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Data collection tools can give a teacher valuable information on the situation their students are in academically as well as insight into what would be the most effective way to continue their education. The use of surveys would allow me to collect data through self-response instead of having to do interviews individually. In a middle school geography classroom it would be very helpful to know the strengths and weaknesses of my students so I could know what to focus on the most in my lessons. Excel would be very useful in organizing data I collect from these surveys. Especially if I had multiple classes the amount of data collected could get overwhelming without an efficient way to organize it. The ideas of my classmates hold a lot of weight because we are training to be the teachers of future students. Although our experiences prior to this class are so varied there is similarity in our experience with this class. It's nice to see the enthusiasm for using more advanced methods ...

Diigo offers a clean and concise way to manage resources gathered for a research project or for compiling tools and websites that can help further a persons education after school. This helpful extension didn't teach me too many new skills as much as it opened the door for me to exercise skills I already have. It's a great way to manage a wide range of resources even if the topics differ with the use of their tagging function. Diigo also allows for collaboration in the resource gathering process which would be a great tool when doing a group project at work or school. Teachers could use Diigo to guide their students in their research process because the extension has the capability of sharing specific pages that will be used for an assignment. Joining a group that has already collected resources on a specific topic would be a fast and easy way to expose oneself to needed information. At the recall level I could use PowerPoint to create a game such as Jeopardy or other trivia ...

I used to be an avid user of Twitter for purely social purposes. I would tweet funny thoughts and use it to keep in contact with my friends. In the past couple years I haven't used Twitter at all. Using Twitter for educational purposes and networking never really occurred to me, but there is a wide array of people and organizations that contribute to education. Twitter offers a convenient place to connect with other educators while being exposed to different methods of teaching and sources to gather materials from. The popularity of Twitter adds to the amount of people who are sharing useful information. At times this site can get overwhelming due to the ease at which people can share their opinions which can get in the way of pertinent information. Designing a web page has mostly helped to iron out how exactly I would layout my website. Weebly provides many different tools that make designing the website much easier than designing from scratch. Because everything is provided for...

Lynda.com offers quality information that can be accessed from the comfort of home and with the ease of access the internet provides. It was a pleasant experience with valuable information on such a crucial aspect of life. The Lynda.com tutorial I watched was extremely informative, and it added layers to the groundwork of productivity I already have. Throughout the tutorial there were plenty of opportunities to practice the skills that were being taught. This aspect of the training makes for a very effective way to learn the valuable skills covered in the video. Time management is something that doesn't come naturally to most people, so it is important to develop the skill and continue using the methods of time management that work best. Dave Crenshaw has an extensive background in helping people maintain the most effective strategies for using time efficiently. It would be nice to have a private lesson from Crenshaw, but this Lynda tutorial is the next best thing and it's l...

The class pages I found have general information and guidelines for the classroom. The content does change depending on what grade level the class page is for, but it is centered around expectations in the classroom and necessary items kids will use. All of the class pages I looked at have important dates that tell what will happen on the specific day. There is also information geared towards parents such as how to get their child prepared and outlining what will be required of the student. Extra resources for learning and some of the regular handouts are provided on the page. The page linked below is for Yorktown Christian Academy 4th grade classes. http://yca-cc.org/NOM/Class-Pages/Grade-4-A It is essential to use technology in the classroom to prepare students for the technologically advanced world that is growing larger every day. Technology offers more efficient avenues to organize information and to find the information in the first place. There are so many options to cho...

Diigo was an interesting tool to use. It makes the gathering of resources a collaborative effort which is more engaging and informative. Being able to install an extension was very convenient and added to the ease of using the tool. The option to tag a bookmark to better find them again when referencing back to a certain resource is a great way to organize the information collected. Having the ability to highlight or leave a note on the bookmarked web page was my favorite aspect of the tool, because it allows for a closer reading within the source. There weren't many things I found issue with while using Diigo. I was only exposed to it for a brief amount of time and maybe there were some areas it was lacking, but it seemed like a much more efficient way to bookmark web pages. Blogging in this setting has been a bit laborious. I like the idea of sharing thoughts and information in general, but having to tailor the blog to certain requirements takes some of the creative liberties a...