Week 5 Response

Last week I considered myself a digital native; up to speed on all of the wonderful, new and emerging technology. However, after class on Tuesday, I felt like a digital immigrant! I had no idea there were that many digital options out there for the classroom. There must have been 10 different avenues that I had never explored before. Some of the ones I really liked were the classroom blogs, YAK PAK, Digital Storybooks, Comic Strips and Skype.
I know we have all done our fair share of classroom blogs but the way the teachers set their blogs up for their elementary students was awesome. What a great motivator for students to get their work done in a quality, timely manner. By posting their pieces they are not only sharing their ideas, opening up the opportunity for a wonderful classroom environment, but they are also becoming more familiar with a form of technology/digital literacy. I was in the group that talked about the Buckingham article so I am now a firm believer in the importance of technological integration within the classroom! I really feel that this blog was a great idea in so many aspects: students sharing work, becoming familiar with the technology and being motivated to complete work, the teacher’s ability to monitor work and communicate with students and the opportunity for parents to be in the know with their child’s education/progress.
As for Skype and Yak Pak…Wow! I had never used either of those tools so I was really interested. How amazing is this technological age we are in; we can communicate to anyone, anywhere with an ease that is truly amazing. I really liked the Yak Pak idea for the aspect of not only providing classroom communication within your own classroom but also with classrooms from other parts of the world!
The comic strips and the digital storybooks were great too. I really am jealous that we never had these options growing up. Instead of writing a yet another boring summary on something, these students get to be engaged and excited about their projects. What kid doesn’t like cartoon/comic books! Talk about getting a kid excited to participate and pay attention; and pictures to express your ideas/feelings, too cool.
So to sum up my experience of Tuesdays class; amazing. There really is a whole other world out there of digital literacy/technology to be explored. I cannot wait to dive deeper into these and add some of them to my portfolio. How cool will it be to walk into a job interview and lay some of these works on the table. Talk about blowing away the competition! I’m excited to see everyone’s projects and also looking forward to learning more about an issue that will really be a tangible, beneficial tool for all of us in our education futures.