BP3_20091101_Web_2.0

Using information technology to help with learning is not only a smart thing to do...it is the only way to tap into what the world has to offer.

I am currently attending Full Sail University to help enhance my teaching with technology skills. Before these courses, I thought I was pretty clever and was including modern technology to engage my students. Boy was I wrong. Attending Full Sail has awakened me to what including technology really means. And I am very thankful.

I used to show a PowerPoint presentation for notes or include a PowerPoint game for lesson reviews and thought I was doing something 21st Century. I now know better. The tools I learned with the first course alone puts my mediocre technology show to shame.

This course (ETC) is all about utilizing Web 2.0 resources. We seem to be focusing on blogging, which is very new to me. I have never blogged before these courses and now I am doing it publicly. It is all very intimidating and yet very exciting at the same time. It intimidates me because I don't want to do or say anything to make me look like a goof (unless I am attempting to be humorous on purpose which always make me look like a goof). It excites me because the learning potential is almost endless. I have been reviewing other blogs and I can't wait to become a comfortable blogger and hopefully become a positive contributor to the information highway.

I see that there are blogs for anything that you can imagine. I like the idea of sharing ideas with people all over the world. For my AR topic, I chose to discuss technology in the classroom. It is such a broad topic and I need to narrow it down so I know in what direct to focus my research on. At first I was thinking of technology equipment to engage students during lessons but now, I think I would like to focus on Web 2.0 technology that can be accessed almost anywhere.

I seem to jump around a bit and maybe it's the excitement of learning what it actually means to use 21st Century technology now. There are so many things I would like to accomplish and include for my students to become active participants in the learning process. But, where does one start to make a proper impact?