"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

~Neale Donald Walsch~

Saturday 24 September 2011

eLearning

In pursuit of knowledge I have been rather busy and have not had time to add to my blog. Well in the last few weeks I have had some interesting conversations about technology in the classroom with my collegues at work. There seems some that feel that they don't have time for technology and neither can it really be useful in the classroom. So sad! Anyway I was encouraged by one of my older collegues who is well into her seventies and she has embraced all that Moodle has to offer. Her students have spent time in class and at home working through activities she has posted on Moodle. 

I have found that during the last few weeks I have been adjusting where possible the use of technology in the classroom. The students are very keen to learn other ways they can also use technology for study.

I came across and American teacher who uses Twitter in her class. Rather than stopping them from using their mobiles she encourages them to Tweet any questions or post a comment during the lesson. She says it's like a newsreel at the bottom of your screen but the discussion that appears also forms part of the students learning. What a great idea. Great for quiet students who don't normally participate.

I have spoken to another friend who saysI should look at different jobs in the eLearning sector. I have discovered that I really love sharing how to use the teschnology with other teachers and students and I am good at it. So I think I will need to investigate further what is required for me to get a job in the eLearning sector.

Found this great quote which sums up the past few weeks.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be
 those who cannot read and write, but those
who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
    -Alvin Toggler

Until next week,
K


Sunday 11 September 2011

New Beginnings

As with a new day....I am starting a blog to coincide with my decision to change my career. I know there are many people in cyber space and probably no one will read this but at least I will give myself a forum for my thoughts.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Kathryn and I am an English/ History teacher. I spent 5 years at home raising my kids when they were small but am in pursuit of a new job. I have been casual teaching full time for 3 years and am finding this a little boring. I am in need of a new challenge. I have spent this year retraining myself using interactive smartboards, Ebeam, Easiteach, Adobe and have spent much time creating website for teachers to help them use technology in the classroom specifically for their subject. I have come across lots of great websites and fun interactive tools teachers can use and incorporate to make their lessons engaging and fun.

I have also been spending much time reading and thinking about current theories in education and think these ideas. such as BLP- Building Learning Power (Guy Claxton) can be incorporating with new technology to give students the ability to be life long, confident learners.

I will need to complete a Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment to be able to become a trainer of these types of Education Products. I plan to Blog each week to see how I am going with my goal to teach students and teachers how new technology can be an effective way to help students learn.

Until next week,
K