Blog Post #11

For this blog post we were assigned two videos to watch. The first was called Little Kids...Big Potential. It was a short video about Ms. Cassidy's class in Moose Jaw Canada. The video has the kids narrating as they go through and tell us about the different types of technology they use in their classroom. They have a center set up in the classroom with the computers. They use these computers to write on their blogs, create wikis and access their web page. In the video they describe all of these things and more, including how to be safe on the internet.

I loved watching this video. I love seeing the children using the computers so effectively in the classroom. A few years ago I taught a pre-school class that had a computer in it. During center time the children had to sign up to use the computer and they were each limited to 10-15 minutes on the computer. These children in my class were ranged in age from 4 to 5. It was amazing to see how they all knew their way around a computer. Seeing the kids in this video makes me excited to get the chance to use technology with students again.

The second video we watched was a Skype interview with Ms. Cassidy. The video can be seen by clicking here. In this video Dr. Strange asks Ms. Cassidy to talk about the use of technology in her classroom. He begins by asking her how long ago she started using things such as blogging and continues on to ask her how she uses technology in the classroom. The video is concluded by EDM310 students asking questions and at the very end Ms. Cassidy shows us her backyard which is covered in snow that she says is about up to her waist!

One thing I found most interesting in the video was when Ms. Cassidy said she doesn't really use technology at home. I found this very interesting. However, she continued on to say that she needed to clarify what she meant by that. She said she is always on the computer at home, but she doesn't use it very much for social networking; She said that she is always checking email or updating her blog. I found this interesting because I am on the computer a lot when I am at home. It seems as the years go by I find myself on the computer more and more. When I was in high school I created my first social network site: MySpace. Now, MySpace has come and gone. However, I use my computer for my classes, to check emails, I am on Facebook and Twitter, the list goes on. Sometimes I wonder if integrating technology in the classroom will be hard. Then I have to remember how technology comes to me naturally and I was born in 1987! I can only imagine how natural it will be for my students. In face Ms. Cassidy even briefly mentions that in her interview. She says how technology in the classroom is new for the teachers not for the students; it is a natural thing for the students and they know how to use it when they come into the classroom. Now, they have to learn how to be safe and what to avoid while on the internet, but they are able to use a computer with ease.

At one point Dr. Strange asks Ms. Cassidy two questions: 1. Should teacher's be technologically literate and 2. What does that mean. Ms. Cassidy says yes, "technology is here to stay!" She suggests that in order to keep up with changing technology our students develop their own online network. This is the technique I want to use in my future classroom. I love the idea of a PLN for each student. Having started to use mine more I see how they are very useful in a personal life and can only imagine how they could increase productivity in a classroom. Of course I would have to make sure that students use them for educational purposes and add sites that are relevant to the classroom. I could do this by monitoring what students add. Ms. Cassidy is a great teacher and I will be adding this Skype interview to my PLN so that I can reference it in the future.