The airplane video relates to integrating technology into the classroom because it is a work in progress. You are “flying the plane” while still figuring out the little things, like what does and doesn’t work, along the way. Everything else in the class is still going, but technology is new. It is something that takes time to build but is worth it in the end. When the people talk about the “look in the child’s eyes” or loving our job, that is us as teachers. We take technology and integrate it into the classroom to make other people’s (our student’s) lives better. This makes our job even better as well.
When looking at that slide and the abundance of social media listed, I seem like a stranger. I am a native when it comes to Facebook, Email, Skype, and Twitter, but other than that I am pretty much a stranger. I didn’t know about half of the stuff listed! Like I said, when it comes to my native roots, such as Facebook and Twitter, I know it backward and forward. I also spend a decent amount of time on them, too.
I think that a good way to use Skype as a class is to talk to each other about projects and so forth. You can create a group so that the students only have access to their class, and if they have a partner assignment, it is a great way to communicate. Also, it is overall a great way to get the students talking and more active in the classroom. You could also have office hours on Skype where students could ask questions and get help. There is just an abundance of things that you can do to help in the classroom, and to reach students outside of your classroom. Padlet is another great tool that students can use. I like that it can be saved so that all of the information can be given. If a student is absent, they can go over what is on the padlet. It will give them an overview of the assignment that was done, or depending on how much you use it, it can be used for the whole class. This is also great for students who need extra help or time to have it. They can access this from any computer and have their notes with them. It lets the students keep up with the class. I love ustream a lot too. I think that this can be used for many things, but I will stick to a few. First it can be used for absences if you need a student to catch up on something and you need to explain it yourself. Also, this can be used so that students better understand projects. Having the teacher be able to explain the assignment, and give examples right there, is a huge help. It will eliminate the need for so many questions since you have to explain it to them once in the classroom.
To keep learning while out of school you need to visit teacher development websites and seminars on your own. You are now responsible for teaching you. Virtual workshops and professional development sites really help active and on the go teachers. Teachers are super busy and don’t usually have time to cut out of their schedule to attend an afternoon seminar. So, if this is the case, virtual learning is better. Teachers can access it anywhere and it can be taken with them. Also, it doesn’t have to be done at one in the afternoon; it can be done at midnight or one in the morning if that is when there is time. With lots of the professional development sites I see that many are teacher oriented and you talk back and forth with different teachers. There are lots of threads to connect with other teachers and see what does and doesn’t work for them.
I think that students writing virtually is a good thing. It gets them in the swing of things with technology, which is catching on so quickly these days. It is also a great way to implement and encourage technology in the classroom. Obviously there are good and bad points to this. You never know what a student will write or what websites this one will lead to. They can get off task easily and play around. Also, students who don’t have access to technology at home may feel embarrassed or left out. However, this is also a good way for those students to get their hands on some technology, too.
What I notice about the different technologies is that I have heard of mostly all of them. Also, they are well known and they are ones that we have used in our class, too. Many of them are social media which kind of surprised me at first, but then I figured, what better way to get kids interested than with Facebook or Twitter? Also, many of the sites are writing sites. Students have to participate and write virtually. Another thing that I noticed is almost all of the sites were geared toward education.
First, I must say that this is a fantastic graphic. Each lets you know what you should introduce before the other. It also gives stepping stones in what the teachers want to reach with their students. Now they can see what websites to go to for different aspects of Blooms Taxonomy.
Tools that I haven’t used many tools in the classroom except for PowerPoint, Word, Prezi, and basic things. I would love to be able to do more. I think I will try Padlet next. It seems like such a great tool to use in the classroom. Padlet will allow me to censor the students, yet help them understand what is going on. Also, they will be able to get active in it since most of them have Wi-Fi enabled devices. If they don’t, even better. They will have to share with another classmate. I learned a lot about different technologies to use in the classroom with this. Thank you!
Have yourself a cup of tea,
Jacqueline
Daily Cup of Tea 
Your statement, “We take technology and integrate it into the classroom to make other people’s (our student’s) lives better. This makes our job even better as well” made me think of my internship classroom, and how the use of the document camera and projector made modeling for students to much easier. Additionally with the use of these technological tools, lessons go by more quickly and efficiently.
Jacqueline,
It’s funny that you made the comment that teachers cannot take the time out of their day to attend a seminar. At my internship site, the principal invited teachers with him to a seminar that was supposed to be really informative. Of course, it was during the school day and the teachers who wanted to attend had to find a sub. This seems sort of absurd to me! The ability to attend virtual workshops is definitely a teacher’s best friend.
I also think that writing virtually is a good idea. It’s a good way to get kids engaged in the lesson. I agree with you, one of the risks of this is that you never know what they are going to write. I also really liked the Bloom’s Taxonomy graphic! I loved how it gave you sites to go to, instead of just saying create or evaluate.
Good work considering the information and synthesizing it. There are so many tools that make our jobs easier and hook students. It is just the choosing of the right tool that gets in the way. Virtual professional learning for me, like virtual writing for students does allow more choice and creates a more learner-centered environment, both motivating.