Out of the Blocks...

This week has been some review for me. I have worked a little with Inspiration and PowerPoint but never too extensively. The idea I like about PowerPoint is that it doesn't necessarily have to be used as a presentation tool, rather it can be used as a sort of WebQuest. I teach a class called 'Literature and Social Movements' and ended up doing my PowerPoint assignment on the charter school movement. It worked out perfectly because I want to show how the students enrolled at my school are part of the movement naturally, but I find it a little difficult to make it exciting in the classroom. So I decided that would be a perfect opportunity to include some technology!

Actually....I learned how to possibly incorporate blogging into my classroom. I've always thought it to be very important that students utilize the web somehow in discussion because my students seem to be reluctant to journal. Ever since watching a presentation at Avalon School on Japanese fashion and the young lady told how she learned a lot from using discussion boards, I've been wanting to do something like this in my classroom or with students who may be working on a project. I think I will require blog entries next year, and also responses to other student's blogs in the class. To spice things up a little (and since my classes tend to be pretty small), I might allow the students to respond to blogs that they might find on the internet that pertains to classroom material. Always an option...

The readings were rather insightful, I enjoyed "Computer Delusions" because it gave an interesting perspective on the effectiveness of using technology in the classroom to help students engage in meaningful learning. While I wonder how the heck I would be teaching in a completely different manner in which I was taught, I always just thought that given the state of technology use throughout society today, it seems ludicrous that it NOT be used in an educational format. And I completely agree with the "PowerPoint is Evil" article! My goodness, I am sick of seeing the typical student PowerPoint presentations. They seem so predictable. I feel now I have another way to show students PowerPoint, and this way I will be able to potentially use their work to show future students.

I was looking at Robyn's blog, and I see that she really likes the idea of using Inspiration IN her classroom. Like Robyn was observing with some of the other blogs, I would be unable to use programs in my classroom due to a lack of equipment in the classroom. We have computer access almost EVERYWHERE else in the building, so that's something I would have to work around.