I found that the mapping activity really opened my eyes to the dilemma educators face when asking students to do research and independent learning activities. As a kindergarten teacher, I have not had many opportunities to use the technology resources secondary teachers must use and was only vaguely aware of the challenge of Internet searching. The activities presented in this course were very helpful in producing a "filter" I can use, not only with my own graduate classes, but with my librarian training as well. Accordingly, I will be using some of the varification techniques learned in my own Internet searching. I am, however, fairly confident my own past searches were valid as I am not a technology driven person and have mainly used online university libraries and databases approved by our school district. It will be a MUST to teach present and future students these tools of evaluation! Schools may be able to block "unworthy" material, but students will not just stay within district-approved boundaries. With the flood of information, a discerning researcher will need to verify, verify, verify.
While dealing with the frustrations of setting up multiple accounts this week, I do see the advantages of useful information being catagorized and organized into accounts such as Delicious and Google Reader. After the initial setup time invested, it will be much faster to locate, recommend, and evaluate material I might need in the future. By keeping it organized and "at my fingertips", I might be able to streamline my life when searching for materials "I know I have, but where did I put that?" Those days might be over with tools like these!
My wiki will be used to connect with the parents in my class. So many of my parents work outside the home and yet crave information to help their child learn. As a kindergarten teacher, I am aware that I am on the front lines when establishing a positive school environment for students and parents. This wiki will be easy to access for those parents at work or late at night when they are unable to come and talk with me during school hours. I can offer helpful hints, share tips for aiding their child's learning, and keep us all connected and updated on our classroom. There are unlimited options in how I can use this tool. I will start implementing this idea with my first podcast. In exploring the elearning tools, I would like to explore a few more young reader interactive options. In early childhood, you can never have enough options for their inquisitive minds.
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