Course Reflection

The Web 2.0 course has provided me with an insight into a number of tools that could be used with colleagues, in the classroom and also for personal endeavours. Now that I am through the course I feel similar to many of my colleagues when I say that it will be good to go back and spend time developing activities that incorporate these tools as another method of learning for students.

I think that it is important that we look at how these tools can assist us in teaching students a new concept or a skill, not the other way around. Example using a wikki because you want to use technology in the classroom but you are not sure how it would fit in.

One of my roles in my school involves developing programs and assisting teachers in challenging the more able students. I would hope through this course that teachers come to see more and more just how easy it is for students to I believe today it is more about teaching skills. Can our students think critically? can they problem solve? can they create the new idea, the new method, the new invention?

I use the upper end of Bloom's Taxonomy a lot in my work and I am familiar with the Digital Bloom's Taxonomy. I think it is great that this has been devised and as stated previously it should be used to compliment the understanding and skill development we seek for our students. I think the collaborative approach that these tools lend themselves to is great. They allow students to see just how they can use other people in the process of learning. They will encounter workplaces in the future where great things are achieved with a collaborative approach.

The iLearn model is an excellent model that should be incorporated into all that we do as educators. As stated e learning is about having students engaged in learning environments. A learning environment can be present anytime and anywhere. This is the message we want to impart to students. That they need to take responsibility for their learning, it will be lifelong, occur in many different ways and involve many different people in global learning communities.
It would have been good to have this model placed in the introduction to this course.

I have commented on the blog below during this course.

Comment on Michael Ilott's Blog:
Michael, I agree with all that you have said about Delicious. I found it to be a great way to bookmark and keep track of information. As far as sharing information that other teachers have discovered - what a bonus.