Looking at online storage, tearing apart computers, researching virus protection, learning how to blog... these things have all been interesting to learn and will set me up well for future courses in this degree program. But this class has shown me that the easy days are gone and it's time for me to try to think like the teacher that I one day hope to become. Interacting with my group of librarian-types and teachers showed me how far I have to go and how much I have to learn. Their ability to imagine the difficulties and rewards of implementing technologies into the classroom setting was eye-opening.
The group projects were a great part of this class as it was very interesting to hear the trials and tribulations from individuals who are actively attempting to implement many of the ideas and technologies that we've discussed in this (and preceding) courses. Issues like crowded classrooms, special needs and ELL coupled with school boards and money concerns are not things that I routinely think about.
I have mixed reviews on the text. I enjoyed the reading and the abundance of online examples, sample lessons and discussions on the various tools available to teachers. I did not enjoy the style of questions that the text employed. I guess it's the engineer in me looking for concrete solutions not completely open-ended queries.
Learning about additional online tools such as Google Sites and Calendar was interesting. I can see how these features could easily lends themselves to the classroom setting.
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