Teacher Web

With the teacher web project I like how we were able to add extra pages in with out any criteria. I like how not everyones web pages had the same pages. It was a good experience to see how other students created and formated their pages. It was also good to see how other students worded information on their page.
I wish there were more options for backgrounds and different fonts. It was nice that there were many options for pages. It would of been nice to be able to add pictures to any pages. It would have been nice to get a list of all of our classmates teacher webs so it would be easier to browse them.
I feel that a teacher web page would be beneficial in my classroom because it allows a good communication system. It is a good way to communicate with the students and the parents. It would beneficial for parents to know what is going on in the classroom and if the students forget a worksheet at school they will be able to get another copy from the website. It can also, help the parents to prepare the students for up coming assignments.
One problem with teacher web would be that not all families had access to the internet. Which could create a communication barrier with parents as well as the students. Another problem would be the obvious technology problems like it not working. Also, some students and parents might not be able to navigate the web page.

Concept Mapping

Concept maps can help students organize information better, to better understand what they are learning. With concept maps you can easily add new information unlike the traditional notes. Concept maps also allow for a student to see how the different ideas are connected. For my students I feel that they could use concept maps when talking notes so they can understand the big picture and see where things can connect. I can have my students take traditional not but then have them go to a computer to make a concept map, that way I can see how they think the topics connect.

I feel that this would be a useful tool in the classroom. It did not take me very long to understand the concept and make it work. I feel that it would take some time for the kids to understand but it would be worthwhile to teach them. It can be frustrating trying to do some of the formatting but that was after only trying it one time. I feel this would be useful for me as a teacher to know what the kids are understand and for the kids because they have to critically think about how these topics fit together.

Educational Blogs

After searching around on the internet about educational blogs I have discovered there are many great uses for blogs in the educational world. Blogs can be used to share teaching ideas with other teachers. Blogs can be used by the students to create pen pals across the world as well and do group projects. Blogs would be a good way to get kids out of the normal classroom setting; you can have students respond to reading questions online in a blog rather than doing the normal classroom discussion setting. Lastly, blogs can be a beneficial way to keep parents informed and to get their input.

Aggregators and RSS/readers can be used in the classroom to help students locate other peoples blogs based on a specific topic. Specifically, I could create a project for the students to find an activity based on a specific topic I give them and put it in to action. The requirement would be for them to go on to Web quest to find an activity. Once they find the activity they will have to adapt it to fit out classroom standards.

I think that blogging and using RSS readers will open more opportunities and ideas for K-12 classrooms. Teachers can find more ideas of the classrooms. Also, incorporating these two tools in the classroom will get students thinking about technology, which is good because our world is become more and more dependent on technology. It also opens new doors for students who are tired on the normal classroom setting.

It is a positive to use technology like blogs and RSS readers in education, however there are some downsides to using these tools in the classroom. One downfall is that you cannot control who the student is contacting or who is contacting the student. Another negative is that the students maybe too excited about being on a computer and not really learning the material.