What I Have Learned

Where do I begin? I have learned so much this semester that I did not know before. I believe my favorite thing I learned this semester is what a valuable resource Google can be. Google documents is really neat because it is like Microsoft Works in many ways but can be opened anywhere at any time without a flash drive, as long as Internet access is available. Also, I did not know how to create spreadsheets on google to calculate loans and payout tables, but I think everyone needs to know how to do these sorts of things to help out with basic everyday activities. Google Earth is another feature I really enjoyed; it allows us to take tours of the world or find any location we want and see it up close. I enjoyed creating my iGoogle page because I was able to find all sorts of things that interest me and make tabs for them all on the same page so that I can keep up with them easier.

One thing I really enjoyed learning about was podcasting. I think our class did an amazing job this year with the podcasts. There are so many podcasts available on pretty much any topic desired.I hope everyone had as much fun doing their own podcast as I did doing mine.

Another thing I found enjoyable was learning how to blog. Blogging is such an easy way to express ideas and keep up with things happening in the world. Blogging could be a great resources for teachers to post homework assignments or have the children post their assigned homework as we did in our class this year.

Oh Twitter! I cannot say that I love twitter because it is difficult to get used to using. I would much prefer facebook because there is such a variety of applications and other interesting things to do. Although, I do believe twitter could be a great way to answer student's questions or to get my own questions answered about whatever topic needed.

ACCESS and ALEX are two great resources for teachers. So many things can be found on these websites. There are sample lesson plans and many other ideas on pretty much any subject, for any grade level.

Overall, I think this class was a huge help. I have been introduced to so many great tools that I can use in my future as an educator. I am very thankful for a class on educational media because it helps teachers realize how valuable technology can be in the classroom for all sorts of purposes and I will definitely use these tools I have learned.