What I Learned

When I enrolled in this class, I did not know what to expect. I had taken this class before and I dropped it because the teacher went too fast and did not listen to her students. Well, this time was totally different. I was able to learn so much and I believe that this class has made me a much better preparred person in so many ways. First of all, I learned lo much about Google. I did not know what a blog was before I came to this class. Now I have two and even my husband has learned about blogs and he has two as well. I learned how to do presentation slide shows, spreadsheets to keep track of grades,etc. and how to teach using podcasts. I was introduced to twitter as well, but I see little merit in it to me as a teacher. However, the iTunes adds a new rich level of information that both I and my students can use in the classroom. I can download podcasts to broaden me as a teacher as well as teach my students how to access and do podcasts to enhance themselves as students. I am excited about using the ALEX or Alabama Learning Exchange to communicate and gain an understanding of better teaching strategies and resources. ACCESS distance learning will be a major player in education nationwide and I was glad to hear that Alabama is the first state to use this technology statewide. I never thought about accessibility issues until I came to this class. However, I am glad that I did. I think that this is an important issue and that the technology that is out there should be available to everyone. I did not know that there was such things as html tag modifiers and our teacher has introduced us to many ways that the internet has become more accessible. I do, however, agree that more awareness should be raised about this subject overall.
This course has truly raised my wareness of who I am as a professional. EDM 310 has trained me to think professionally concerning technology and its use in the classroom. I feel that I am armed with a very powerful tool tol teach with and to reach students who would otherwise not catch on to what I am teaching.
I would have liked to have learned more about the STI Classroom software and how to use spreadsheets to calculate actual grades, but other than that I cannot think of any other thing that I lack from taking this class. There is not one thing that I learned that I would like to forget because all of this knowledge is relevant to me in some way, even twitter. Although I doubt that I would use it very much, at least I am familiar with it and how its used.