Week 10

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Here we are, almost at the end. It seems as yesterday I was laughing at the last week posts of the previous participants, thinking they were overreacting when they were mentioning sadness and tears. I am not going to cry, but I do feel very sad and I try not to watch too often the last video on my Oregon page.

I find writing this last post to be most difficult because I need to summarize the most successful topics and the most useful tools and there were so many of them, so I still don’t know where to start. All the topics covered proved to be very interesting, but if I had to choose I would say websites for enhancing different language skills, alternative assessment, multiple intelligences, PBL, social bookmarking and lessons for the one computer classroom were my favourite.

As I stated before, alternative assessment was something completely new to me and I can’t wait to try out creating various rubrics using Rubistar4teachers again. I was aware of some social bookmarking tools, but I had never used one before. Delicious proved as very useful and I am going to continue with creating ‘delicious’ stacks. I was also familiar with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, but I never came across so many useful resources at one place and I was grateful for having the opportunity to read about using different technologies for catering the needs of students with different learner styles.

My favourite tools would be Delicious, Rubistar4teachers, Zunal (WebQuest) and my least favourite one was LoTi because it was rather confusing. Of course, there are many web tools just waiting to be explored so I am not sure which one could be covered in the future. Maybe I could suggest Edmodo or other similar free networks for communication and collaboration. Then maybe creating an online CV (DoYouBuzz) or even an e-portofilo, exploring websites for publishing and sharing, tools for surveys and brainstorming (Tricider), digital stories.. I mean, I could go on like this forever but I better stop :)

One of the things I liked best was that this course does not describe the web tools only, but emphasizes the importance of methodology and pedagogy which we should always bear in mind in order not to drown in this ocean of web tools. I also value the experience of writing a project, since I have never written anything similar, using the ABCD model and following the steps provided.

I would also like to thank our mentors Jodi and Celeste, for being professional, helpful and accurate, which I really appreciate. I will definitely use their teaching methods in school and online as well as on some future courses for teachers if I get the chance to pass my knowledge further on.

A big thanks goes to all my classmates as well! It wouldn’t be the same without you! Our discussion and communication were priceless to me and I would really like us to occasionally share ideas regarding the use of technology. You've got my e-mail, so don't hesitate to contact me. I created this image above using all your names and I intend to print it out and keep it as a memory of this wonderful online journey!

Wish you all the best and I am looking forward to meeting you again online and offline!

Marija

P.S. I forgot to mention that I will not continue using this blog actively except to reply if any of you adds a comment or asks me something in the future. The reason is rather emotional: I want to keep this blog as a gem, as a memory of all of you, of the course, its mentors and the participants, of the knowledge I gained and of my learning about Oregon and teaching about Serbia. I am thinking about creating a new blog, although I am already moderating several places on the web, but some of those are in Serbian. Anyway, if I decide to create a blog I will let you know for sure! Meanwhile I’ll be sharing useful resources on our Facebook page.