The Peer Review Process

The peer review process is a good way for others to provide their own critique on various projects. I felt that the process was somewhat helpful because it allows me to see the creativity of the other students and I'm able to practice on just how to critique. Though my critiques were short and not extremely in depth, they were honest, constructive and direct. The opinions I gave were not too detailed, but it provided enough information to let them know that I did take the time to read and go over their projects. Overall, I didn't have a problem with the process for it was nice to see the creativity of others and provide my critique as well as receiving the critique from others. It is a good way to get the students involved in the projects as a whole.

Reflections on how to Prepare for a Grant

This discussion was the most informative out of all the topics because I learned what to look forward to on how to prepare grants. The information would be extremely beneficial to me mainly because of my careers in Church Ministry and Education, I will need grants sometime in the near future. It was good to have websites like Grant Guru and eSchool News available so that I can have all the resources I need to prepare the best grant for my future projects. I learned so much from these and other websites as well as the discussions which were positive and very informative. I liked Betzi's comments on her experiences with preparing grants. It was eye opening to read how she had to have a team of people to depend on and the problems that come about as a result. It was also good to read all the other discussions on the grants that were done like, for example, one received a grant for 50 thousand dollars for Parkinson's Disease research. I thought that was wonderful to receive a grant for such a great cause.

Reflections on the Marc Presnsky and the "Digital Natives"

As I read Marc Presnsky's article on Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants and his letter to President Obama, I realized just how old I am :). Along with that, I also learned that we truly live in a technological age and it is more than I ever imagined. Marc says in his article how we as teachers need a new way to teach our generation because they are so technologically intelligent. As a result, I came to learn that we should find creative ways to incorporate technology into our curriculum. The articles written by Marc were really great and this seemed to be an equally great topic for discussion. It became a debate among the teachers who agreed that it's important to find new ways to teach our "digital natives". I thought this discussion was enlightening because there were so many different perspectives and points of view on the subject. No improvement was needed because it created a wide open discussion for us all.

Reflection on Ubiquitous Computing

In this discussion, I learned what ubiquitous computing is which is incorporating technology into our everyday lives and specifically the classroom. Reading about this topic really showed me just how technological we are. The readings provided a lot of perceptions and interpretations on how we can actually incorporate technology into every aspect of life. It is also true that there is the potential to have multiple types of technology in the classroom and it can be very beneficial for the student. But the question is, is this possible? A lot of the discussions eloquently and passionately spoke about how important it would be to have those technologies such as computers, DVD;s and Videos in their classrooms. Some said that it would help the students to learn and keep their interests while others felt that students will loose the knowledge or information in all the technology that's presented to them. What everyone had to say was positive and the subject was a great discussion and needed no improvement. But through the discussions, I've learned that those technologies can be used if only the teachers did not have limited resources due to budget cuts. Some teachers felt that if they had the technology they would indeed teach differently and I have to agree.

Reflections on the Power Point Presentation Discussions

The articles and videos on power point presentations and what not to do when it comes to showing the presentations were funny and informative. ( The Utube and the Slideshare's version of power point presentations were hilarious!) I really didn't learn much about it because I pretty much knew the importance of keeping the presentations factual, interesting and short, but it was still good to have that information. I especially liked the discussions on the topic which were very positive, constructive and left no room for improvement. Everyone agreed that along with factual information on the presentation, passion is also an important quality in order for it to be effective and less boring.

What really stood out for me though was the blog from Guy Kawasaki on "How to Change the World". He talked about the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint and how to use this rule whenever you are doing presentations. I thought that this was extremely beneficial to me and how everyone, from students to employers or employees in the corporate world, should keep this rule in mind when standing in front of an audience. And even though I'm very familiar with power point presentations, I will certainly use this rule from now on.