Course Reflection

This course did meet all my expectations because not only was everything covered, but additional educational technologies that I will be able to use in my classroom were also reviewed. I strongly think that this course should be required for all education majors because it is something that we all can use. Not only can teachers in training use the information from this course, but teachers that are already in the classroom can always benefit from the new technology that is constantly being created. There is so much information that everyone can learn from this class.

I will implement technology into my future classroom in a variety of ways. There are so many programs and tools that were introduced in this class that will be very helpful in the classroom. To keep parents and guardians of my students updated constantly about what is happening in the class, I will open up a blog specifically for my classroom. The online puzzle/game creators are also something that will be really useful because they are created to match what I am teaching in the classroom. I hope to expose my students to the many online learning resources by having them become knowledgeable of computers and online software.

Weebly Movie Commercial

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This final project of Educational Technology was a really fun and great experience. In our group, we all decided on what software or online program we liked best and made a commercial about how it is useful not just for us as future teachers, but for anyone who wants to post up an online portfolio or resume. We had a lot of fun creating and editing the movie, and we enjoyed putting it together. After we edited it, we posted it to both Flickr and One True Media, but unfortunately, Flickr was only able to upload 1:30 minutes, so the full movie as shown above is on One True Media.

Weebly

Weebly is a site for “web creation made easy” and using this online program, I created a website for my online portfolio. The portfolio consisted of information about my education, experience, teaching philosophy, skills and awards, hobbies and interests, travel, references, and a link to my blog. I added pictures and information about myself and my experiences for others to view.

I really liked the convenience of the weebly.com software because unlike a resume, it can be accessed anywhere that internet connection is available. The online site could also be modified at any time to add updated information about the person. Employers can access resumes online, without having to look through a large portfolio. Nothing needs to be printed, and all that is needed is the online address that can be given or a link sent to view the site. The only thing I disliked about the software was that it was difficult to add music and the font was hard to change.

Weebly is a great online site because not only can you create your own sites for portfolios and other things, but you can also make blogs through this website. The webpage creation section of weebly, compared to a blog has some similarities and some differences. Both are online and can be used to post information and pictures. Both can be customized, but blogs are more easy to personalize.

As a future educator, I could use this to keep the parents of my students updated on what is going on in the classroom and also inform them about any upcoming events. This could be more convenient for working parents who are not able to visit the class during working hours. Not only parent s could view the site, but principles and other family members of the students could log on and view the site. I also want to use this site as a professional portfolio that I can use as a supplement to a resume.