TIE 542 Reflective Blog

During the summer of 2009 I participated in a masters course titled "Digital Internet Resources for Teaching" through National-Louis University. Throughout this compacted course we covered a lot of ground. Luckily I was familiar with the software that was used so I didn't experience the anxiety that some of my colleagues did. Below is a link to the site I developed for this class, as well as a summary of my thoughts on the experience.

Blogs


Writing the blogs was a good experience, and a good opportunity to have to sit down and really think about what I wanted to say surrounding each topic. One of the difficult parts was the 'requirement' that I had to read other classmate's blogs and post to those as well. There were times when I had to really rack my brain to come up with something to say to others. I liked that there were a series of topics to choose from and that I had the freedom to blog about my trip to Stanford. In all, it strengthened my skills with this blogging tool which will enable me to help my teachers.

Hot Links


I enjoyed putting the hot links together the most. I have "lists" of links all over the place and tried to consolidate them here. While I know that I will likely create more links, this will provide me with a 'quick win' for my teachers. The format I developed is clean and easy to read. The only drawback would be for someone with a very slow computer connection, as there are a ton of images.

Sampler Site

I enjoyed completing the sampler site as well. While I knew how to complete many of the tasks that we added into our sample, it was a nice refresher for those skills that I hadn't used in a while. It also was a major help that we completed many of these tasks in a face to face format. The only thing that would have been better was to have a set of tips/tricks/reminders for each task. I found myself scribbling shortcuts in my notebook...keep your fingers crossed that I'll actually remember what they go to.

I.Q. Rubric and Webquest

Of all the projects, this was my least favorite. There was a lot of work involved looking at various webquests around a common theme. I found it slightly difficult to get started until I settled on a webquest about fairy tales. Even though I didn't necessarily enjoy this it will provide a valuable list for the teachers in my building that teach this topic.

Final Project

My final project centered on my time and work with the Adobe Youth Voices project. I was grateful to the instructor for letting me focus on this topic, as I am sure to use it. I was very happy with the design and the overall flow. I wish that I could have had more time to work, but I am sure to use my own webquest when I begin the program again.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this class. The work load was slightly difficult since it was condensed into a six week course as opposed to ten weeks. I could have very easily used more time. However, we created content that will help me in my role as a Lead Technology Teacher, which has proven extremely valuable.