This week has opened my eyes to the seemingly endless possibilities of the internet. The technology-based tool that I enjoyed the most was setting up the Wiki. I was not familiar with this tool and found it to be easy to use. This is a tool that I would find very beneficial in my classroom. As a science teacher, I could assign a group project on genetics that students would be able to collaborate together using a wiki. There are some great educational options within pbworks that would suit my classroom.
In years past, I set up a blog for my classroom. This allowed for great communication from teacher, parents and students. Each week I posted the material we covered in class and the assignments for the week. This was a great forum for students to access and parents to receive much needed information.
The most intriguing tool was the RSS Reader. I am not, what most consider computer literate. The idea of having all the sites I follow in one source was very new to me. I really liked the option to categorize the information and to see it all in one glance. This would be a great source to have my students utilize if there are certain sites I would like them to follow. They could also have the classroom blog on their RSS Reader which would help keep them informed.
Because a Wiki could be used for group activities, I would place a wiki around the middle of Dale's Cone (demonstrations, educational television, collaboration). A blog would be used more for individual projects or information. I would place blogs higher up on Dale's Cone (visual symbols and pictures). Feedly is interesting because a student will have a greater desire to stay in tuned to their RSS Reader. The majority of the sites they follow will be of interest to them. A person's interest will drive there education on the subject. Therefore, I believe it would be toward the bottom of Dale's Cone (direct purposeful experience). With the desire to learn, they will learn very quickly.
I really enjoyed Siegel's article! As I stated previously my son was enrolled in an on-line charter school. Our experience was very monotonous. My son lost his desire to learn. I sat through a number of his lessons and understood why. A teacher would be teaching the lesson in a 2"x2" square in the upper corner and notes would pop up on the screen as he/she was talking. At the end of a 7-12 minute lesson there was a quiz. The problem arose if you had little to no interest in the subject. The lesson was tedious.
I would love to see some student interaction being utilized through on-line communication. A teacher could post a question to the class blog and students could respond and collaborate answers. This would benefit students to think outside of themselves and stretch their interpersonal skills.
An imaginative way to utilize wiki and feedly would be to have students post on their wiki page a weekly summary from their feedly account. A class could be studying a specific subject such as, cell reproduction. They could be following information on their feedly account and then required to put a group report together using their wiki. I find the possibilities exciting. I would love to apply these technology tools to my classroom and help encourage collaborative learning.
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