ucb x359.5 Monique Paltrineri Final blog 10/04/08

It's the final hour! I am happy to say I made it to the other side. This class was a lot of work for me. Teaching is my second career, my first career was tech based so it was great to combine the two parts of my life. However, I left my first career almost 10 years ago and technology has changed dramatically. I have gained a lot of insight on the possibilities but I definitely need to go back and review. I found there to be too much packed into these weeks. I really didn't like the two online sessions. I felt a little too on my own although I did muddle through.

I learned about Web 2.0 technology. I actually think it will make adding technology into the classroom easier. Blogging is the greatest. The biggest obstacle to these technologies is access. Some kids have access and others don't. Implementing technology in the classroom is a complicated issue. I live in Marin and there are schools here that have accomplished that goal quite successfully. These schools are in basic aid districts with huge foundations so the money is abundant. Each student is given a laptop and all assignments are online and a lot of homework is done online. There are other schools in Marin where there might be 1-2 computers in a class or a shared computer room with specified times of use. Listening to my classmates most schools in the Bay Area have even less resources. When you live in a state that has the lowest(or one of the lowest) per pupil spending it is obvious to us teachers that integrating technology is not a priority.

I felt it in this class. I have a shaky online connection and there were many times when I couldn't do my homework because I couldn't get online. I had to go to a friend's house or even the library to get access. So in class projects like webquests are important for students to gain experience on the web. Although I didn't feel confident about my skills at developing curriculum. Good curriculum development is an acquired skill and the bells and whistles of technology can hide poorly thought out curriculum. I would love to see webquest design as part of a collaborative project with experienced teachers guiding the process.

I plan to implement my webquest at my daughter's school. The 3rd/4th grade teacher was very enthusiatic about having this webquest created for her class. Who wouldn't be! She is in her 3rd year of teaching and is open to new designs of teaching. Thank you for the class and I hope it will inspire my future direction in teaching.