Jim's USF Tech Cert Blog

Hello class, Although I have used programs like Screencastify to flip the classroom or had students use their webcams to make WeVideos, I am yet to host or even be a part of Video Conferencing.  I really didn't know exactly what they meant by video conferencing until I watched and read the resource section of this module.  Right away, I began to think of how amazing of a tool this could be for both my biology and Anatomy classes.  The first application that the video in our resources mentions really got me excited about this tech tool.  I take my students on 6 field trips over the course of the year, but we are limited to Illinois museums or local forest preserves.  Field trips have also become extremely expensive.   The opportunity to conference with other students, classrooms, or professionals from around the world opens so many doors and opportunities.  Can you imagine talking to other classrooms of like-aged students from other countries f...

Hello Class, As a life science teacher that still believes getting your hands dirty with the material is the best way to learn biology or anatomy, I often times ask myself if we sometimes include technology in the classroom just to say we included technology in the classroom.  Don't get me wrong, I think technology can be a great way to enhance the curriculum, but many times this year I did think, "Did I just change this activity to a tech centered activity to increase engagement, or did I change it cause it is the "IT" thing to do now?" My question to my group is: Do you feel that the content or the experience in the classroom is ever negatively impacted by the drive to make everything technologically driven in the classroom? I look forward to your replies! Thank you, Jim Nielsen

Hello class, When I first started teaching I feel like not only did very few teachers use social media in the classroom, but it was almost perceived as a bad idea.  There were just too many problems associated with using it in school such as student access or online safety and digital citizenship.  Now, I feel like it is much more excepted as a means of communication or delivery of some material.  In fact, our school is actually pushing teachers to use twitter in the classroom.  Our school has us watch a training video on how to use it safely and properly, but overall promotes social media in the classroom when used correctly.  I feel social media can be a positive tool for the classroom.  My class uses a Twitter account for communication and announcements.  One pro to twitter is that the pictures I post from field trips can be shared to the school account as well so other classes/schools here about what we are up to in class.  I could see tak...

Hello class, For this weeks discussion we are supposed to focus on Google tools for collaboration.  I will tell you that if asked to write this piece two years ago, you would have read a completely different review.  Our school has recently gone 1:1 and have become a "Google School" .  This was a big change for me even though I felt comfortable with technology, I had little experience with Google Apps and only used google as a search engine.  In fact, I was one of the few that was hanging on to Internet Explorer and didn't want to switch over to Chrome because of my comfort level.  After working with Google apps over the past 2 years I can say that they are often amazing tools to use in the classroom.  Using these tools enhances the curriculum but also brings challenges for the educator to provide a safe collaborative environment that students can benefit from.  For this blog I will discuss a few tools that I feel have been beneficial to our curricul...