Learning_Statements

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED OVER THE LAST THREE MONTHS LEARNING STATEMENTS... April 29th, 2009

**Something I'm learning about technology is**…I have been exploring everything. I chose to do my class presentation on a wiki lesson for ESL students. I had to first figure out how to use powerpoint, and then how to use the wiki. I can't lie, I had a student help me figure out powerpoint, and together we were able to accomplish our goal. She had her powerpoint presentation and I had the knowledge to work on mine. Success! I find powerpoint and wikis now pretty user friendly for the most part. At times the wiki program seems to have glitches in it and it does not allow me to save and make changes promptly. Many times I wished that the pages were word documents and not web pages, as these seem much more finicky. I have also set up my first blog. I was excited at first at the prospect of setting up a blog, but I am not a natural ‘journaler’ and hence I am finding difficult to keep up with. I have discovered through the process that I enjoy reading other peoples blogs especially when it revolves around gardening. Also, I have Twittered, used Wordle, looked into Google Doc’s, set up a gmail account, and I have borrowed a Smartboard for my classroom until the end of the year. This has also forced me to learn how to use and set up a projector. During the last few months I have surfed the web on my cell phone and downloaded songs. But my friends still snicker at the fact that I can’t download music onto my ‘ipod’. (I have still been using it to listen to the radio with.)

Another thing that I am learning about myself is that I am capable of using technology and teaching others about technology. I have discovered that I have been afraid for a long time to use technology because I am worried that I will break something on the computer beyond being able to fix it myself, and therefore it was best left to others who knew what they were doing. This fear started in my Computers 9 class when I would get behind in the demo lesson and then have to raise my hand constantly to get help from the teacher to ‘fix’ the problem. So at work I have been just trying to play with the technology as I have some sense of comfort in the fact that there is someone on hand to ‘fix’ the problem. I know I will make mistakes, but that’s okay.
 * Something I'm learning about myself** is that I get excited about different aspects of technology and I want to take it all in. The problem is that I can’t and I get frustrated in the process. For example, I was excited about wordels, then rss feeds, gmail, Twitter, blogging, webquests, wikis’, etc. When I finally decided to do my presentation on wikis I expected things to just work. But the website was picky in all aspects, and when I couldn’t upload a picture I gave up on the project for days at a time. Now I know that these have to be converted to Jpegs in order to work, and I liked figuring this out on my own. It gave me a sense of ownership over the project and I was then easily able to replicate this the next time. On the other hand, when I was shown how to print/screen and then edit a picture in the paint application by my husband it look no less then eight tries to be able to use this information as my own. I found myself phoning him from the school and asking him questions like, ”So when I have the image pasted in paint how do I upload it into the wiki, what’s its ULR?” I had no ownership over it because I didn’t figure it out on my own and, even though I really wanted to commit it into my “usage vocabulary” it wasn’t working for me. Where I still struggle with this is, that I feel some things one just has to be shown. So then how do you make that knowledge yours? I’m still working on this one.

The last one is a big one for me as I always assume that I don’t have enough knowledge around technology to share with others. However, in the past three months I have shared my small knowledge about wikis with others, and I have been able to share my knowledge around Smartboards with staff members and students alike. It is exciting to be able to do this, as friends, colleagues, and family have been amazed at how much I have learned this term.


 * Something I'm learning about learning** is the importance of scaffolded learning. My friends and family are really amazed with the progess I have made in this first term of LTT. However, I know that 4 years ago I would not have been ready to do this program. (Going from window to window screen was a big deal!) Being introduced to so many new technologies would have been over the top for me, and I think I would have not been able to process the information. This reinstalls my belief in supporting and scaffolding the learners in the classrooms which I support;kids who have learning disabilites who struggle on a daily basis with the basics of reading, writing, math etc. It has also reminded me of the importance of providing support to my learners, and making them feel comfortable enough to ask me for support when they need it. I know that and feel that I am supported in this program, not only through Betty but also through my colleagues. This has been a great asset.


 * Something I'm learning about teaching** is that as educators we need to help guide this digital generation through the academic pit falls and possibilities of using technology. In my reflection on digital kids I lamented a simpler time when technology was something that was just starting to get introduced to the average person...primarily the 1980's to early 1990's. How do we as teachers then teach this more digital savvy generation about the subliminal and subtle information conveyed in web page design, teach them how to navigate through loads of useless information, teach them to think critically and analyze each web page through probing questions...? I believe this is why we have to become more digitally knowledgeable in our teaching practice. Also, teaching through the use of a problem based approach in teaching where technology is used as a tool would energize my classroom. I find in the resource room I do not use enough open ended questions, rather I stick to a more non-constructive appoarch to teaching. In my post technology lesson plan I have aimed to sway towards a more constructivist way of teaching by asking open ended questions