Course Reflection

I am not going to lie, when i first signed up for this class I was not excited. I am not really a tech savy person and just knew I was going to get behind. But now that is over, I am kind of sad. I feel like I learned so much but there is so much more I could learn. There are so many great websites and devices you can use in your classroom and I feel like I just scratched the surface. I think the part I enjoyed the most was learning how to use the active board. I have seen it be used in both of my practicums so far and they are great. The kids love them and it keeps them so engaged. This class made the active board go from something scary, to something I can't wait to use in my classroom one day.  I also really liked working with the digital storybooks. I think that could be an incredible way to introduce something new to students. I also would love to get more familiar with making them, so that I can teach my students how to do them one day. I think it would be so cool to have the kids make their own. This class really taught me that the computer/ internet is not as scary as I once thought. For the most part, everything is easy to figure out if you just take your time and don't get frustrated. There are so many incredible resources I learned about in this class andI look forward to getting to use them in my class one day. Also, thanks Jeff for being such a great teacher and for all of your help!

University of Houston Digital Story Website

I am sure I have seen some examples of digital stories, but I didn't really know much about them or even what to call them. I think one of the most beneficial parts of the website was the educational uses of digital stories. I really love the idea of letting the students create one. This would really get the kids excited about learning and make them feel like the can teach the class some as a change. I think digital stories could be a great resource to use in a classroom. Kids love movies and pictures and sounds and really anything that appeals to the senses. You can really make a digital story about anything and I think it can take even the most boring of topics and make it exciting. This website does a great job at teaching us how to create digital diagrams as well as inform about what they are. It seems very doable and like a great way to keep students engaged.