This may be the end of the class, but it's not the end of my blogging. If anything, this class has been an introduction to blogging (among other things). I've learned a lot from my classmates as well as other ed tech bloggers out on the web. The sharing and melding of ideas is a powerful thing and one I think can be a valuable resource throughout the rest of my teaching career. What I've loved about graduate school thus far is that the things I've learned here have real world applications. Blogging and mini-blogging (twitter) can have such a prominent place in the classroom that I almost don't know how we did without. What hit home most for me was our Smartnotebook section. I know many teachers, myself included, used our smartboards like glorified projectors or fancy blackboards. They can do a lot more than show videos and take notes. The tools available to us can impact our instruction and help students better grasp a lesson.
At the beginning of this class I wrote how the teachers I used to work with didn't embrace technology the way I thought they should. I think that's because they haven't seen the many poweful applications certain technologies can have in a classroom. Perhaps I have to lead by example and show everyone firsthand what blogging, RSS, sourceforge, wikis, PBL's, webquests, and Smartnotebook can do. Lets do this thing!
