EDTC 6433-What I learned, Week 7: EdCamp

I attended the EdCamp in Edmonds. I found the concept of how the sessions are determined to be interesting. I went into it thinking that there would already be classes determined with instructors. Instead, we went onto Padlet and people at the camp wrote what their ideas for sessions could be. We were able to comment on the posts to give support for the ideas or ask questions. We then were able to view a Google Doc to determine which sessions would be held, where they would be located, and who would facilitate them. I have used Google Doc before, but never in this capacity. It was a cool and easy way to organize the day!

The first session I attended was to learn about WeVideo. WeVideo is a video creating and editing program. There is a free and licensed version. They shared some good sites to use for finding media to insert into the videos. The instructions went very quickly, so it is definitely something that I would need to spend a good amount of time figuring out how to use. I am not so sure that I would have my students use this, but it is something I could use to make something for my class. Maybe they could each make a short clip and I could put them altogether as one whole-class video for the end of the year. It would be fun to play around with!

The second session I attended was about collaboration using technology in the elementary classroom. We sat and shared sites and programs that we use for collaborating in our classrooms. Half of the class was a Google district, and our half was Microsoft. From the information shared, it seems like each platform has very similar programs to one another. I didn't walk away with any new tools per-say, but it was interesting hearing different viewpoints and programs from another district than the one I currently work in.

EDTC 6433-What I learned, Week 6: Research

Big 6 Research Skills/5 Star Research:

"Work smarter, not faster." This resonated with me when learning about the Big 6 Research Skills. As teachers, we are reminded to "work smarter, not harder," so applying this way of thinking when researching is important. These past 2 weeks, when researching Digital Citizenship for my annotated bibliography, I was unknowingly using these skills while narrowing down which sources and cites to use. Maneuvering your way through the cyber-world of research can be daunting and tricky, but keeping these skills in mind can help with the process.

I appreciated making a plan for my research before collecting my sources. I liked trying out the different search engines, and even learning about some I had never heard of before! Google results were still the best of all--Sorry Bing. In my opinion, I think using technology has only strengthened research. All of my sources came from the digital "world." Using the internet helps you to find all kinds of sources on one platform. Without the internet, I don't think my research would have been nearly as easy or "smart."