my first blog entry

1) I have to admit, I don't know a whole lot about what will be covered in this class. In the next two weeks I hope to be exposed to some of the reasons for integrating more useful technology into my classroom as well as finding tools that move beyond the novelty of technology into the realm of the truly purposeful. In other words, I'd like to have a clear answer to the question, "How will this technology improve my curriculum, rather than just change it?"
Additionally, I hope to become a more effective resource for my colleagues to help them transition to the increasing prevalence of technology in our schools, especially as we integrate a 1:1 program in the fall of 2011.
2) My own experiences using technology in the classroom are pretty experimental and varied. Still, I definitely consider myself a tech savvy person and teacher, and in my global issues class I would be much less effective without the web. I rely quite heavily on technology for my everyday life as a teacher. The fact that I enjoy technology so much makes my life easier in many ways because most of my students "speak the language" of technology. I have, however, run into frustrated students who don't know why we can't just do things the old fashioned way. Some do actually resent the new wave of technology headed their way.
3) For my project I think I'd like to form a lesson or unit plan dealing with some current events for my global issues class. As this is the class in which I already use the web, however, it might be interesting to begin integrating more web-based lessons into my American history class. I'll continue to explore these possibilities this week.
(4) I am sure that what I learn in this class will form a large part of my own adaptation to the influx of student laptops next school year. I hope to explore how to improve my global issues moodle site, and possibly start moodle sites for my other classes. Next year in my school we'll be receiving 2 laptop carts in our department (right now we have ~3 labs for the entire school), and access will greatly increase. The following year we will have fully implemented a 1:1 laptop program. As the technology will increasingly be available, I am excited to learn how I can make the most of it to benefit my students.