So far the technologies that we have used have been a great refresher for me. Since I am a technology education major, a lot of the technologies that we have started to implement I have used in one shape or other throughout my college and professional career. They are all very powerful tools, but a few of them I really like using.
Skype is a tool that I started using this past summer while I was at an engineering workshop. I really like the features of the product, specifically the ability to send files and have video conferences. The students in my Introduction to Engineering Design course utilize Skype to do a project in which they interact with different schools throughout the state and the country. It is exciting to see these students using this program and seeing all the powerful applications at simple tool like this possess. I have also used Skype in my personal life to communicate with my family which lives three hours away. Right now my dog is at home with them, but a quick connection and I am able to see her.
Google Documents is also very powerful and fun to use. I started using Google Documents this fall when I first noticed an article about the program on an internet article. Google Documents is something that I use in school to help other teachers complete grants and leadership documents. Unfortunately the classes that I teach do not utilize many online documents because I am teaching mostly automotive courses. Hopefully in the near future I will start to have students use online collaboration. Right now I am doing research into the different possibilities and I am open to any suggestions.
I really like the use of the online storage systems as a technological tool. I have files stored on four different computers, which is ridicolous. With the online storgae system, I am starting to assemble alll of my documents into one location so I can have access to all of my information from any of the four. Orginazation is one of the most important things for education and I see great benefits in utilizing this too.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Skype User Name
Hello All:
I have been implementing Skype now for about 6 months. It is a great technological tool and it is very powerful. My Skype username is nick.havlik. Add me as a contact and I look forward to getting in touch with you.
I have been implementing Skype now for about 6 months. It is a great technological tool and it is very powerful. My Skype username is nick.havlik. Add me as a contact and I look forward to getting in touch with you.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Beginning of the Masters Process
I am really excited to start this process. I am 23 years old and a lot of technology that we are working on is technology that I am excited to demonstrate to my staff and help better my students education. I was joking with my students yesterday saying in a couple years if we have off of school for cold days, we will still be able to meet through the internet. Some of them were not very receptive to this, but it is technology that I am excited to start implementing.
Right now, I teach at Brookfield East High School. A link to their website is as followed, www.elmbrookschools.org. The school district is in Brookfield, WI and is a great setting for students and faculty. I excited to bring the knowledge that I learn from this course back to my school district and help all children succeed.
I am glad that this program is 100% online. It allows individuals with very busy lifestyles the ability to complete school work as well as complete masters work. I am not very receptive to sitting in class and learning and I believe that education is going down the road of being all online.
I think it will be interesting work with this group of colleagues. We have individuals from all different areas, all different backgrounds, and all different teaching styles. I am looking forward to seeing how others will implement these technologies in their classroom and I plan to pick up a lot of great ideas from the instructor, as well as my colleagues.
The first thing that I want to learn is how to successfully implement online learning classrooms in my school setting. With my career in Technology Education, I have been away from the classroom a decent amount sitting through meetings and other duties. I believe after completing this process, I will be able to utilize these meeting times to help me professionally as well as provide a classroom setting for my students to learn from even though I am missing from the classroom.
The second thing that I want to learn is what other districts are doing with these technologies. I have been through online courses through universities, but I have not seen first hand these technologies filtering down to the K-12 setting. I am interested in researching and studying what schools in the country use these technologies and how they went about implementing these strategies.
The last thing that I am interested in learning right now is how receptive students will be to using these programs. New technologies always provide bumps in the road for students. After navigating those bumps, I believe these technologies will benefit the students education and better prepare them for the world they will live in.
I am excited to start implementing these programs into my Engineering classes because I think that they will provide online forums for students to interact from other peers around the state and the country about challenges they are facing in the classroom. I also find this tool to be utilized as a means for having guest speakers from engineering firms. I hope that this program will teach me how to set up online virtual classrooms so I can have students interact with engineers from around the area as well as the country. My goal is to set up interactions with engineers around the world so students can experience technologies that they will be utilizing if they pursue a career in engineering.
I am really excited to start using Google Documents as a tool. I have had a brief run in with the program, but I really did not explore it much further. I found it really interesting when playing around with it how powerful the program is and I started generating ideas about how students will be able to collaborate with colleagues. Our school uses Blackboard for a means of collaborating, but the costs incurred are relatively large and I find it crucial in these economic times to switch to free programs such as Google Documents.
In closing, I am excited for this journey. I think it is one that this group of colleagues are on the cutting edge of. I am excited to take the knowledge gained and demonstrate it for my district. Together, all of our students will be able to prosper in the near technological future.
Right now, I teach at Brookfield East High School. A link to their website is as followed, www.elmbrookschools.org. The school district is in Brookfield, WI and is a great setting for students and faculty. I excited to bring the knowledge that I learn from this course back to my school district and help all children succeed.
I am glad that this program is 100% online. It allows individuals with very busy lifestyles the ability to complete school work as well as complete masters work. I am not very receptive to sitting in class and learning and I believe that education is going down the road of being all online.
I think it will be interesting work with this group of colleagues. We have individuals from all different areas, all different backgrounds, and all different teaching styles. I am looking forward to seeing how others will implement these technologies in their classroom and I plan to pick up a lot of great ideas from the instructor, as well as my colleagues.
The first thing that I want to learn is how to successfully implement online learning classrooms in my school setting. With my career in Technology Education, I have been away from the classroom a decent amount sitting through meetings and other duties. I believe after completing this process, I will be able to utilize these meeting times to help me professionally as well as provide a classroom setting for my students to learn from even though I am missing from the classroom.
The second thing that I want to learn is what other districts are doing with these technologies. I have been through online courses through universities, but I have not seen first hand these technologies filtering down to the K-12 setting. I am interested in researching and studying what schools in the country use these technologies and how they went about implementing these strategies.
The last thing that I am interested in learning right now is how receptive students will be to using these programs. New technologies always provide bumps in the road for students. After navigating those bumps, I believe these technologies will benefit the students education and better prepare them for the world they will live in.
I am excited to start implementing these programs into my Engineering classes because I think that they will provide online forums for students to interact from other peers around the state and the country about challenges they are facing in the classroom. I also find this tool to be utilized as a means for having guest speakers from engineering firms. I hope that this program will teach me how to set up online virtual classrooms so I can have students interact with engineers from around the area as well as the country. My goal is to set up interactions with engineers around the world so students can experience technologies that they will be utilizing if they pursue a career in engineering.
I am really excited to start using Google Documents as a tool. I have had a brief run in with the program, but I really did not explore it much further. I found it really interesting when playing around with it how powerful the program is and I started generating ideas about how students will be able to collaborate with colleagues. Our school uses Blackboard for a means of collaborating, but the costs incurred are relatively large and I find it crucial in these economic times to switch to free programs such as Google Documents.
In closing, I am excited for this journey. I think it is one that this group of colleagues are on the cutting edge of. I am excited to take the knowledge gained and demonstrate it for my district. Together, all of our students will be able to prosper in the near technological future.
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