Wednesday, January 26, 2011
No Voice
Last night's technology class encapsulated my mixed feelings about using technology in the classroom. We learned about the website voicethread.com. We used it to introduce ourselves to our classmates. The website was easy to understand, and I quickly uploaded my slide (made in our previous class) to the website and began to speak about it into the microphone. I was having a good time--excited that I could manipulate the technology. My brain was already considering applications to my English classroom. During my test recording I spoke clearly into the microphone and said, "This slide shows how totally cool I am." Then I laughed at my hilarious sense of humor. I played back my recording, giggled, and then attempted to record my "real" description.
I could not do it.
Despite the fact that I followed the exact same steps that I had followed while making my test recording, I could not retrieve my "real" recording. I tried several times, becoming more and more frustrated. I tried a new microphone. No luck. Meanwhile, the class moved ahead. I felt stressed because I could not complete the next assignment (commenting on my classmate's slides) with my voice. I had to type the comments quickly, and I barely had time to look at them. The class ended, and I left irritated at the computer.
Walking to my car, I reflected on how the class had made me feel. I do enjoy learning new things, and I envision several lessons where I could use voicethread in my classroom. It would help my kids feel like they were publishing their work. They could share their work with their parents. I see tremendous potential for my assignments. However, my experience with the technology reminded me how frustrating it can be when technology doesn't "work." I remember spending too much time in front of the classroom trying to get the TV to talk to the VCR player in years past.
I like to know "why" things work or do not work. There was no answer for me last night, and I did not have the time to figure it out. Perhaps I simply needed to restart the computer. Who knows. In any case, the experience reinforced my mixed emotions about using technology in the classroom.
Jess
I could not do it.
Despite the fact that I followed the exact same steps that I had followed while making my test recording, I could not retrieve my "real" recording. I tried several times, becoming more and more frustrated. I tried a new microphone. No luck. Meanwhile, the class moved ahead. I felt stressed because I could not complete the next assignment (commenting on my classmate's slides) with my voice. I had to type the comments quickly, and I barely had time to look at them. The class ended, and I left irritated at the computer.
Walking to my car, I reflected on how the class had made me feel. I do enjoy learning new things, and I envision several lessons where I could use voicethread in my classroom. It would help my kids feel like they were publishing their work. They could share their work with their parents. I see tremendous potential for my assignments. However, my experience with the technology reminded me how frustrating it can be when technology doesn't "work." I remember spending too much time in front of the classroom trying to get the TV to talk to the VCR player in years past.
I like to know "why" things work or do not work. There was no answer for me last night, and I did not have the time to figure it out. Perhaps I simply needed to restart the computer. Who knows. In any case, the experience reinforced my mixed emotions about using technology in the classroom.
Jess
Friday, January 21, 2011
To Blog or Not to Blog
I have kept a journal or diary since I was eight years old. I consider myself a writer and a teacher of writing. Yet this feels so strange (and a little scary) to be writing a blog. I do not quite understand the point or the power of the blog, and I'm hoping that by keeping one (writing one?--what's the proper verb here?), I'll discover both.
I created this blog in response to an assignment for an education class. My professor encouraged the class to chose a technological option we were unfamiliar with. So here I am in very unfamiliar territory. Writing to an audience I do not know and cannot imagine. Strange! My handwritten journal entries are mine--I don't worry about spelling or syntax or much less content as I know I am the only one who will read them. This--this blog--makes me feel so much more censored and vulnerable. However, I want to explore this. I do not want to be one of the frumpy teachers who refuses to use technology because it's not the way "I did it." I believe that technology can be a powerful teaching tool, and I want to explore how I can incorporate it into my own classroom. That's why I chose to take the class I am taking, and that's why I am writing these words--sending them off into the Internet.
I have read other people's blogs--some of them written by friends. I've found many entries humorous, and a few helpful for recipe ideas or vacation planning. But overall I'm still mystified about the point of the blog. It just seems like a self-centered exercise: read about my life! My thoughts! My ideas and dreams! I'm so fabulous and entertaining!
Perhaps my feelings will change over the course of this course. Of course, maybe they won't. Ah, getting silly here. Time to post my first post--post-haste. Stop it with the word play!
Jess (do I even sign my post? I've always signed my journal entries. It just seems the proper ending. I keep feeling like I'm breaking some Rules of Blogging, but really, are there such things?)
I created this blog in response to an assignment for an education class. My professor encouraged the class to chose a technological option we were unfamiliar with. So here I am in very unfamiliar territory. Writing to an audience I do not know and cannot imagine. Strange! My handwritten journal entries are mine--I don't worry about spelling or syntax or much less content as I know I am the only one who will read them. This--this blog--makes me feel so much more censored and vulnerable. However, I want to explore this. I do not want to be one of the frumpy teachers who refuses to use technology because it's not the way "I did it." I believe that technology can be a powerful teaching tool, and I want to explore how I can incorporate it into my own classroom. That's why I chose to take the class I am taking, and that's why I am writing these words--sending them off into the Internet.
I have read other people's blogs--some of them written by friends. I've found many entries humorous, and a few helpful for recipe ideas or vacation planning. But overall I'm still mystified about the point of the blog. It just seems like a self-centered exercise: read about my life! My thoughts! My ideas and dreams! I'm so fabulous and entertaining!
Perhaps my feelings will change over the course of this course. Of course, maybe they won't. Ah, getting silly here. Time to post my first post--post-haste. Stop it with the word play!
Jess (do I even sign my post? I've always signed my journal entries. It just seems the proper ending. I keep feeling like I'm breaking some Rules of Blogging, but really, are there such things?)
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