Class #3 Reflections

I really did enjoy class last Thursday, especially the speaker. The speaker delivered a wonderful presentation and enlighten me about the various resources offered by the library. The information given about RefWorks was great, its a great way to utilize time and work smarter and not harder.

I finally figured out what the whole inspiration thing was about, and I now I love it. What a great tool! Now I don't have to feel confined to those premade boring graphic organizers. I will just create my own. I think my students will even like using Inspiration, they can organize their knowledge in a way that makes sense to them.

Reflections Class Session #2

Inspiration was introduced as another advantageous technology that can be utilized for instruction. This technology allows for visual learning of concepts and ideas by means of images represented graphically. I will utilize this technology in both of my disciplines of language arts and science. Inspiration will provide a more effective means to show relationships and interrelatedness of topics. This tool will be beneficial in teaching cause and effect relationships within stories, independent and dependent variables, and chemical bonding of atoms. Students will also engage in constructing their own semantic maps resulting in using technology as a mindtool. The implementation if Inspiration into learning is a great way to engage students and provide them with visual representations of their knowledge.

Tools for Learning

In class, I acquired the new knowledge of blogging. I was aware that there were various social networks for communicating via Internet, but somehow I overlooked blogging. I plan on using blogging to provide my students with another means of communication outside of the normal realm, pencil and paper. This is a great way for students to brainstorm about writing topics and to extend their discussions outside of the classroom. Along with all of my classmates, I am eager to learn more about utilizing technology to provide my students with an additional tool for learning.