Now What?

The past 6 weeks of EDU 331 have flown by. Technology in the Classroom has been a great learning experience. As an elective, I have found this class to be one of the most beneficial, knowing that I will use a lot of this information in the future! It has been fun to learn many simple, but new ways to integrate technology into my future classroom.

What was the most useful?

1.       Common Craft video- This was a great learning experience. A fun way to teach a lesson in a new way! Loved seeing creative and different ideas of how this could be implemented.

2.      Google- Who knew that you could use google in so many collaborative ways! Google Docs is great for assignments when working in groups. I also liked Google form as it is a great tool for surveys or quizzes.

3.      TodaysMeet and Online Polling-Great way to connect with students through technology.

Where will I go from here?

This class has informed me of so many ways to use technology. At whatever age level I teach, I plan to use several of the ideas in my classroom. The Internet Resources document that we created as a class is a document that I will refer to often (I hope!).  I also will use Twitter because there are so many wonderful educators and new ideas for any subject area. Even just looking online, through pinterest or blogs can be beneficial.

Blogging?

I have enjoyed this experience because it has served as a way for me to reflect on learning within this class. It has also taught me a new way to connect with fellow educators. I don’t know how committed I will be to keeping up this blog. I want to be able to share ideas with other educators, so I hope that can be my motivation to continue blogging as my career moves forward!

Thanks for spending the time to connect with me through this blog.  It is my hope that at some point in my future you will see this blog active again! :)

Until next time,

Carly 

"So Many Colours of the Rainbow..."

The past week we were asked to view two videos related to children and their ability to use creativity (or the lack of!). Harry Chapin sings Flowers are Red  which describes how a young boy drew flowers in different colours, yet the teacher demanded that flowers are only red and green, and there is no other way. This teacher told the child how it ought to be and did not let their creative ideas flow. Therefore, from this young age, this child now thinks that flowers are only allowed to be red and green.

The second video is titled “School Kills Creativity” by Ken Robinson. He speaks of our education systems today and how we squander children’s talents. Our school systems focus on the math, science and literacy and move to subjects like art when we are able to squeeze it between everything. Robinson states that “Creativity is just as important as literacy and we should treat it the same”.

In education today, students come to the understanding that mistakes are the worst thing ever. They are afraid to be wrong, because they are not prepared to be wrong. Students are getting educated out of creativity. 

So what should we be doing as future teachers?

We are to educate the whole being in every aspect. Students should be able to let their creativity shine through in any subject. God has gifted each student with different talents so we should be allowing children to use these God-given gifts! We should also give our students the opportunities to let their creativity show in the classroom.

Students have wonderful ideas. We should allow time for collaboration amongst students, where they are able to work together, share their thoughts, and discover what this world has to offer. Let students fall in love with learning by allowing their creativity to come through.

I believe that teachers are recognizing this and are now working at ways they can let students use their creativity. Technology is assisting us in making this transition. Students catch on to technology just as quick as us (if not quicker!).

A question to ponder this week: What are the best ways to use technology in our classroom so that it will enhance student creativity?  

Child-Driven Education

Last night I went out for dinner with my parents and my husband. While sitting in a booth, two friends, one that brought a child along, were sitting at a table near us. The daughter was between a year and a half to two years old (my estimated guess). She was sitting in her high chair and playing with an ipad while the two friends chatted amongst each other. At our table we joked to my parents how they had it rough, they had to entertain us as children when we were out. Not only did this ipad keep this child entertained, but she knew what to do with it. We then went into a discussion on how children at such a young age can grasp technology and can learn it so quickly on their own.

This goes into the video I watched for this week, titled “The Child-Driven Education” by Sugata Mitra. This TED talks video went into detail about an experiment Sugata Mitra had performed in countries like New Delhi and South Africa. He performed the “Hole in the Wall” experiment where computers with internet connection were placed in the streets. On their own, children figured out how to use them, and became educated through them. It is stated that children will learn to do what they want to do, no matter where they live. If children are interested, then they can figure out what they are looking for and what they want to know. The video goes into more depth on different examples of children succeeding through their own methods.

This was an interesting video to watch, and teachers can learn from it. Children are smart and ambitious; they are excited to learn. We need to provide environments where they are able to explore on their own, dive into topics they are interested in, and use technology to enhance their learning.