After 11 Tools: Reflections

This has been an interesting journey, learning about all the digital tools available and how to use them. This course has made me realize how important it is for me to stay up to date with the available technology in order to provide my students with an engaging, 21st century learning environment. This is the digital age and I need to know how to guide my students through it.

As a new teacher at a school where I am the only Pre K teacher, I am looking forward to using Google Docs and Blogs to communicate and share with other Pre K teachers. Reading other teachers blogs during this program has been a great source of ideas. I plan to use Photostory to create a digital class book.

As someone who entered the digital age later in life and was somewhat resistant at first, I have seen the light. With time being the only constraint, I look forward to continuing to learn more. Fortunately, with most of the tools, once the "how to" is mastered, they can save you time.

Tool # 11

As a teacher of young children (Pre K), I think it is very important to begin laying the groundwork for my students to become good digital citizens. How to use the internet safely, as well as using good manners and treating others with respect is very important. I liked the idea of using the acronym that I found on Cyber Smart Young Kids: T h i n k
to help teach digital citizenship.

T - Tell your Mum or Dad if you see something online that upsets you, or if someone makes you feel unhappy. You can also talk to a trusted adult like a teacher: they can help.

H - Hide your password. Only ever share it with your parents – never with your friends. Someone else could go online pretending to be you and do something that could get you into trouble.

I - Interesting websites can be fun. Check with Mum or Dad if a site is okay to use before you visit. Sometimes they can set up a good list of sites just for you.

N - be Nice to people you talk to on the internet or phone. Name calling or being mean is not cool. Look out for yourself and for others.

K - Keep your special personal information safe. Never give your real name, address or phone number to anyone you don’t know in the real world.

Besides having a poster at the computer station with the THINK acronym and pictures beside each letter demonstrating that point, I could have the students act out each point after talking about them at large group. Also, before beginning research on the internet, I will need to model how and why I chose certain sites for them to use, instead of just providing appropriate sites, allowing them the opportunity to see the process of evaluating a website. Technology is such a wonderful and useful tool, but it is so important for children to know how to use it safely and wisely.

Tool # 10

My daughter has an iPhone and iPod, but I don't. Consequently, I wasn't familiar with what you could do until working on Tool # 10. After what I've read, I want one. I am really excited about having an iTouch in class because I think the students will be excited about using them and therefore more engaged in what they are learning while "playing" with the different apps. I liked what one of the students said on Video 3 about liking to use the iTouch because it was "more new world than (using) paper." Since I don't have an iTouch to review the free educational apps, it's a little difficult to really know how well they would work for my students. The Shape Builder Lite seemed like a good app for hand eye coordination and working on matching skills and also the Alphabet Tracing for practicing writing letters. At first, the I Puzzle Words-Transportation sounded like a good app for later on when students knew most of their letter sounds because you unscramble the letters to spell the word, but you also have a picture that you are unscrambling (putting in order) at the same time. If you put a letter in the wrong place, the picture will be out of order too. Unfortunately, a comment from a parent said that it had more confusing words like llama and yacht and the app mispelled yacht--yatch. Again, not being able to play the game (and review the words available for the I puzzle) makes it difficult to know how appropriate the particular apps would be for my class.

Tool # 9

I guess I've been living in a cave. I had never heard of Jing or Skype. Jing sounds like a useful tool for creating a narrated video on how to do something. I like what Tales from Room 2 said about using it to create a video for teaching how to use the computer. Also, Skype could be fun to use for my Pre K class to connect with another Pre K class to compare how similar or different their school days are or to discuss different traditions.

Tool # 8

Wow! Never having searched these sites for educational videos or any other kinds of videos for that matter, I was amazed at how many are out there. After about 4 hours, I had to make myself stop searching. There were so many to choose from, but here's a couple I liked. Marmot's Map Shape Song would be great for teaching the shapes and their attributes. We could sing along with the video and add hand motions to go with it. Also, I like the Phonics Song 2 from KidsTV 123 by A. J. Jenkins. It would be another helpful tool for teaching the alphabet letters and sounds. I got both of these videos from You Tube. The visual and auditory aspects of the video along with incorporating some movement, kinesthetic, will help to engage the different types of learners.

Tool # 7

This tool was the one I was most excited about trying. The directions for making a photo story were very easy to follow. The only thing I was confused about, was what format to use when saving to my computer. I think this type of video would be great for demonstrating procedures for work stations. Having the students in the videos would help to hold their attention. Also I like the idea of using them for making class books. Unfortunately, I am having difficulty uploading my video. I will keep trying.

Tool # 6

After reading about Wikis, they seem very similar to Google docs and Blog sites; another useful and expedient way to share and collaborate with other teachers. Before reading Wiki ideas for younger students on Wikispaces, it seemed like something more useful for older students, but now I can see how Pre K might use this tool. I liked the idea of sharing traditions for holidays with students in other countries. Of course, you would have to locate a class willing to participate. We could even do this with a Pre K class at a different campus. Also, I like the idea of a virtual tour of the school at the beginning of the school year. When I looked into signing up for a free Wiki at Wikispaces, it says for K-12. I sent an email asking if Pre K would be eligible and am waiting for a reply.