Lessons+Learned

As a result of my summer course, Media Literacy for Teachers, I have been able to discover a huge toolbox of Web 2.0 tools that will be beneficial to my students. Since I'll be teaching photojournalism and a computer class, my classes will rely heavily on technology. Every student in the classes will have access to a laptop, and the classroom also has an interactive board. Though I did not have the chance to discover uses for the interactive board in this class, I did find ways for my students to use their laptops as major learning tools.

One of the ways they can learn through technology is through our class wikispace. This is the learning space that I created for my photojournalism students.The class wikispace allows students to access their assignments and documents at school or at home (if they have internet), or anywhere that they can find an internet connection. It also allows them to collaborate with one another in discussions and peer editing of their work. Since any member of the wikispace can edit its content, this wikispace has created a communal database for my students. The wiki also contains a link to our class blog, which is where the major assignments for the class will be posted. Absent students can catch up on what they've been missing by reading the blog. The blog and the wikispace are also a connection between my classroom and my students' parents and guardians. Though I will be calling parents and hopefully seeing them a couple of times throughout the year, we can really stay connected through these online resources.

This course has made me excited about using technology in the classroom probably for the first time. Though I used to hear about class blogs, that was about as far as the classroom technology I knew about entailed. I also knew how to use a document camera, make a power point presentation, a prezi, and show my students how to do things on the computer via the document camera. Needless to say, what I know about technology for the classroom has extended far beyond my previous knowledge. I now know how to create a screencast so that I can upload tutorials for my students onto the wikispace or class blog. I can create a podcast for parents or absent students. I can develop my own online games for the class (or possibly use them on the interactive board). The technology that I knew about previously was only really used to give students information. It made lecturing a bit more interesting. The technology I have learned about, however, is technology that can make students active members in the learning process. They can discover and create while learning, which is really what I believe students should be able to do.

This class has helped me immensely by introducing me to a great number of useful tools and also by easing some of my fear about teaching technology-related classes. I wish that I would have taken this class earlier on in graduate school because what I learned about social bookmarking and RSS feeds really could have helped me with researching and writing papers (which is what most of my college career focused on). I am amazed that colleges don't require a class that teaches about these tools for every incoming freshman, actually. Since I did not learn these things until now, all I can do is try to stay up to date with the new technologies that arise every day so that I can keep finding new ways to implement them in a way that engages students in my classroom and helps them learn.