Thing 16 - Evaluation

I must admit, I had no idea how addicting blogging could be.  I don't know if I mentioned before, but I'd started a blog about 3 years ago.  It was just something because people were so intrigued by my postings on Facebook regarding my students, the things they would do/say and my daily outbursts.  However, once summer ended so did my blog posting.

I have been inspired to start a personal weight loss journey blog from this experience. I haven't had time to update it because of school and work but as soon as I do, I will add it to here so you can follow me.


EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

My favorite discoveries has been learning about all the sites that are out on the web that allow you to create different videos and images for FREE!  I've bookmarked so many sites and every time I learn something fabulous, I take it and share it with my students. For example, some of them have computers at home but do not have word processing software.  I introduced them to Google Docs and Zoho so that they could type their essays this weekend that are due on Monday.

I especially like the video creation sites that allow me to upload my photos and add special effects.  A lot of the movie/video making software takes up so much space and memory.  With these sites, I don't have to worry about those limitations and I can make the video accessible for students, as well as, their friends and family.

I have learned so much I can't even keep up and I want to use it all at once!  This was a great exercise if for nothing else but exposure and awareness of what's available on the World Wide Web!

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

This program has affected my lifelong learning goals by enabling me to add to my learning toolbox. All that I discover, I am then sharing with others. This is too great of knowledge that I've been exposed to, to keep it to myself. I share it with my colleagues and my students. They will be so much more prepared, technology wise, when they enter middle school that I ever could have been back in my day. I also hope that this knowledge I share with them inspires them to seek more on their own and to teach me!

It has stirred me up to seek more knowledge and applications to use technology to my advantage. Why Not? There is a technology application or site for EVERYTHING you could ever imagine doing for the most part it is all FREE.

I am definitely more equipped after this blogging experience to add variety and excitement in my classroom and lessons.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Yes, there were.  Just the fact that so much is available on the web for FREE.  I wish someone would just compile all these sites in one place, in a user-friendly format, for my use.  

I did not know what to expect at first but learned SO MUCH.  Surprisingly, I had used a lot of the resources in the Things and considered myself to be quite technologically savvy.  I had no idea!

I would even like to do something like this for my students.  Of course in smaller, more manageable doses.  But these are things they need to be exposed to, even the parents.  It may convince parents of the need to have some type of computer/internet capabilities at home.  As we continue to move forward and attempt to gain a competitive advantage amongst other countries, exposure is key to that success.

4. What could I do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I think the concept of this program is great.  Like I said, I've learned a tremendous amount of useful information.  It was a great use of my time and breaking it up into chunks made it more manageable.  

I think the difficulty came in when certain links either did not work or had expired and browser compatibility.  I found that some sites did not work in Chrome but worked in Internet Explorer.  

Overall, the idea is great.  We were exposed to a vast amount of concrete, tangible, impacting information and practice and I would totally recommend the use of this in the future.