Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Final Post :(

Well, this is my farewell to my EDM 310 class! I hope that everyone else learned just as much as I did, if not more. Good luck on finals!

-Bree

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

What I learned this semester!

I have learned so much this past semester in my edm class. Technology is one thing that I have never understood at all, especially when it comes to computers. However, in the class we had to deal with computers the whole time. I am now able to work blogs, podcasts, and spreadsheets. Its a good feeling knowing that I am gonna be able to apply what I learned in this class to my future career. Usually for me, I have a habit of going to class every day and getting all the information but then forgetting it as soon as the class is over. In this class, however, the information was something that I enjoyed learning about because I knew that it would help me in the future.

One thing that I learned a lot about this semester was, of course, blogs! Before edm, I had never even known what a blog really was or how it worked. In the class, however, we used blogs daily and even learned more about the different applications that it had like gadgets and layout. I have learned so much about just how useful blogs really are, especially for later on in my career. Ive learned how I could apply blogs to my teaching and use it in and out of the classroom.

Another thing that I learned a lot about was the google documents. This was another thing that, prior to the class, I had never even heard of. We learned how to do databases and even improve our spreadsheet skills, which was pretty lacking for me. We also learned how to make an address book and do a payout table, which I actually found to be kinda fun. I also learned that you could do a powerpoint presentation in google docs. This was actually pretty helpful in another class of mine because I had to give a powerpoint presentation on bikes. Using google docs to do it got rid of all the complications that could arise by using a zip drive or an email that it was sent to.

Another pretty big thing that I learned about was how much technology is used in classroomsa around the world today. We were assigned a project to get in touch with another educator from somewhere else in the world and ask how they have integrated technology into their classroom. This projet really opened my eyes to how important technology is in teaching and I learned about how I could use it later in my classroom whether it be with blogs, podcasts, ACCESS labs, or even editing tools like iMovie or Garage Band! This class taught me so much about technology here and around the world!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Classmate's Blog

As I look back at my blogs for the past semester, I can definitely see the difference in the things that I have learned. They have quickly grown through the review of different blogs, podcasts, and personal experiences. Looking at other students blogs in the class also gives great feedback about what they have learned as well. One students blog who I looked at examined was Brennan Gibson. Seeing her growth through her blogs was both motivating and pretty cool to see.

One thing that I noticed in her blogs was the lessons that she learned. An example of this was her blog about fixed and growth minds. She applied these blogs by saying that she wants to teach her students that it is okay to fail because we learn from those experiences. She said she wanted to make her students feel okay with failing sometimes because, in the long run, it can help you. She also discussed Randy Pausch's lecture and talked about his ideas of never giing up on your dreams, no matter what.

Another thing that I looked at was how the class taught her a lot of things about blogs and how to do them. She discussed how she liked the format of our blogs because they were not restricted and she felt free to talk about anything. She also said that she really enjoyed the different settings that blogger.com offers, such as gadgets. The one thing that she said bothered her about the blogs, however, was the deadline set for each blog. Brennan said that the deadlines worried her and were often hard to follow because of certain limitations like not having an available computer.

I really liked looking at Brennan's blog becaue it gave me the opportunity to see what other people in my class were learning. I know that I definitely learned quite a bit about certain things, but it was cool to see the differences between me and other students. I hope that everyone in this class learned as much as me, or maybe even more, because I know that it is gonna help in our future careers.