Week 13 "Distance Education & Virtual Schooling"

Distance education is a great tool that numerous colleges are using today that allows students to get an education without physically being on campus. Students are able to access a school website and watch online lectures and do assignments online. Like a face-to-face class you still have assignments and due dates to follow. When a person is looking into distance education they need to make sure that they make sure it is an accredited online program. There are websites today that you can check whether or not a program is accredited.

As a student at UF I have been able to participate in online classes and I love them. The online classes allow me to watch lectures whenever is convenient for me. The only thing that I don't like about online classes is that it is extremely easy to fall behind. As a teacher to continue my education I might be able to participate in distance education to keep up to date with the advances in education.

The distance education picture above shows how everyone is connected through this program. You could be in one state while another student is in another and you could be watching the same lectures. Distance education is a great idea and thanks to technology it is able to be a success.

Week 12 " Creating a Professional Web Presence"

A professional web presence is a great tool that you can show potential employers that you can show them previous work and all of the experience that you have. A web presence allows you to update information whenever you can. Like a resume it is better to edit it as soon as you can. Also you can tweak you web presence to fit the job that you are applying for.

I will be able to use a professional web presence when I am applying for a job as a teacher. I will be able to show potential employers previous lesson plans, my resume and websites that I can use to create lesson plans in the future. I will be able to use the web presence that I created for this course for the rest of my academic and professional career.

Above is a screen shot that I took of my home page of my professional web presence. Web presences should be easy to navigate and should have multiple levels. The labels should be labeled properly that way the people navigating the site can find what they are looking for quickly. I really like the fact of adding pictures to a web presence to add a special personal touch.

Week 11 "Open Source Software"

Open Source Software programs allow access to word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and much more. One of the great things about open source software is that anyone can report issues, ask for new features and enhancements wanted to make the software more efficient. You can find great software that is easy to navigate and that is free to use.

I navigated the openoffice.org software and it is extremely easy to use. I personally have other tools that I am more comfortable with and I am not sure how often I will use open source software being a teacher.

As you can see in the picture above the best thing about open source software is that it is FREE! When it comes to software nowadays it is so expensive so when there are programs that are free people really should take advantage of them.

Week 10 "Tech Tools for Critical Thinking"

Webspirtation is a great tool that can be used for students note taking or as a web to begin writing their paper. I really enjoyed using webspiration because I am a visual learner and by seeing the bubbles that came off of the one central bubble it made more sense and I was able to how everything was interconnected. I plan on using webspiration in the future for group projects and writing papers that way I know what needs to be done and what steps will need to be done in order to get there.

I think I will use this as a teacher on a pretty frequent basis because it will add more color to note taking. The students won't have to always copy notes. I think if I incorporate mind mapping tools, powerpoint presentation, skeleton notes as well as other methods the students will stay more interested in the lesson that I will be teaching. Students will also be able to take home their mind mapping creations that way they can study at home.

http://resource220.com/2009/11/19/webspiration-mind-mapping-tool/

It was really neat to see how a special education teacher is using webspiration because I am thinking about teaching special education. This tool allowed students to memorize the information more easily. By the time I start teaching I am sure that there will be other mind mapping tools that will improve the way special education as well as other students learn better.