Week 4 Reflection

In reflecting on the class there are two things that really stand out to me. First, I would really like to learn more about social networking. I probably won't use Facebook or Myspace, but I feel other forms of social networking can be a very powerful tool in the future. Specifically in terms of professional and staff development as it relates to the education profession. I was amazed that nobody I work with had even heard of Thinkfinity. This proves to me they need for more social networking among colleges.
The second idea I want to reflect on is the idea of internet safety. I really liked the lesson that we came up with in my small group. As a special education teacher I get asked very frequently about the safety of the internet. Not so much at school but at home. I have had several parents ask me about what they can do to provide a safe environment at home for their children. Since part of this course is taking an active role in my school technology I am curious what if any handouts we give to parents as it relates to internet safety at home. If we want to use technology in the classroom we must also make sure that parents and students feel comfortable having the technology in their homes as well. We can't police what goes on at home, but if we can educate parents on how to keep their home computers safe we will likely go a long way in promoting technology in our classrooms.

Reflection #3

This past week we spent the majority of the class talking about internet safety. I work at a school where majority of sites that could pose a threat are blocked. However, this got me thinking about the students that I work with and their safety. Even though most sites are filtered that could be problematic I felt it important to talk with my students about potential hazards on the internet. I only spoke with one class about the issue of internet safety but found that even though they are very computer savoy they were not well versed on internet safety. I found my students very willing to talk about the internet. It seemed that almost all of them either knew someone directly or indirectly that had had a major issue involving the internet (I am including cyberbulling as an issue).
After tonights group meeting I am considering doing the "thinkfinity" lesson that we created. I feel it could be very valuable in helping my students make safe choices on the internet. If nothing else it is definitely worth discussing with them.

Reflection #2

This past week we worked on several different things that I want to comment on. First, I want to talk a little bit about the web site evaluation worksheet. We just got done working in our group and I wanted to write while some of my ideas were still fresh. I want to comment on how at first I was unsure of how this assignment might be relevant. However, as we got more into the assignment I realized that what I was doing can be very relevant. It caused me to stop and ask myself a few basic questions. Often times when either myself or my students are searching the web I often times ask myself is this a credible source. The evaluation sheet that we came up with should help take some of the guesswork out of that process. Also, I plan to share the evaluation sheet with several of my colleagues at Cedarburg. It is my hope that they may add something or offer some constructive criticism.
The next thing I wanted to discuss were the quiz web sites that we looked at in class. Although the site that we had became sort of a joke it may actually have a purpose. It is user friendly and I could possibly make some basic quizes for my students. I would do these quizes as more of a pre-test then anything else. This would allow me to asses some of thier basic skills possibly at the begining of a school year or at the the start of a new unit. For my American Institutions class I currently use the U.S. citizenship test. However, I might be able to take a few of the questions off the test and use them in a quiz to see where we are at prior to the start of the class.