“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” -
Helen Keller
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| http://goo.gl/evsVa9 |
What an experience taking EDUC 9F62 has been. I have learned so much about so many
different tools I can use in the classroom with regards to technology. I feel so much more equipped to bring
my level of teaching to another level.
But more importantly, I have discovered an entire universe of knowledge
that I was not tapping into before… social media for the purpose of
professional development.
As I reflect on setting up my first professional blog
and joining a Google circle, I never thought it would be this meaningful. After creating my online profile on
About.me and linking it to my blog, I started to get a sense that this was
something that I had been missing out on.
Once I linked my blog to twitter, I began to see this community of
people much like me who were willing to share their ideas, strategies and their
creativity. I also began to see
how everything was connected and interwoven.
At first, writing and posting my ideas did not seem that
important. I have taken online
courses before and shared my ideas in their forums and thought nothing of
it. However, it was not until I
realized that I could share publically that I became even more motivated. Knowing that my ideas would extend
beyond the handful of people in my course into a global community made me want
to write more. I like the idea of
helping other educators and the idea that I was a contributing member of this
society.
I remember my when I added my ‘Pageviews’ widget and
wondering if people will read what I had posted. Then slowly I started to see that people were viewing my
blog and potentially learning from my posts. I also liked that we shared what we created in Google
Circles. This was an amazing tool
to let us share with each other, and publically, our assignments and
reflections. I enjoyed reading and
booking marking (in Decilious and Livebinder) the ideas and research of the
other members of my group. I liked
that we could share, question and compliment each other and engage in online
discussions.
As this course comes to a close, not only can I think
back to all that I have learned, I can click on to my blog and read or share it
whenever I like. Thanks to the
organization of this course, I have an online portfolio that I can continue to build
on to and a portfolio that I can use in interviews to move my career in the
direction that I would like.
Thank you to all of the other participants in this course. I have learned a lot from each of you
and I appreciate you sharing your posts with me. As well, thank you to Zoe Branigan-Pipe for creating a
course that is current, informative, and that I truly feel prepares me for what
is happening in education at this given moment with regards to technology in
the classroom. Hands down, EDUC
9F62, is the most powerful Professional Development I have participated
in.
