Just as you have been asked to reflect on your process through the various components of the course, we are asking you to now reflect on how we can make the experience more valuable and useful to our Ed Tech students (who happen to be the best!).

We know we asked you before what worked and what could have been better, but now that you have reached the finale, are there any further suggestions and ideas for future iterations of EDUC-511?

We appreciate your comments and feedback!


As a student of teaching I have wanted to know how technology is used in schools. If there were more examples of this presented in the Ed Tech program I believe it would be a great benefit to students. I am a digital native (have known how to use computer tech for more than 20 years) and have an easier time bridging the gap between what I know and learn of tech and how it can be used effectively in the classroom. I have noticed that teachers without the benefit of experience with tech have a great deal of trouble understanding how it can benefit their classroom.

Knowing how to apply the Raw Tech to the classroom curriculum is where the differences will be made that improve instruction to students. That is what I will strive for when I get a teaching job. I already understand how my Ed Tech classes can improve art instruction in high school. I would like to learn some effective and efficient applications of tech for all the grades. If something is successful in the lower grades I can take advantage of the prior experience of the student's experience.

I thought the use of Acrobat was incredible. I will use that as a stable communication between myself, other faculty, parents, and students. It is universal and capable. Information can be accessed from a great variety of resources if the student population doesn't have the money for personal computers.

The only aspect that I think would improve the class (511) and the entire program is a realistic application of tech to the classroom.

What types of activities and assignments do you like to do the best?

I enjoyed researching how technology works and determining how I can use it in the classroom.
For example this blog tech can be used as a communication platform between teachers and
students or students and students. Of course security and appropriate language would have to
be taken into consideration. The assignment I enjoyed the most would have to be learning
Acrobat Reader over the course of the class.

Which class interactions have been the most enjoyable for you in this class - synchronous, asynchronous, or face-to-face? Why?

I enjoy the face to face the most due to the efficiency of communication. Chatting online is all well and good, however the indirect communication through the keyboard is not to my preference. Asynchronous is nice when I need to get work done.

Web Search

I searched for "vocabulary builders" on these engines:
Google -
All the Web -
Ask - I recieved 274,100 results. I first noticed this engine gave me results that I can use in the classroom. They were directed towards kids and the classroom.
Pros: I liked the fact that Ask.com gave me the opportunity to narrow and expand my search if I did not like what initially showed up. I looked through the images offered by Ask.com and noticed books that could assist vocabulary building.
Cons: I like Ask.com so I have not found cons yet. It might be considered a con if the city link did not come up with any locations to find vocabulary building materials.

Alta Vista -
I came up with 780,000 results.
Pros: I found links to worldwide and USA locations to find information. Results are presented simply and in more abundance than Ask.com. I don't usually go past the first five pages to find information. I use a refined search as opposed to looking through 20 some odd pages. I found links and options to display links in other languages and from other languages. This would be helpful to students that need language support while learning english.
Cons: I would like a suggested refined search link. I am partial to search engines doing the work for me like Ask.com.

Excite -
I came up with 64 hits.
Pros: I like the page navigation at the top right hand corner of the page frame. Excite offers suggestions for searches. There are links to the yellow and white pages for further information. Information is presented in a neat and orderly fashion.
Cons: I didn't get any suggestions from my vocabulary builders search. I have to initiate another search to find any images and media. I get limited results from my search.

Parellels:
Vivisimo -
I got 15 million results. A nice thorough number that I will never be able to flip through.
Pros: A nice, neat interface that offers quick intuitive clicking spaces for efficient navigation. Clustered results serve specific informational links up to me if I am interested in jumping directly to a specialized source ( downloads, activities, commercial products, and relevant media).
Cons: Too much information is offered. This is an epidemic of most search engines. I don't think I could look through it all if I had all weekend. I frequently refine my searches to avoid getting lost in an overgrown forest of results.
MetaCrawler -
I got 92 results.
Pros: I like the limited results that I recieved because I can look through them efficiently. I can restrict my results to specific search engines.
Cons: I have a positive opinion of metacrawler. I would like to see suggested refinements to my search.
Dogpile -
I got 91 results.
Pros: Easy to use interface similar to metacrawler. Nice amount of results that someone can look through with out losing a significant amount of sanity. A link to add the search engine to firefox.
Cons: There were not suggestions to refine my search.