These past eight weeks have seemed to fly by. I learned so much about web 2.0 and its many and varied uses in the classroom. I finish this course with mixed feelings: I'm sad to see it end (I feel I still have so much to learn), and I am really glad I took this course (I would love to repeat it).
I have other mixed feelings, too. I teach computer apps classes at Bradshaw Mountain HS, and I am considered fairly knowledgeable with computers. However, the school has such incredibly limited computer power and so many controls in place that I would be considered "knowledgeable" if I knew only MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel (2003 versions) and "searching" the internet. That is just plain pathetic.
I created a class blog in August, which laid dormant until Blogger was finally approved in January. Slideshows, podcasts, audio and video do not work with our campus blog. I took EDU 255 for career improvement; I want to be a better teacher, especially since my classroom has 30 computers in it. The marvelous things I learned in the past eight weeks could only be applied in my world on a very restricted basis. It was disheartening to have these web 2.0 powers that I wanted to expose my students to, and not be able to do so.
Could we use Ning in my classroom? Of course, it's perfect for my courses. Jing? Yes, if I could get administrative approval to run it on my desktop. YouTube? The whole world uses it; it is blocked at our site. Forget facebook. No wikis allowed. Slideshare is blocked. Picasa is blocked, as are all the other photo storing sites. Blogs that look good to me at home cannot be accessed by my students in school.
In conclusion, I have found multiple uses for web 2.0 tools in my teaching. I have been so excited to be able to share them with my students. But, over and over again, I have been stymied in my attempts. I bought a Lamborghini, but I can only drive it 35 miles per hour, for six miles, five days a week.
Rick Burd EDU 255
These are some challenging times in education in so many ways and you touched on most of them. I am so happy that you have found some tools that you think may help students. I think that the time will come and rather than having to catch up with the rest of the struggling teachers, you will be in a place that empowers the students using these tools. They will be part of their lives. In many cases they already are.
ReplyDeleteBut, I am sorry too for the struggles you have. I had them at the high school level and now at the college. It is very frustrating.
But it is good and change is happening. The change is you. Thanks for the work!
It's tough to use a plow when the other farmers have tractors, but the crops taste just as good.
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