There are many ICT’s I was already aware of before delving into this course although my ‘Toolbelt’ has grown immensely. This has widened my knowledge of how to integrate ICT into the classroom and why it is important.
My new ‘Tools':
Diigo
This is one of my favourite new ‘Tools’ in my ‘Toolbelt’ as there are so many uses for it! I have been able to read what other students think of articles as well as what they consider important. At the moment I have a Library that is full of beneficial articles that will be used to create my what/why rationale in the next few days. I have been able to share this library with my peers on twitter and also add the articles they have found into my library. As a teacher in the early years context I can use Diigo with my fellow teachers and also the parents to share important information. Diigo can be found by clicking here.
Twitter is a very new concept to me as I am a traditional facebook user, but I found the links on twitter very easy to use and follow. I have many EDC1300 students that have tweeted interesting facts about ICT’s that will aid me in my Personal Knowledge Network. Sharing articles on Twitter with the use of Diigo is a very easy concept to gather and it allows me to share my thoughts with more of my peers.
Edublogs
Edublogs is my favourite new ‘tool’ as I now have a website with all of my knowledge and reflections on it to share with other pre-service teachers. Connecting with other students is beneficial as is another form of collaborating and makes me feel reassured that I am not on this learning path alone. I love spending hours personalising my blog and getting it to a professional standard. There are many more aspects of Edublogs that I am not yet aware of and will discover them with exploration. I have encountered a few frustrations using Edublogs and it is all because of the level of Blog that I have, such problems are; adding a twitter widget and having more attractive backgrounds.
Scootle
I wish I had access to Scootle for the rest of my teaching career as it has so many resources that can be used such as lesson plans, ICT websites and other important information for integrating ICT into my teaching. I love exploring this website and will definitely benefit from it when I come to do my 2nd Assignment. I hope to gain access to this site again once I become a teacher. Scootle can be found here although you have to be a teacher to access the resources.
Google Reader
I have encountered numerous problems and frustrations with this ‘tool’ as have some of the other students in my tutorials. ICTinEarlyPrimaryEducatoin has also written about this problem in her blog so I know that it is not just myself feeling this way with this ‘tool’. She also spoke about this being a ICT barrier which is a very important factor to include when integrating ICT into the classroom. As I was unable to use Google Reader I could not gain access to the numerous blog accounts that my peers have registered. I found a way to overcome this problem by using a different ‘tool’ in my ‘toolbelt’ which was my edublog and twitter accounts. I have found other students and lists on there and added them manually to my blog. This has taught me to be prepared for problems whilst using ICT in the classroom and always have a ‘back up tool’ to use.
Google Doc’s
I have recently investigated Google Documents and started using this for a group assignment I have in another subject. This is a great collaboration tool and I will definitely use it to brainstorm ideas and lesson plans with my fellow teachers when I graduate. My favourite part of this ‘tool’ is that you can chat to the people whilst you edit a document and also add your own personal Annotations. A great Youtube demonstration on how to Google Docs can be found here if watching demonstrations is the way you learn best. The website that I used to develop my understanding of Google Docs is http://www.google.com/google-d-s/intl/en/tour1.html.
Apple Applications
Miss Taylor Jade Wilton showed me in our tutorial the benifits of certain edcational Apps that you can have on your Iphone or MacBook. The apps that I have downloaded are: Diigo, Twitter and Edublogs. The article ‘Top 35 Must-Have Educational iPhone and IPad Apps used by Real Teachers in the Classroom‘ shows a list of these apps and has comments from teachers regarding each app. A great way that I will integrate ICT into the classroom is by gaining access to Ipads for the students and using these educational apps.
Concept Map
Whilst developing my concept map I found many different websites that enable me to make concept maps and other educational ‘tools’ to use in the classroom. As early education students may be to young to use them I can share them with fellow teachers and create learning tools with these websites. The website that I used to create my concept map on is http://www.bubbl.us.
I can not wait until my ‘ICT toolbelt’ gains more ‘tools’ and I hope to learn a lot more from the students in EDC3100.
