What I Have Learned

I have learned the value of blogs and how they can be used to enhance the classroom community. I am one who wants to create a simple and paperless classroom. I see all the wasted paper that gets passed out to students, then handed back in, then graded and handed back the students to end up somewhere...most likely the trash.  I learned that with blogs I can post an initial questions or topic and have my student respond on the blog which can eliminate the waste of paper.  There are a variety of options that can be used with blogs in the class.  Using this as a method to keep parents up to speed on what is going on in class and even post instructional summaries and assignments for those who are absent and need to get their make-up work.  I feel that the only challenge will be teaching my students how to properly and effectively use this technology and investigating which blog sites will be allowed at my future school. 

Blog Creating Process

I have used a variety of blog sites for various courses throughout my journey here at Ashford, but I am new to Blogger.com.  I did however find this site easier since I could just link it to my Google account.  The only challenges that I have found with using blogs is knowing what to write and how to best display the creation.  Some sites have a lot of option to make the blogs look less like random paragraphs on the page.  I have used WordPress quite a bit and have never had any issues with that site.  I feel that once you get comfortable in the blog site your can create more and more posts with confidence.  The simple buttons and options to create new posts makes this technology very user-friendly for any level of digital literacy.  

Instructional Technologies

Instructional technologies are taking the four walls of the classroom and transforming learners into global citizens.  The capabilities of learners today to learn at any time and from anywhere has opened the door for limitless opportunities for learning. The use of these instructional technologies can also allow for the decrease in our carbon footprint by turning the classroom paperless.  My goal for my future classroom is to make it as paperless as I can. Less paper can help eliminate waste and excuses for lost assignments.