You know how sometimes you just don't have enough hours in a day? I've had that problem recently. In addition to subbing (and hoping and praying to get a full-time teaching position!) and freelance editing work (which this project is much more indepth than what I've been doing for the last several years - which is good, but more time and thought consuming) and taking two online classes for my computer endorsement, I just began another telecommuting job which has had a very steep learning curve. Not the technicalities of telecommuting. The jargon for the job. Not to mention that my three teenagers and husband actually expect fed, taxiied, laundered, loved, etc.
     So, through all of that, I've been reading many online articles about what technology skills teachers should have. Not so that they can "keep up" with their students. Today's students have grown up with technology and inherently know so much more than we do and do not have inhibitions about hitting the wrong key. But, skills that will help us help them succeed. We don't need to give them content. We need to give them structure to find the content that interests them and ways to apply the content to meet (and exceed) the standards. Used well, technology has the potential to allow students of all levels excel beyond their wildest dreams. We, as teachers, need to learn how to help them with that.
     Therefore, I have developed a checklist, per se, of skills I would like to work on for the rest of this semester. They are diverse. Some will be easier than others. I'm pretty sure I will not get through all of them. But I feel that all of them are important for different reasons. They are mostly drawn from a couple of articles by Chris Riedel who is a frequent contributor to the Journal: Transforming Education Through Technology. His three articles, 9 Tips for Creating a Sense of Community for Distance Learners, 10 Major Technology Trends in Education, and 10 Tech Skills Every Educator should Have, combined into the following checklist.
     I'm still working on the timeline for parts of this. I think some of them will integrate better than others and I will probably learn that as I go.

1		Memorable introduction to course material.
2		Have students create own spces for learning.
3		Interact in different digital spaces - become familiar with a variety.
4		Investigate ways to provide additional mechanism for learning.
5		Utilize video in lessons.
6		Utilize audio in lessons.
7		Don't just supply content, connect the lesson.
8		Allow time for students to explore on their own.
9		State clear expectations. Rubrics are great
10		Investigate community stats on access to devices/internet
11		Online portfolios for class presentations and homework
12		What applications can be used on mobile devices and on desktops - limit homework?
13		Encourage students to utilize different tools for different tasks
14		Learn more about digital footprint
15		Investigate options for online learning for different levels of students and types of learners
16		Investigate the role of gaming in education - how can it be used as a vehicle for learning?
17		Role of social media in school - Google Apps, facebook, twitter, instagram
18		What devices are most common in schools? Per students and per teachers
19		Search the web efficiently
20	x	Mastering Office and Word Processing
21		Be willing to learn new technology
22		Connect with social media - twitter, instagram, pinterest, goodreads, podcasting, videocasting
23		Share and collaborate via youtube and blogging
24		Learn more about the cloud, skydrive, pearltrees, dropbox
25		Learn about digital citizenship
26		Serve as the model for establishing the societal norm for behaviors and actions in the digital world
27		Learn more about cyber bullying

     All that said, apparently I should add learning how to import a table into a blogger post. For now, we will leave it at that, since this is about a week late, anyway. Thank you!!

First Post

Hello!

This is going to be pretty boring until I find some time to update all of the pretty features. However, that will be part of my learning for this class!! Part of earning my endorsement in Computer Science is EDTL 6310 through BGSU. It is an online class and is about improving ourselves as technology-supported learners. That includes enhancing our own technology skills. Since all of the class members come from different backgrounds, we are encouraged to personalize our learning by taking a baseline evaluation of our skills and then plan a means of improving our skills and branching out to develop and learn new skills.

I scored pretty highly on the base skills. Not surprising since I have been a textbook editor for 19 years. Primarily a content editor, but I have utilized many of my grammar and basic English skills over that time, too. Therefore, I decided to make one of my first goals creating a Prezi presentation. I thought that it was a neat tool and that it was being used in the classroom. Imagine my surprise when my girls (sophomores in high school) informed me that most students do not like Prezi. I asked a variety of other high school students and found that, at least in my area, Prezi is not enjoyed by the average student. The effect of sweeping in and out is not one that they like. So, I still made my presentation, but I am also putting together an evaluation of Prezi based on my own children's experiences and on what I find on the internet. Do not know that I will manage to get that finished by tonight, but I will post it here when I do have it.

In the meantime, here is my Prezi: