Blog #5.

A) What are your "key learnings" from this course and how will you apply them in your work?

B) What activities and assignments were most and least useful and why?

     The most important things I have learned in this class is how to effectively plan for using technology in my class, finding good quality iPad apps, and how to create podcasts. The TIP project definitely taught me how and why it's important to think and plan out technology that you will use in your classroom - not just throw it in willy-nilly. It's an important consideration and it takes time to search, analyze, try, and revise your technology strategies to better your classroom environment and the learning that takes place. I look at adding technology in my classroom in a whole new light since completing the TIP project. The mobile learning assignments really pushed me into getting an iPad for my classroom - something that I thought was cool, but didn't really see the true value of it until we got to play with them in class and see just how many apps are out there for education. It was eye-opening for sure. My students LOVE having the iPad in the classroom, and will always try to fight over it (if I'd let them). Finally, I think adding podcasts to my classroom would be a great way to accommodate for my students. I could sit down and read several books and it would enable students to follow along in a book, without needing to be able to read on their own. I could also give instructions for assignments if I were absent or if I needed to put students into groups and didn't want to repeat myself 100 times.

     

C) What did you find most and least useful about the textbook for this course and do you think it will be useful as a reference in your teaching?

D) What could we do to improve this course going forward?

     Really the only time I used the textbook was for information about the TIP project. I found similar information online for free, so maybe the book would not be needed. Maybe WebQuests could be integrated into the course in the future instead of having the textbook. Students could create their own WQ to teach others about information learned in a section of the course - small groups could be responsible for different content areas, but everyone reviews/views the WQ to learn the material.

Sometimes the amount of work that was required to be completed in a week was a lot. For instance the week of the mobile learning assignment, we needed to complete a website post, blog post, a review of several apps, and post to the discussion board. It was quite difficult to complete everything on time, and be able to get other classwork and work-work done.