WOW! I grow more and more amazed as we progress through this program at the number of tools available for use in the classroom. I wish there were 48 hours in a day, so I could complete some in-depth exploration of the tools we've been investigating. I am excited at the prospect of these tools helping me to increase the rigor and relevance of my classroom content!
Google Custom Search Engines offers some great potential for the classroom. I plan to set up GCSEs for a variety of units in the classroom with links to resources and articles for students. Google Alerts, which I have shared with numerous colleagues, will provide students with a nice base of information to work with when we're researching or participating in shared inquiry. As an educator, I look forward to using Google Alerts to help me in planning lessons. NoodleBib is another tool with great classroom potential in that it promotes critical thinking and creativity for student researchers. I am excited to try Buzzword with my students and compare their feelings about it as a learning tool in comparison to Google docs. Undoubtedly, all these tools offer high engagement for our students.
This week I enjoyed looking at Wimba and Elluminate. Although we held a few of our 515 classes in an Elluminate room, I hadn't considered it from an educator's (teaching) perspective. Thinking about conducting a 7th grade English or Literature class in either of these virtual classrooms seems extremely bizarre. I know technology is engaging to students, but I truly cannot imagine holding my 7th graders attention in that sort of classroom setting.
