Learning because of, or in spite of it all..

I had been looking forward to this course over a month before it began. Web 2.0 and new technology is one of my interests and something I am extremely familiar with, enough so to have done workshops for teachers on how to use them in their classrooms.

Once the course began, however, I was a little disappointed. Much of what was presented and asked of us was not new to me. Wikis, blogs and podcasting have been around for several years, and I've mastered these tools and fairly well versed on how to integrate them into the classroom. I was expecting some discussion on the potential use of social media tools such as Twitter and how to integrate mobile devices such as cell phones/smart phones/PDAs into classroom instruction.  To me, this is where the future of technology is headed, especially with the cuts that schools are facing coupled with the increased use of these devices/technology in the workplace.

That being said, I do feel that I have learned some things from this class, but more from my classmates and not much from the course content.

Where I see myself and the use of technology two years from now
My goal is to become a instructional technology director for a regular school district. I want to be leading the way with teachers in the use of technology in their daily instructional practices.  I plan on working on my supervisory certification as I complete this degree.

Talking Technology-podcast

This was an interesting experience. Because I work in a detention facility, interviewing students was out of the question, so I interviewed my own children. My kids are on a computer at some point every evening, often for several hours each evening. In spite of that, Nicole and Stuart really didn't talk much about what they do while on the computer. In particular, my son has used Youtube to help him learn guitar riffs from some of his favorite bands as well as how to make certain dishes, such as tamago (japanese sweet omlet served at sushi bars).
Melissa threw me for a loop when she started talking about her experiences in 7th grade class. She hadn't mentioned it when I did a pre-interview just before we started recording. I was her 7th grade technology teacher.
As you listen to the podcast, you will notice that the audio levels change a bit. This was due to issues with the microphone and mixing board I used. I tried fixing this in post-production, but time constraints made it difficult.
Enjoy: