What I’ve Learned….
It’s amazing how much a student can learn in a two month period especially from an online course. That is my first point I want to get across, which is don’t be afraid to take an online course. I know many students are afraid to sign up for one, because it is something they have never experienced before. It is much more simple than many people put online course out to be. DON’T BE AFRAID, that is extremely important to know when going into your first online course. I have taken about 7 online courses throughout my life, and the more you do them the easier they become. In my newest class this year, “Web Tools: Global Learning”, I explored many new things that I never knew or had very little experience with. Below are a few of those things…
Twitter was the first thing I came across in this class, for which I had very little experience working with. This is a platform that we use weekly and I have become stronger in it everyday. I never knew how easy it can be to communicate with so many different people from around the world. I entered my first “Twitter Chat” which connected me with other teaching professionals and inspiring teachers from all over the country. You can use Twitter to form groups with as many members as possible, which I only thought was possible in Facebook. You can share thoughts, posts and articles with so many people. The use of a hashtag (#), was something I knew nothing about and how easy it is to ask a question using a (#) and how easy it is to receive a response.
Flipgrid
See the video below for what Flipgrid is….
Flipgrid is a great tool for making students come out of their shell. I found that this will be a great tool for me to use in my future classroom no matter what age I am teaching. I need to keep up with the times, and technology is growing at a very fast rate which is something else that I learned in this class. It’s such an easy way for students to send educational videos to one another with face to face responses that also allows them to do so without the person actually being there.
Edpuzzle
Check out this short video below as an intro to what Edpuzzle is….
Edpuzzle is actually one of my favorite things that I have learned in this class so far this year from an educational standpoint. I think it is a great way for teachers to teach a lesson via a video, forcing the student to watch the entire video while making them answer questions in order to progress through it. It keeps the student engaged in what the video is teaching, while also allowing them to be reflective on what is going on. The possibilities are endless with it since you can use it for math review or even language arts. Both of my parents are teachers and they each had never heard of Edpuzzle. I showed them how it works and they both now use it in their classroom. If you are an educator and do not use Edpuzzle, you are missing out!
Blogging
Blogging is a great way to express your thoughts or concerns for many people to see. I found it’s a great way to learn from others in a very quick period of time, especially if you want to know something about a particular topic. I learned from this class that blogging is a great way to reflect upon a particular topic or subject so others can learn from your findings. It is a great way for students to learn from each other, especially if they are in the same classroom. I will for sure place blogging in my future classroom so it can be a way for students to share thoughts with one another and a way for me to see what students are thinking as well.
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @CoachkTech1