Online Experiences within the Classroom

This week in class I read all about online teaching and online experiences within the classroom. This year, more than ever before, I have been conscientiously working to make sure that my students are receiving varying online experiences. I have worked hard to ensure that students are using their iPod Touch units on a regular basis to enhance their learning experiences and given them opportunities with many different types of technology. Although there have been some challenges along the way, it has definitely helped students take accountability for their own learning and explore texts on a deeper level as they explored the information they read with the various types of technology.

I also read the Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Experience Guideline. It helps to identify ways to create online experiences in schools for middle and high school students. I've already used WebQuests, Wikis, and Online Research with my students, which are three of the online experiences mentioned in the article. Another online experience it references is blogging. My students have commented on my blog posts as a way of communicating with others about their literature circle novels, but they've never had their own blogs. I could see using this in my classroom in the future. If students each had their own independent blogs, the pedagogical strategies it would incorporate are taking ownership of their writing, gaining more writing experience, and having a live audience they are writing for, which would provide motivation to write. They would also be able to comment on peers' blogs, creating a sense of community. Furthermore, it would help students reflect on their own learning experiences. I would really like to incorporate independent blogging into my classroom. I also love the idea of using podcasting in the classroom. I think this would be especially useful for my students because they each have an iTouch. They could record useful information or assignments right on their mobile devices. I could see this being especially helpful with vocabulary review, as shown in the Vocabulary Podcast from Princeton Review that was provided in the article.  

Of the Online Experiences referenced in the document, I think a Learning Management System like Moodle or Blackboard may be the most difficult to incorporate. This is because my school has never used such a system and I think it would be quite time consuming to explain to students how to use such a system. While I know there are many benefits to these systems, I think that it is unnecessary for our school and would require time to train teachers, students, and parents how to become familiar with the features of such systems.

I am grateful for this article because it provides great explanations of how/ why to incorporate online experiences in the classroom and useful samples. I look forward to exploring how to incorporate many of these online experiences in my own classroom.