Introduction and Learnings from Module 1.

isurf ... ifacebook ... iemail ... igoogle ... ichat ... iyahoo ...iphoto ... itunes ... now ilearn.

Currently I work as a Reading Recovery Teacher at St Thomas More's Primary School in Brighton Le Sands. I have recently commenced the Web 2.0 online course for CEO teachers. I registered for the Web 2.0 course as I realise the world of the classroom is changing before my very eyes.

In the non-teaching world, I email family, I catch up with friends on Facebook, I use skype to keep in touch with friends far and wide, I even shop online. I use my beloved mac to keep track of our photos, run the home network, manage finances and desktop publish. I access my son's school newsletters, view his reports and keep up to date with current events through the parent portal. I study online, engaging in learning circles and posting to class noticeboards.

Walking through the school gate, the world is considerably different. I access school routines, timetables and routines, I track students and their progress through the database, my classes keeps me up to date with the important things I need to know. I hear the expressions 21st century learning environment, information and communication technologies, digital classroom. Smartboards grace the walls of our classrooms. the chalkboards and whiteboards are becoming a thing of the past as students choose appropriate technological devices to enhance their learning.

I realise the great importance of integrating technology into the curriculum. I don't consider myself to be an web novice but there are definitely some grey areas. I'd like to work towards broadening my skills so that I'm not outrun by my six year old in the learning race.

Module 1 has really opened my eyes to a world of possibilities. Creating my igoogle webpage was a lot of fun, being able to add gadgets. It reminded me a bit of my mac dashboard. It's interesting that a lot of the gadgets I added to my igoogle homepage are the widgets I have on my dashboard. The added benefit is that I can also check my mailbox from gmail at the same time without having to open my internet browser. I've been introduced to many new ideas that were just web tools other people used. My biggest challenge is going to be finding tangible ways to incorporate what I am learning in Web 2.0 into the classroom.