DED318: My Final Thoughts
Discuss the TWO (2) tools that were your personal favorites from the semester and why.
Weebly:
I entered my time in DED 318 Educational Technology a bit reluctant to learn a new website platform. The skills acquired from picking up one website platform will certainly translate from one platform to another. However, the subtle nuances of each program will inevitably cause some confusion. After a surprisingly brief learning curve, I was left with a domain builder that I found to be vastly preferable to programs that I have previously used. Where Weebly earns points from me is the speed of startup. A domain can be created in the time it takes to type in your contact information and decide on a template. Less time has to be spent on minute design elements, and instead be spent on creating web content. This speed of startup is where I believe Weebly holds its greatest appeal. In minutes, everyone from a novice to an expert can create a product to call their own.
I entered my time in DED 318 Educational Technology a bit reluctant to learn a new website platform. The skills acquired from picking up one website platform will certainly translate from one platform to another. However, the subtle nuances of each program will inevitably cause some confusion. After a surprisingly brief learning curve, I was left with a domain builder that I found to be vastly preferable to programs that I have previously used. Where Weebly earns points from me is the speed of startup. A domain can be created in the time it takes to type in your contact information and decide on a template. Less time has to be spent on minute design elements, and instead be spent on creating web content. This speed of startup is where I believe Weebly holds its greatest appeal. In minutes, everyone from a novice to an expert can create a product to call their own.
Pic Collage:
While this program’s namesake comes from its collage features, I found it to be a viable means of creating basic graphic designs. Typically, I find myself only needing to add basic text and combining images. Pic Collage, in my experience, is the fastest manner of getting these tasks done.
My "App Smashing" project was a great example of Pic Collage at work. For this project, it was used in conjunction with "Thing Link"
While this program’s namesake comes from its collage features, I found it to be a viable means of creating basic graphic designs. Typically, I find myself only needing to add basic text and combining images. Pic Collage, in my experience, is the fastest manner of getting these tasks done.
My "App Smashing" project was a great example of Pic Collage at work. For this project, it was used in conjunction with "Thing Link"
Look back through your entire website (yes the whole thing), look at all you have accomplished and learned this semester. Reflect on what you have accomplished & learned this semester........ some ideas to get you thinking......
My experiences with K-State’s Educational Technology course (DED 318) have marked a major landmark into my professional transition. The wealth of insight from professionals I have networked with has shown me that I’m not in it alone. There have been plenty of teachers who have been in my shoes before and one’s that have made the same mistakes I have and will eventually make. Thankfully, a good number of those teachers are on twitter!
The array of applications that I have been able to toy around with has changed my love of technology outside of the classroom into something I can fully implement into the classroom. It is strange to reflect on the fact that I had never made this connection before. Toying around with the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, up until this point, have always been casual affairs. To think, now I realize that that leisurely playing was training for the possibilities of today. I now fully buy into the belief that “What you do in your free time shapes your future.”
Today, I feel more geared for an ever changing world. One, that I know will have an ever mounting number of new technologies and new challenges. The skills I am confident I will use, are the ones that keep me learning and adapting.
My experiences with K-State’s Educational Technology course (DED 318) have marked a major landmark into my professional transition. The wealth of insight from professionals I have networked with has shown me that I’m not in it alone. There have been plenty of teachers who have been in my shoes before and one’s that have made the same mistakes I have and will eventually make. Thankfully, a good number of those teachers are on twitter!
The array of applications that I have been able to toy around with has changed my love of technology outside of the classroom into something I can fully implement into the classroom. It is strange to reflect on the fact that I had never made this connection before. Toying around with the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, up until this point, have always been casual affairs. To think, now I realize that that leisurely playing was training for the possibilities of today. I now fully buy into the belief that “What you do in your free time shapes your future.”
Today, I feel more geared for an ever changing world. One, that I know will have an ever mounting number of new technologies and new challenges. The skills I am confident I will use, are the ones that keep me learning and adapting.