Reflection of Collaboration Web Tools in Education EEND676

According to “Teaching with Web 2.0 Technologies: Benefits, Barriers, and Lessons Learned” by Yun-Jo An and Kevin Williams, “While Web 2.0 technologies are becoming ubiquitous in the everyday lives of students, they are still new to a majority of instructors.” As we approach the conclusion of our second class, “Collaborative Web Tools in Education,” I am reflecting on what I will remember most.  This class was different from the last course because it had face to face meetings; whereas the last course took place primarily online.  The collaboratively created notes were very helpful to reflect back onto when completing the assignments and discussions.  Again there was an abundant amount of articles to aid in the understanding of the Web 2.0 tools.   As I reflect about which article that stays with me, the article that made the greatest impression is “Tools for Teaching Cyberethics” by Education World.  It continues to hold true that teachers and students have to be aware of how to remain safe while using the internet.  It is increasingly evident that we have to incorporate rules for how to interact when connecting with others online, establishing safeguards to protect students, how to properly interact when using social media sites, and being aware that whenever we use the internet we leave a digital footprint.  We have to incorporate digital citizenship within instruction mainly because the borders of our classrooms are limitless with the use of collaborative tools.  

With this course, I have had many discussions with classmates through blogs, online discussions, and in person.  I continue to be grateful to my colleagues for the generous assistance they have provided throughout this course.  Admittedly, I was not as fearful of technology during this course as I was during the last course.  Having gained a good understanding of how to navigate technology tools from “Foundations of Educational Technology” have helped me a lot.  Although, I did have to reach out to classmates and coworkers with how to use Schoology to complete an assignment.  This was because I did not have previous experience using Schoology as a way to provide assignments to students.  I do not have my own classroom and was not aware that I had to be invited into a colleague's classroom to be able to use schoology as a platform.  I was very frustrated trying to navigate something without any previous training.  

The weekly discussions helped me to learn about other websites that would be useful with the population I teach and continue to find them very helpful and enlightening.  

I continue to grow as a connected educator as I find myself trying to incorporate collaborative tools within small group lessons.  I remain excited with incorporating the many resources and tools I have been exposed to, and those I have not yet learned, to further my students academic successes.  However, I realize that I am still a student because there is so much that I still need to learn.  I find myself trying to troubleshoot before I ask for help when exploring sites and using tools to create assignments for my students.  With adding to my Blog, I continue to have some difficulty using the menu on the left in order to publish pages and create links to those pages within my PLN.  This is frustrating.  

When developing lessons, awareness of the ISTE standards, SAMR, the 4 C’s, and digital ethics are at the forefront in order to incorporate the technology I am learning.  My goal is to enable students to be successful while they utilize digital tools.   Technology Integration Models continue to  help me to assess where I am at in regards to incorporating technology in the classroom.  It is evident, as I reflect on what I have learned, that I love learning and sharing what I have learned with the students I teach.  

The opportunity to learn presents itself every day in the form of teachable moments.  I recently had the opportunity to share what I have learned with a 6th grade student.  When I asked her how school was going; she replied that it is frustrating trying to remember all of her homework.  I quickly asked her if she knew how to use “google calendar?”  She said yes; to which I suggested that she write her homework in her calendar and that would help her recall what she needed to complete.  I just learned that google has a calendar.   

I continue to look forward to learning through my PLC (Professional Learning Community) with my colleagues; as well as participating in this technology cohort.  I enjoyed learning about Web 2.0 tools to use with students in the classroom. I look forward to gaining more knowledge with the next course.
As a special education teacher, I continue to look forward to utilizing the features I am learning in order to differentiate and adapt lessons to my students learning styles to enable them to be confident and successful learners.  

References

A. (n.d.). Footprints in the Digital Age. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov08/vol66/num03/Footprints-in-the-Digital-Age.aspx

Tools for Teaching Cyber Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech055.shtml