Reflections

Starting out in this course as a novice ( a rookie, a beginner ) makes it easy for me to be impressed and enthralled with all the incredible ideas for teaching via technology that are being presented in this class. I read the article, "Pay Attention" today and agree that we have to "engage, not enrage "students by meeting them where they're at: using ipods and cell phones, which are their constant companions. I do wonder why teachers cling to the old, though, rather than recognizing that texting is reading and writing and that students are bored by the traditional classroom approach.
From the very first day, with digital "tableaux", this has been a stimulating, inspiring experience - as we have been exposed to Photoshop and manipulating digital photos, reading about integrating and implementing technology, great examples for using blogging in "Teddy Bears Go Blogging, the use of Standards as we prepare our lessons, the issues about copyright law when using other people's material, the principles of Universal Design, using drama and knowing our students, I feel we have been provided with an enlightened background necessary for using technology in the classroom. It makes sense to learn about something before going out to teach students; this background knowledge is invaluable information.