Penny Walter's Reflection

I found this class to be informative and overwhelming at the same time. There are so many options with technology that I don't know where to begin. However this class provided me a starting point. I learned about blogs, reviewed photo story, gamification and started a way past due web page. I have always been a fan of technology, but coming from the age where my first intro to computers was in college, it makes me a little behind the curve. We had dot matrix printers and basically used computers as a word processors. Today the possibilities are endless. I'm amazed and also fearful of what students are exposed to and learning today through technology.

The gems of this class was the introduction to new technology. How to apply twitter and blogs to a classroom situation. The idea of having students writing their thoughts on a site in order to communicate with me seems fantastic. However as a visual arts elementary teacher that would probably not be the most useful.The review of photo story was great. I took a class through the district a couple years ago so the review and time to do the story in class was fantastic. I think this would be a great way to show case student talent and allow for some narration to go along with art work. I can see multiple uses with photo story.Web page creation was also great. I think with technology is is trial and error. The more you use it the more familiar you become and the easier it will be. The web page is another great tool for the visual arts. I can reach more parents by posting pictures on the site and they can view art work.Creating the jeopardy game was also fun. I can see this being a useful tool. It would be more of a review at the end of the year, not something used everyday. I found the template easy to use, and extremely easy since Tom was in our group, and there were multiple brains thinking ot the topics.

The ops of technology are the districts primitive access. Currently we were just discussing the limitations of showing student work on line with out parental permission. The task of gathering consent for over 800 students would be daunting. I can understand the need for using photos, but for artwork where a student can not be identified seems ridiculous. Add this along with the differences in technology throughout the district technology can be difficult to utilize.

I enjoyed this class and fully understand the potential, for me and my students, now I just need to find the time to fully take advantage of it's potential.