Final+Examination

=EDU 653 Final Examination=

====Throughout the last eight weeks of EDU 653, I have been instructed to read Will Richardson's book titled "//Blogs, Wiki's, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms."// Reading Richardson's book taught me that there is much more to the internet and web tools than what's on the surface. Up until this this point in my life, I have been happy with surfing the internet for news and using the necessary programs to complete my scholarly assignments for college classes. Now that I have been introduced to Blogs, Wiki's, Podcasts, RSS, Screen Casting, and Social Bookmarking, I know that I will be able to get much more out of my time that I spend on the internet. Having a base knowledge of Web 2.0 technology will be very beneficial as a classroom teacher and I know that my students will enjoy the technology that I am able to implement into my lesson plans.====

Blogs
====Blogging was a term that I had heard of quite often before taking EDU 653 but really did not understand. Before reading about blogging in Richardson's book I thought that it was meant only for professionals. I learned that not only people who are professionals in their respected fields, but anyone with an internet connection can begin blogging on topics of their choice. There are many free blogging websites such as www.blogger.com. I have been making weekly blog posts on my personal blog throughout this class and have been responding to my classmates blog posts. I feel as though I am getting more and more comfortable with blogging and someday would like to have all of my students create their own personal blogs within a site that will allow the teacher to have control over what is posted. The posts of younger students would need to be monitored and it would be very helpful to have parents or guardians involved in the blogging process for their child.====

Wiki's
====I have become very comfortable with the concept of a Wiki page because a large part of our assignments in EDU 653 had to do with the use of our personal and classroom Wiki pages. One of the most well known free websites to sign up for a Wiki page is www.wikispaces.com. As an upper elementary teacher I feel that a class Wiki page would be a great way for me to keep in contact with parents. A class Wiki page is also great for submitting assignments individually or in a small group situation. Navigating and editing a Wiki page can be confusing at first, but with a few short lessons and step by step directions my students will be able to handle submitting answers to questions or even uploading a photo or link a website to the class Wiki page. I plan on using a class Wiki page in my classroom in the near future.====

Flickr
====Before EDU 653 began, I always used to look to Google Images or Microsoft Clip Art for pictures that I might be able to use for assignments. The problem that I always ran into with images from various websites is that I never knew the true, correct way to site my source. When introduced to www.flickr.com, I was directed to the "Explore/Creative Commons" section of photos. Creative Commons photos are photos that I can use as long as I follow the proper directions of how to site the photos. Creative Commons photos are categorized in different ways with different regulations on each sections of photos. From now on when I assign online assignments in my classroom that require the use of an online picture, I will ask my students to select photos from Flickr's Creative Commons section for use. Giving the proper credit to the person who took and uploaded the picture is very important and will be covered in a lesson before using Flickr.====

====Using RSS on the internet to receive automatic updates on virtually anything that grabs a person's interest is very easy and convenient. Many websites offer the use RSS feeds to their blog or podcast. As a classroom teacher, I plan on creating a set of podcasts that my students will be able to access on our classroom website. Students will be able to visit the class website, click on the link for a quick review of different topics such as basic steps of long division, multiplication, grammar and sentence structure, and directions for an upcoming book report. I plan on using Screencasting in a similar way but instead of just having voice/auditory instructions, I will incorporate video into the recording. In the future I also plan on having students create their own screencast videos. Students love to act as the teacher on a topic and I feel that by having students describe the steps of a math problem in a screencast that they will truly need to know the correct steps. By acting out the problem on camera, students are much more likely to retain the newly learned information.====

Twitter
====I am currently using Twitter as a way to keep up with the most current news and sports updates. The sign up for a Twitter account is free and can be done at www.twitter.com. Twitter is updated very often and the amount of Twitter users that you can chose to follow make it so that Twitter has an abundance of information at your fingertips. Whether you use Twitter on your computer or your smartphone, the line of communication is always open and flowing. I have seen and read about many different uses of Twitter in the classroom. Most of the examples that I have seen are at the high school level because the majority of the students bring cell phones into the classroom. Being an elementary teacher where cell phones are not allowed to be out of backpacks in the classroom, I have not seen as many Twitter examples. I plan to use Twitter with my upper elementary students this year in the technology lab if I can get permission from my administrators and parents of students. I think it would be a lot of fun to have each of the students create a free Twitter account and make Twitter posts that answer questions. I know that my students would enjoy answering questions using 140 characters or less on their own Twitter accounts rather than write their answers on paper.====

====The use of Social Bookmarking was unknown to me before beginning EDU 653. Any time that I have ever wanted to save websites that I visit often or websites that offer resources that I do not want to forget about, I would always save the site in "My Favorites" on my web browser. Social Bookmarking is a great way to save and store the links to websites that you do not want to lose because not only do you save them, but sites such as www.delicious.com make it so that you can share your list of great sites with other people. As a teacher, I am always looking for new resources that I might be able to incorporate into my classroom lesson plans. I know that I already have a large list of resources saved and I know that my teaching partners would love to be able to easily access my list of resources as well as share their list. Social Bookmarking is a great tool for teachers at all levels of education.====

====Social Networking is very popular among people of all ages. Popular social networking sites such as www.facebook.com and www.ning.com allow people to search for friends on the website network and then communicate with others on their network. Facebook is very popular for communicating with a close group of friends. Ning is a unique social networking website because people can create their own social networking site and have control over their network. I plan on using Ning in my classroom because it is a great way to reach out to our youthful students who so enjoy social networks. As a teacher, Ning is a great option for a classroom social network because the teacher can create the network and have complete control over everything that goes on within the network. Questions or topics can be posted and students will have the opportunity to reflect and respond to the questions. By reaching out to the students and moving to their comfort zone, teachers might be able to get more effort and thought out of students.====

====In conclusion, Web 2.0 offers people many different opportunities to communicate and collaborate with each other inside or outside of the classroom. As a teacher today it is very important that I do my best to keep up with all of the new advancements in technology. With the youth of our nation becoming so enthralled and sometimes even dependent on technology, it is important for teachers to offer variations of technology in the classroom. By using technology in the classroom, teachers are doing their part of trying their best to reach each individual student. If students enjoy using the internet and technology on a daily basis, then I think it can only benefit both teacher and student to bring technology into our lesson plans.====