Wow! Another class has come and gone, and I feel as though I am just getting started and starting to enjoy myself. The sad thing is that I know there is so much more out there for me to learn. There just never seems to be enough time. I guess that is why I have my whole life ahead of me. So what have I learnt thus far? Well here it goes…

Week One - RSS Feeds: I never even knew something like this existed. Personally, I have found Google reader to be a simple, compact program that easily allows me to navigate and track all the blogs and websites that are of interest to me. I enjoy the convenience of having everything that I want to check on a daily basis in one spot.

Week Two - Blogging: Not a new concept to me. To be honest, this was not an assignment I was looking forward to. I hate posting on a blog and still do to this day. However, I enjoy reading other peoples and learning from them. I will admit though, that I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on my blogs and appreciate all the help. I found this time with blogging writing came easier and was more enjoyable. So who knows maybe personal blogging is in my future yet. One more thing: I have a greater appreciation for the educational value of blogging. It is an amazing way to connect to a variety of people all over the world and really, truly learn from one another.

Week Three - Digital Storytelling: This was by far my most favorite lesson in this entire class. Once again I knew nothing about digital storytelling, but after a quick overview and lots of experimentation I caught on. I loved making my digital story and I know I will continue to make more in the future. Photo Story 3 is a fantastic, simple program that I am very thankful to be introduced to! This one will definitely be in my classroom in the future!

Week Four - Wiki: Another foreign concept to me. Extremely foreign. I had never used one and had definitely never contributed or created one before, so everything about this week was new and exciting to me. I think the collaborative project was a great idea. I loved learning from my group members and loved our topic even more: Children’s Literature Wiki It has been a struggling with learning how to podcast and still trying to figure out how to embed my videos, but I am enjoying the experience. I know this wiki will be something that I continue to add to and definitely use as a resource in my classroom! Couldn’t of asked for a more rewarding first time wiki experience.

Week Five - Digital Citizenship: The most interesting thing from this week was learning about Creative Commons. Great program where one can create there own rules, while still having full copyright. Love it! Also I enjoyed having the opportunity and reason to sit down an reflect upon my own online life and how cautious I am being with my online activity. A very informative week, with some real cut throat reality!

Week Six - Social Bookmarking: Another familiar, yet underutilized concept that I already knew about, but liked learning about the more recent programs such as del.icio.us and Twitter. It was just another chance for me to open my eyes and once again realize the potential that these programs have and just how useful they can be. Gave me a little more ambition to get back into social bookmarking, and I know that is something that I won’t regret in the future when I have a pile of resources at my fingertips, while other individuals are researching the web looking for theirs.

Week Seven - The Dream Team: A great overwhelming experience. The most important lesson I took away from this week: Choose one thing and do it well, in regards to implementing technological programs and tools into the classroom. That is how to get started: Choose one thing and do it well!!!

Now, what is my future classroom going to look like. That is a very broad question, that in all honesty I can’t fully answer right now. I know there are many programs and tools that I would evenchually like to see in my classroom, but at this point I have no idea how I am going to implement them. I am gearing towards a Kindergarten or grade one classroom, so what I can do with technology is more limited then say a grade 10 classroom. However, there is still much to do, just at a more basic level.

I guess my role model for my classroom would have to be Kathy Cassidy. I love how she brings blogging and other tools into her grade one classroom. I never before would of dreamed that grade one’s could do so much on there own. I love the idea of connecting with other countries such as New Zealand and Australia. That is definitely something that I want to see in my classroom one day. Making world-wide connections and learning from others outside of the classroom and school walls.

I want to have a class blog as well to keep parents informed on what there children are doing. Writing letters and calling home, is although maybe more personal, a lot more time consuming. I would like a central area like a blog for parents to read about classroom activities and post there own comments or questions.

Digital Storytelling would also be another tool that I would slowly bring into my classroom. I think it is a new and innovative way to spark a child’s imagination, while learning how to edit and fine tune there own work  at the same time. I would love to see what young children could do with the program and a little bit of guidance. My guess is that they would go above and beyond what I could possibly imagine.

Wiki’s I feel are a more useful tool for a higher grade level. I am not sure how I would bring them into a grade one classroom yet. Any suggestions? Amongst fellow teachers however I think it would be very beneficial. Collaborating with other teachers throughout your school division, that teach the same grade level would be an interesting way to get new ideas.

Finally, I think it is very important to address the issue of cyber bullying and online safety. This would be discussed before I ever began to think about allowing my students to participate in online activity. Children need to be educated and made aware of the dangers out there at a young age, before they get themselves into serious trouble.

Those are some of the main concepts that I would like to see one day in my classroom. There are many other tools out there that I am still trying to figure out how they could benefit me in the future, such as cell phones and ipods. As well, in two years when I am out teaching for the first time in my own classroom i’m sure there will be something new to consider. That is both the positive and negative side of technology: it is ever changing and sometimes hard to keep up with!

To end, I would just like to thank Dean for all of his knowledge, insight, personal connections, and advice. It has been a fun class and you did an excellent job! I loved the guest speakers and appreciate you bringing them in and connecting them to us. Great future references!I have learned more then I can process right now and I look forward to trying everything out in the very near future! Best of luck everyone!