Chapters 1-3 of Blogs and Wikis

This reading makes me think many things about how I want my classroom environment and message to be.  It also makes the role of technology even stronger in schools.  I do believe that you need to use up to date technologies in your classroom not only to benefit the students, but to progress as a teacher.  Technology in the classroom has come so far since I was in elementary school (only 15 years ago) and it's crazy to think of how far it will be in another 15 years.  Children now days have access to many forms of media and technology everyday; be it at school, at home, or at a friends house.  Since they are always bombarded with such things, it only seems logical that they would excel by using technology in the classroom.  The main objective here is to teach kids something valueble that they can use and teach it in a way that they will remember it.  If you believe that the kids will remember your unit on the Revolutionary War by reading a textbook then doing a video presentation or some other media outlet, then thats what you should do.  For my classroom, I will look to teach my students in the best way possible.  This does not mean that I will completely throw away the textbook and the discussions but I can add new technologies into my teaching.  I can have my students learn to blog their ideas and share them with each-other.  You can assign groups to do a fun podcast once a week to share a topic with other students.  One thing I really want to incorporate would be the Kindle.  It would be awesome to allow your students to have any book they want at their fingertips at all times.  If you're teaching older students, you could have them do a text question of the day just to spice up topic.  All of this allows the students to interact socially but also by using new technology and technology that they already use everyday.  Remember, my main focus is to teach my students what they need to know, but do it in ways that will help them remember it for good.  If my students learn better by discussing a topic then sharing it electronically or with a different media outlet, then so be it.