Wow! I can’t believe this semester is already over. I have really enjoyed EME 2040, and I feel like I have learned so much. I am an actual blogger now. I even know how to add cool things to my blog such as Voki, Wordle, and ToonDoo, not to mention videos from YouTube and photos from Flickr. These were all new to me before I started this class.
I really like how we worked on finding ways to integrate technology into the classroom, which is so important for today’s digital learners. They need to be taught the latest technology in order to succeed after school. Just as important, however, the teacher needs to use the latest technology to hold their interest.
Since I work in a county where there are a lot of ELL students, I found it very helpful to analyze and evaluate different ways of using technology to assist these students in the classroom. I especially liked the article by Jon Schwartz (2011) on using blogging to help his ELL students. He states, “They felt a certain sense of mastery over the computer, and saw themselves as authors and digital citizens for the first time.” I love this idea not just for ELL students, but for all students. Learning to write is a daunting task for many people, kids and adults alike. I plan on incorporating this idea for blogging with my adult education class next year. I think it will be very useful for many reasons. First, since I have many students for whom English is a second language, this will be a great way to supplement the communication skills we work on in class. Second, it will help all of my students become better writers. Third, it will help them work on their critical thinking skills as they evaluate what they’ve learned from our administrative professional book. Fourth, they will learn new Web 2.0 skills. These are all great skills to learn as aspiring administrative assistants that will give them an edge over their competition when they are job hunting. I am so excited to begin using this new assignment next year, as I am always looking for ways to improve my class.
Every Group Project As Illustrated By The Hangover
This picture pretty much says it all! I found the collaborative assignments to be my least favorite part of the course. I know they have to be done, but I find collaborating challenging with an online course. Certainly, there are the tools, like Google Docs, to do it. The hard part, I feel, is that most of us are taking an online course so that we can work on our assignments when it fits into our schedule. For some, that may mean only logging on once a week. This doesn’t translate well for group assignments. If you are that once a week student, you may find that everything has already been done by your group, or you leave the rest of the group waiting for you to check in. I had a great group for the instructional wiki assignment, and since each of us did our own wiki page anyway, that assignment worked well with this course. I had a very inexperienced group for the collaborative lesson plan, and I did not feel like it worked very well. I ended up basically telling everyone what they needed to do, which was fine for me, but I feel like they would have learned more if they didn’t have me to lean on so much. However, since my grade depended on their performance, I felt like I had to tell them or it wasn’t going to get done.
Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this course, and I feel like I learned so much. Thank you for your guidance and help when I floundered. This is a course that I would highly recommend for all teachers!
References
Schwartz, J. (2011, July 14). Using blogs to engage English-language learners. Edutopia. Retrieved on March 5, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ell-digital-divide-jon-schwartz
References
Schwartz, J. (2011, July 14). Using blogs to engage English-language learners. Edutopia. Retrieved on March 5, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ell-digital-divide-jon-schwartz
