Module 7

What do you feel has been the most useful thing you will take away from this course?

• Implementing PBL's - I'd done a few projects in the past, but non that involve technology
• Learning to be a facilitator with my questioning
• Learning to navigate websites and having a toolbox of resources I can take my students to
  

Do you think you will plan units that follow a similar format to this one in the future?

• Yes, maybe not quite as in-depth, but I will certainly begin to implement more E3 types of units.

What features from this type of curriculum design might you use again?

• The assessments to foster self-direction and metacognition
• Student samples - web-based
• Assessments to gauge student learning/completion

Is there anything else you hope to learn from this course before it is completed?

• I cannot think of anything off the top of my head - still working through the overwhelming amount of things I've learned so far. I just need to jump in and start doing it!

Module 6

This module has helped me think about self-directed learners and the role of differentiation in the following ways….

I have to admit, this is a hard area for me. Giving up that "control" and letting kids work independently on a group project is hard. Example: We have been doing a Civil War unit the past couple weeks. The kids are broken down into 6 groups with one laptop. They are given a list of 7 Civil War leaders to research and a list of questions to guide their research. I listed 4-5 kid friendly search engines on the board for them to use. The project has gone well as a whole, but the problem I faced was: a couple groups not getting along together, and some individuals falling behind with the work and not ready to move onto the next leader as a group. I think next year I'll make the checklist to help keep groups on task with this. I'm still working on how to differentiate my groups. I think I took on too much by having them research all 7 people. I guess I should've had groups "sign up" for what indivdual(s) they wanted to research and did a thorough job at it - then put their research into a presentation piece to share witht he class.
Ugh! I'm still learning!

Module 5

This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways….
It gave me more tools and resources to use for assessments such as:

• Think, Pair, Share/KWL to assess prior knowledge
• Using the 321 method
• PBL checklists
• Teacher and student generated rubrics
• Student Presentations
• Portfolios
• Self Reflections/Peer feedback

Module 4

How can technology be used most effectively to support and assess student learning?

It really surprises me how much kids can navigate on the computer.... so different than a when I was a student! I am learning at the same time my students are. So many of the websites you have listed on your site under Creative Tools are foreign to me. I have enjoyed exploring and playing around on a few of them. Using sites that have students use their problem solving skills and higher order thinking to create something demonstrates their understanding of concepts. It will be very different for me, but I'm excited to begin to incorporate more technology in my classroom!!

Module 3

This module has helped me think about the impact of the Internet on my students’ learning in the following ways….

• I learned much more about copyright laws then I ever dreamed! I know to be much more careful than I have in the past. I hope I can remember all the rules!
• I also learned how to tailor my students' search of topics to narrow their search to help them locate the most relevant information
• I will use the safe "kid friendly" search engines for my students to avoid anything I might miss.
• I will create a class delicious account to keep safe websites in for my students to use.
• Introducing them to more technology and making it a part of their daily life will continue to prepare them for the future and the 21st century.