Post 15

I was so happy during this class to have some great discussions, demonstrations and explore new technology tools.  It was wonderful to see my classmate use Google Drive and really see the power and advantage in using it.  We even started Google Drive in our science class, confusing our professor by sending him links to our documents instead of attachments.  At our district I still struggle to show some teachers how powerful and useful Google Apps can be.  Many teachers are afraid to try and get scared off once technology doesn't work for them one time.  As educators we cannot be afraid to fail and need to press ahead and try new tools that can be used to engage our students.

Post 14

In class we looked at two different sites: ePals Global Community and Persistent Issues in History Network.

I was mostly drawn to the ePals Global Community.  I love the idea of finding a classroom or project to join other classes in a global community.  There were many other librarians all over the country and world looking for others to pen-pal with.  Partnering with another group from a different place could be a great opportunity for students to really get a global view of the world.

I also loved all the resources that were on the site.  I especially like the Learning  Centers: Global Citizens and In2Books Clubhouse.  With student accounts that you can set up, they could explore all the different topics and activities on the site by themselves.

Post 13

Active learning is a new term for me that came out of this chapter.  Active learning requires that students be active in the pursuit of knowledge.  This seems to be very close to the ideas behind using inquiry for the classroom as well.  You want to engage the students and be partners in the pursuit of knowledge.  I like the statement form the book, when students produce something the experiences are even more active.  The assessment piece for students  can be formal or informal on the task that the students are completing.  I think that authentic and active learning should always be the goal.