Inquiry Project Final
Reflection
Exploration of Web 2.0
tools for UBC LIBE 477 has been a challenge for this novice technology
user. I once went back to the inquiry
proposal for this course I asked, why learn about Web 2.0 tools? Why experiment with new ideas? Why move out of our comfort zone? These are all questions that we Web 2.0
novices ask ourselves. After exploration of Web 2.0 tools, exploring current
event topics, and discussing technology topics with my colleagues I believe
that I have moved from being a novice to becoming an intermediate and on the
way to becoming an expert in my comfort level with technology and my ability to
share this knowledge with my students and fellow staff members at my school.
William Kist in his
book The Socially Networked Classroom
describes teacher’s technological abilities along the lines of Starbuck coffee
sizes (Kist, 2010, 7). The sizes range
from short, tall, grande, and venti. At
the beginning of this inquiry project I was a small or tall in the coffee scope
a novice burgeoning on intermediate in the ways of exploring Web 2.0
tools. My goal in picking my Web 2.0
tools was to move me out of my short/novice comfort level towards or reaching
the grande/advanced abilities at the end of this inquiry project.
I decided to start off easy by creating a Glog
on polar bears for my habitat unit in science and writing in language
arts. Another short tool that I used
was Make Belief Comics where I created and anti-bullying comic and then had my
class make one during our computer time.
These two short tools were very successful in the fact that they were
easy to create and worked in their delivery and accessibility to my
students. In the tall area of technology
I experimented with Survey Monkey where I created a survey for my class on the effects
of bullying on them. What was great
about this tool was that I was able to have my students answers tabulated and I
was able to relay their results. My
other intermediate/tall tool was Pinterest the interactive pine board where I
explored my interests in education, teaching, and Disneyland. Pinterest was a great tool for all of the
information that can be shared between people that you actually know and people
all around the world. Finally, the
grande or advanced tools that I experimented with gave me the most challenge. Prezi the interactive presentation tool was
easy to use but I found it a little time consuming compared to the earlier
tool. The last tool that I used was my
Blog, which was my most successful. I
love how when I look at my blog I can see the journey from the beginning of this
course to the end of it. I have learnt
an amazing amount of information and expertize through this inquiry project. I can’t wait to spread my learning to my
students and fellow teachers.
Throughout this project I have been creating projects and activities that can be used with my students now or possibly with future classes. I told my students that I was creating activities for my UBC class and wanted them to help me play around with them and to tell me their opinions of the tools. My students were very excited to work with these Web 2.0 tools. Kist talks about achieving a ‘flow’ state with technology and how “the key elements of these activities is their engaging nature, bearing out one of the characteristics of the new literacies classroom, that new literacies classrooms are places of student engagement”(Kist, 2010, 44). Through the exploration of these tools my students used” these new literacies outside of the classroom to connect and foster relationships with” me. (Kist, 2010, 109-111). I believe that my students connected with the tools that we experimented with and I plan on bringing more tools into the classroom to engage with.
Throughout this project I have been creating projects and activities that can be used with my students now or possibly with future classes. I told my students that I was creating activities for my UBC class and wanted them to help me play around with them and to tell me their opinions of the tools. My students were very excited to work with these Web 2.0 tools. Kist talks about achieving a ‘flow’ state with technology and how “the key elements of these activities is their engaging nature, bearing out one of the characteristics of the new literacies classroom, that new literacies classrooms are places of student engagement”(Kist, 2010, 44). Through the exploration of these tools my students used” these new literacies outside of the classroom to connect and foster relationships with” me. (Kist, 2010, 109-111). I believe that my students connected with the tools that we experimented with and I plan on bringing more tools into the classroom to engage with.
I have been discussing
this course and the course work with my fellow teachers in the staffroom, the
hallway, and in our classrooms since I started experimenting with these tools
and the idea on technological literacies.
Many of my fellow teachers could be defined as novices, we do not have a
dedicated computer teacher at my school.
I shared my experiences with the tools and my classroom experiences with
them. I have explained the Web 2.0 tools
and a few of the other teachers have tried these tools out as well. Computer time shouldn’t be just for playing
games, experimenting and playing with Web 2.0 tools can be a worthwhile
activity as well. I personally plan on using
my computer time for exploration and learning which can be just as fun as
playing a game.
As I have stated
throughout this reflection in the future I will continue to explore Web 2.0
tool for my own benefit as well as for my classroom and for my potential future
library. Our students live in a
technologically advanced digital world we owe it to them to live in that world
as well. “Our students today are all
“native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the
Internet” (Prensky, 2001, 1). We need to
learn their language so that we can be relevant for them and education. I plan on creating units where technology is
a focal point and my students will have the opportunity to use and expand on
their technological skills. In the
future I plan on exploring more Web 2.0 tools moving from the intermediate/
grande skill level to the advanced/venti level.
It’s a never ending journey that I plan on enjoying!
Bibliography
Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked
classroom, teaching in the new media age. Corwin Press.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives digital
immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 6. Retrieved from
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky - digital natives, digital
immigrants - part1.pdf