Unit plan

I am trying to fix my unit plan, but I feel like I am missing so much or that I did too much wrong. My intended age group was preschool, but there aren't any NC standards for that age group. Then, I was confused as to who the webquest was desinged for. I know that preschoolers are more than capable of using the computer, but the reading part would be hard for them. So I figured the teacher would kind of guide them through it. I guess I will have to look over it and see what can be done.

Everyone chose powerpoint...

I think most chose powerpoint as their favorite technology, because they are familiar with it. Powerpoint was the only thing I had some sort of knowledge of out of all the technologies we examined. I didn't want to pick something else as my favorite if I knew little about it. I would have to say that my second favorite was the webinar. I thought that was really cool, but again, I know very little about that technology.

Just an observation

So, I try to go to the blogs that I follow to comment on them, and two of three are pretty much not even being used anymore. Furthermore, I know that several people have discontinued doing anything in the class. I can't imagine coming this far just to stop at the end :( I know that I will be glad when this course is over, simply because keeping up with this blog drains my energy. Nine out of ten times I forget that it even exists. I am glad that I took the 8 week course vs the 16 week course. I don't particularly like the 16 week courses anyway because they seem to drag on for soooooo long. I just hope that I did well enough to pass.

Favorite technology

I picked powerpoint as my favorite technology. I like it, because it allows me to be creative. I love being able to add animations, colors, special font effects, etc. I think it is a great way to grab the audience's attention. I would much rather sit through a powerpoint presentation than a lecture. I think powerpoints make introducing new topics less boring.
My second favorite would probably be the webinars. I think this a great means of communication. I would like to dig a little deeper into this technology in the future.

Unit plan

Well. It is time to do the unit plan. Honestly, I have no idea where to start. Hopefully I will figure it out and complete it in a timely manner.

Webquest

Finally finished the webquest project! It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Although, I am not sure how I did on it. It definately helped me to understand wikis a little bit better and how they work. I learned how to create links in the wikis and how to create other pages. I loved how easy it was to navigate the links, place them, etc. Furthermore, I learned more about how Wikis can be shared with others. It is pretty neat having others see your work. Although it can be a bit intimidating.
Wikis could be a very useful tool in the classroom. I think Wikis would be a great way for peer evaluations, or even evaluations at a classroom level. A student could create a wiki, and the class could view it and evaluate it as a whole. Wikis are pretty easy to navigate, and the site pretty much spells everything out for you. This is the technology I like to use: easy and to the point.

Assistive technology

Reading through the discussion board this week; there are some really neat assistive technology programs. The one I chose is called Write: OutLoud. It is a program that uses audio to "say" what the user is writing. I thought this would be great for learning phonological awareness. It helps the student here why the word is spelled the way it is. Plus, there are several words in the English language that sound completely unlike how they are spelled. Ex: knife.
There were also some programs mentioned for audio spellcheckers. This is a great idea as well. Many people have a hard time spelling, so this would definately help them learn the proper way.