Science and Technology

I had always thought that it was important to be technologically savvy, seeing as how most of our daily life is submerged in technology or the products of technology. I never realized, however, how many tools are out there on the internet for free. I have learned to use a wide variety of presentation tools, as well as how to find relavent and credible material to use while conducting research. I've also learned how to sort through most of the information out on the web, and find what I'm looking for in less time than it would have taken me before this class. Some of the technologies that I learned about were the Smartboard, in which I have taken a 3 hour class learning how to operate one counting towards my professional development. During the class we created activities using the Smartboard, and presented our work to the class. It's important to know how to navigate a Smartboard because more and more classrooms are being installed with them. They are a great tool and resource and thanks to this class I feel fully capable of using one to it's maximum potential in my classroom. I also learned about Google Docs and how it is a wonderful tool when you have to work collaboratively but schedules don't match up. I now use Google Docs for many of my assignments, because instead of being saved to the computer it is saved in the 'cloud' on the internet, therefore I can access my work at any computer with internet access. I also learned how to use presentation tools such as Prezi, and art tools like Queeky. The amount that I have learned from this class is staggering, and I still look forward to learning more and imporving my knowledge of the available technologies that many don't know about. Learning about all this technology has helped me to become more prepared in teaching my students about technology. It's important that I impart to my students how important and useful technology is, but that it is also continuously growing and that we can never stop learning more about it. I now feel confident that I will be able to give my students the necessary tools and lessons to become successful when they finish their schooling.