Inspiration

     Inspiration is something that I would invest in for my classroom.  I could use it to make outlines for my class or for my own lectures.  I could also use it to create a concept map for my class to fill in or even for my class to make a map for themselves of a certain event in history.  Inspiration is very easy to use especially with some templates already set for you.  Students are also able to create graphic organizers and presentations.  It is a great software for students and teachers to brainstorm and organize ideas.  I would definitely use it in my classroom.

My favorite web resources that we looked at in class were the library curriculum and Rubistar.  They are both easy to use which is important.  Rubistar is the easiest way I have ever seen to block out a rubric.  The bad thing about Rubistar is that it is almost impossible to search for a previously made rubric that will match the project you are trying to do because there is no tagging.  The library curriculum was an amazing resource that I did not know the school had.  It is easy to find what you need and has a wide variety of subject matter.  The downside to this resource is that once I leave Albright, I will not have access to it anymore.

Social Bookmarking

     I believe that social bookmarking could have a place in my classroom.  I could use a social bookmarking site to place all the assignments for a class with directions and corresponding websites for further information.  The websites could also be used as resources for projects.  Social bookmarking could make projects more easily accessible for students because it would give them some direction without doing all the work.

     Now that I know that social bookmarking exists, I am going to use them to make easy access to different resources with project ideas and lesson plans.  It will help me stay organized with the different projects I am doing for my professor.  I will be able to save all of my web sources in a single place when doing a research project on a subject.

     I am learning to love technology a little at a time and I can not wait to learn more.

Blogs and Google Apps

     I would allow students in my classroom to use blogs by keeping a diary of an imaginary person from the time period we were discussing.  In there first post, I would have my students define their basic character, almost like an avatar, with age, name, race, and origin.  After deciding whom they would want to be, my students would blog once or twice a week to show how their characters lived through the different events that we discussed during the week.  Another way I might incorporate blogs into my classroom are as a diary or a getting to know your class activity.  I would give my students a question weekly to blog about.  Some advantages of using blogs are that it is a new way to keep students attention and that it can be accessed at anytime.  Some negatives about blogs would be being able to gain permission to use them in a classroom and getting the students to use them appropriately for the classroom.  Allowing students on a computer for class work could lead them to doing other things like surfing the net instead of the task at hand.

     The first time that I had been introduced to any Google App was last semester.  I like the idea of being able to work on a group assignment in a much easier fashion because I do not like doing group projects because of the difficulties communicating.  I feel that Google Apps are a great invention for any group project and they are free.  Some problems and limitations of Google Apps comes when taking documents back and forth between Office Apps.  The formatting will not always stay the same if information is taken from Office and put in to Google Docs and vice versa.  Google Apps also has a limited amount of powerpoint layouts compared to Office's powerpoint.  Even with these disadvantages, I still believe Google Apps could be great to use in a classroom.

First Blog

     It is so exciting to be able to actually use different forms of technology.  I have never even thought about being able to do some of the stuff that I am going to get to learn in my ed tech class.  I feel that this is actually a class that is worth taking compared to some other required courses.