future classroom. Everything we do in this class is so fun and interesting, and I am really enjoying it. I'm really proud of myself because I came into this class having no confidence in my technology skills, and now I show them off to anyone who will pay attention. This class has really exceeded my expectations.

Scavenger Hunts and Google Presentations

This week in class, my group and I went on a scavenger hunt around campus with our cameras.  Our assignment was to take pictures of different colored things, upload and edit them on the computer, share them online on a picasa album, make a slide show from that album, and then finally make a google presentation of our pictures.  All of the steps were easy, and I will definitely use these tools in my future classroom.  We also learned about copyright laws in class, and I feel as though this is a very good way to not break laws while still keeping class learning interesting.  Google presentations was a very useful tool and very easy to use. If I happen to not have powerpoint in the future, I will definitely remember to use this.  All of these tools on google drive have proven to be very useful, and I am already using them in other aspects of my academic career. I love scavenger hunts, and this was a very fun activity to do. I will be doing some scavenger hunts in my classroom.

What I think about Wikis

We have done a lot of work with wikis this semester, and I really like the tool.  A wiki is basically a document on line that can be changed and modified by anyone allowed to do so.  It is very helpful to do collaborative work with others that you know or even some that you do not.  The wikis are very easy to use and very helpful.  I plan on using wikis in my future career.  I think it will be a really great tool to work with other teachers in my school such as lesson plans, reading list, organization, syllabi, and so much more.  Using a wiki is a lot easier than emailing each other back and forth in order to modify a document.  I have actually already used wikis a few times in my personal life.  It is something that I will keep in my back pocket to use later.

Wordle

Today in class we learned about the web 2.0 tool wordle.  Wordle is basically a program that takes any text that you enter and turns it into an interesting "word web".  It's a very cool tool that allows for a lot of personalization to text that would otherwise be bland.  I can see myself using this in my future classroom.  While probably not for learning activities, it can help liven up a syllabus or a letter sent home to parents.  The only problem that I found with wordle is the issue with not being able to go back to the text.  You can only enter the text and make the web once, if you need to add or delete a word the whole process must be completed again.  Other than that. the tool is very simple and quick to use.  I will definitely be using it in my future  career. Here's an example of one that I did using terms found in the special education world and curriculum!

TimeToast

For my group's project, we were required to investigate and instruct on the web 2.0 tool TimeToast.  TimeToast is an interactive time line that allows individuals to create and personalize their own.  They can be used for organization, lesson plans, and much more. While a useful tool, I unfortunately do not see much use for this tool in my future classroom.  I may be able to use it in order to organize my own lessons or in order to inform parents of the school's academic calendar, but as for teaching my students I do not see it as helpful.  The tool is also a little bit awkward to set up and is not as interesting as other possible tools.  TimeToast does not seem to be the tool for me.