Ta-Da!

I just finished building my wiki for my technology inquiry but have yet to do the accompanying screencast.  I must say that this wiki was quite the project.  Creating the screencast will be a piece of cake compared to the wiki.  I have never been asked to present the results of research in such a manner and was constantly fighting my own education to accomplish this task.  I am much more accustomed to expository writing.  This really challenged me.  It bugged the heck out of me but it challenged me and I enjoyed that.  I have a greater understanding of how creating a wiki can test a student’s knowledge.  Indirectly, I saw the benefit to offering students different ways to learn.  Some student may prefer to write a more traditional paper while others would prefer to present findings in this manner.  Still others may wish to podcast, screencast or do a combination of these and/or other tools.

I also saw the benefit of 24/7 access to information.  Here it is 2:58 am but I was able to look at examples, access resources and submit a finished project.  I would have never been able to finish this on time had I been restricted to a more traditional school schedule of 8:30-2:30.

As I have said before, the question is no longer should technology be used in the classroom but how will I use it to help my students learn?  I need to constantly evaluate my use of technology in the classroom.  I need to keep what works and pitch that which doesn’t.  I need to remain a student as much as I am a teacher.