I have just downloaded Chrome and set it up (with bookmarks,
etc.). And I have (finally) migrated my school e-mail. So now Google owns my
graduate-school experience.
Seriously, there has been a pretty steep learning curve for
me lately. And trying to navigate these new tools and ways of doing things is
especially difficult when I’ve been overwhelmed with what I think of as the
content part of the program.
After looking at various online storage options (Dropbox,
Evernote), I’m still not sure which, if any, of these tools I will use either,
in the short term, as a student or, in the long run, as a teacher. Although, a colleague
made what I thought was an insightful remark: that, whether I choose to use
these tools now or never, it is better for me to keep a pulse on what
technologies are out there in order to make those choices. I pledge to try.
Diigo certainly seems like it will help me get through grad
school — especially getting used to all of the electronic reading that is new
to me. Realistically, though, I don’t see using it in this last week of summer
session. I simply don’t have time at this point to explore how to use it as I
cram for finals. It would have been useful to learn before starting classes.
Live and learn, right? Then — since the tools are
ever-changing — learn again.
Hope you hang in there, E. MAC does have a steep learning curve, and this has been a tough slog for all of you! We hope that the summer has exposed you to several options for tech integration. As you enter your placement this fall, you'll start to see what kids need and can come back and think about whether what we've touched upon this summer could help you and/or them. Your colleague's advice rings true to me. Consider summer 504 as a kind of dim sum or exposure, not a requirement for mastery. As you are called upon to bring technology into your teaching, you can go back and take a deeper dive into these (or other) tools. Meanwhile, it sounds like Diigo could help keep resources organized from here on out! You make a good point about timing. We moved this assignment from Fall to Summer to see if it would be an improvement, but nothing says we couldn't move it earlier in the summer. We'll keep it in mind.
ReplyDeleteA plug for Evernote.
ReplyDeleteEven if you don't use it to its full capability, Evernote is a great brain "drop box." How many times do say, "I need to remember to do that tonight" or something like that. If you have a smart phone, you can get the Evernote App, create a list in Evernote, and it takes all of 10 seconds to write yourself a note. That's what I use it for more than anything. Less clouding up your working memory to borrow from Rachel's class.
I agree with you that the program is demanding a lot from us right off the bat! I'm lucky enough to have grown up with technology (and I went here for undergrad) so the technology piece has not been too difficult for me. I can imagine it is a lot to learn all at once...I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly though!
ReplyDeleteI share your feelings on all the resources we learned about. I'm glad I know about them, but as of right now I don't think I'll be using them much. I think it's important for us to try to keep an open mind. If you read my post from this week you'll probably see that I had a hard time doing that. In my case I've decided to put all of this aside until August. In August I'll revisit everything in more depth. That might be something that will work for you too.