Thursday, August 20, 2009

Reflective Synopsis

Throughout this unit of work, I have had many near-break downs, many happy moments, and a whole lot of learning. I think I will be able to walk away from this course at the end of the term happy that I have achieved my goals - to have added something to the list of things I can do.

I believe that all of the tasks we were given for this assessment can be utilised effectively in the classroom. From simple tasks such as image manipulation to the more complicated like pod casting and google earth, teachers can engage their learners on a whole other level with this sort of technology. Sure some of the tasks we were given were quite tedious, such as PowerPoint's and web quests, but the majority of the tasks were easy to understand. And best of all, they were all free, which doesn't put the teacher (or student) out of pocket.

The world around us is constantly changing, and if we wish to continue to grow and learn, we need to evolve with it. Every day new things are created that will make our lives 'easier'(but are also sometimes just a complete headache), and we are the generation that will be creating more and more of these objects, to help the everyday person. These types of tasks will be the next phase of our lives, and we need to begin to utilise these resources, and grow.

As with everything, there is always drawbacks. The major drawback with this kind of technology, is that availability that it is to our students. When they are at school, the majority of schools have adequate computer facilities, but what about when they are at home? Many homes do not have computers, and if they do, some do not have an Internet connection. Not all families can afford these types of luxuries, and yes, they are a luxury. Also, not every person has an iPod. They are extremely common, but not many 10 year old children have one (well I certainly know I did not have one, but then again, they weren't really out then, and that was only 9 years ago!). We need to take into consideration the different learners we have in our classroom, and also our resources. If you are teaching at a school that has minimal computers, and a very limited Internet connection, you are not going to be able to complete a lot of the tasks that we have been lucky enough to complete for the past 6 weeks. We need to cater to not only our learners' needs, but also the materials and resources we have within our own reach.

Although there is this drawback, the biggest benefit that I can gather from this material, is the impact on our carbon footprint these kind of activities have. Using solely the Internet, we almost completely eliminate any use of paper. This is something that will probably come in handy to us in years to come.

And always remember:

Stop having fun, this is meant to be educational.
Until next time,
Claire

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