Blog Post #9

Kathy Cassidy's use of technology in the classroom seems to have started with many obstacles to face, but she pursued the matter until she had it organized. From her video, Little Kids...Big Potential, it was

clear to me that all of her efforts were to put together her vision of a connected classroom. Ms. Cassidy's first grade students were being taught to use tech tools such as blogs, Wiki's, and Skype that connects them to local, nationwide, and international schools. I would never have thought to use the Nintendo DS, but it goes to show how in depth that tech tools are already in the hands of the world's students. I really feel that there should be more support from the administrative side of our schools that will support the use of all the technological equipment, that our youth see simply as toys, that is available for use in the classroom. Examples like Ms. Cassidy's first grade class are inspirational and show that our students are eager to use technology, because it is a part of their everyday lives. From what I have been able to reason on, a lot of the younger students know more than the average teacher (who doesn't get on board with reality and the use of technology), so it makes no sense to me that some educators still sit in the shadows, afraid to put technology to use. What I think is even worse than that is even after seeing what teachers like Ms. Cassidy and other's are doing with technology, young students going to college to be teachers are not accepting the inevitable: Technology has been here, will be here, and is going to dominate the classroom one day. In the subsequent videos with Ms. Cassidy being interviewed by Dr. Strange and his EDM310 students, this will become evident.

The interview videos with Ms. Cassidy were another outstanding example of the lengths it takes teachers to go through to get a tech literate classroom working properly. From the first video, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 1, I learned that I was one of those people who doubted how important technology's advance would be useful in the classroom. All the knowledge seemed to be so much to take in, but since

entering the door of EDM310's lab, that opinion has changed immensely. I can't see not using tech tools in the classroom exclusively, because I see what Ms. Cassidy meant by being tech illiterate will be a handicap to teachers now, especially so in the future. To be able to look around my home and know that I have enough tech tools at my disposal, tells me that it is impossible to leave it out of my future classroom, or even during my college education. This video showed me that the connected classroom is a fabulous place to teach from, and not just a mythical beast that lecturer's "yap" on and on about. I didn't see one student in all of Ms. Cassidy's videos that seemed unhappy about being in her classroom, and that is because they were engaged and connected with everyone; even EDM310 students. My classroom will, must, be a connected classroom, not only because it what I am being taught to use, but something that makes perfect sense for me to use. Being able to develop my own PLN will be a large part of establishing a true connected classroom.

Dr. Strange's video, Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 2, gave me a lot of

information on how to establish my own PLN. Knowing that it takes time to build a network, I can be patient because I have some of the skills necessary to build a PLN, like Twitter, Simbaloo, Facebook and more. It is apparent that having a connected classroom requires a PLN, almost by default, since you need someone to connect to. Since I will be going into secondary education for science, after this semester, I will take Ms. Cassidy's advice about starting with what interests me. In a way, I already used Twitter for an astronomy class that I took, and it was Einstein themed, so science is something that I can relate to as an amateur astronomer. Using other tech tools like Podcasts is something I am looking forward to being more competent about, since having a PLN requires a lot of exposure of yourself through such a medium. I've started following others on Twitter, but I have to step up my game if I really want to become proficient at using, since it is something that the video showed me is speculative for many people. I will definitely incorporate Skype into my classroom environment and now while I am in college, because it is easy to use and a first grader won't show me up on it (haha). Even so, doing all of this great classroom connecting couldn't be possible without my first love in EDM310: the blog.

I found out through blogging that you can get connected to a tremendous amount of people who can view my ideas and the work I do. Some of the questions answered by Ms. Cassidy, in Interview with Kathy Cassidy Part 3, gave me some great ideas on

how often I should have my students blog, and I like the idea that I can be flexible and use the blogs as needed, which will be often for me. The way Ms. Cassidy uses her blog, which is to rotate how it is used, is the likely way that I will use my blog in the classroom and elsewhere. Keeping my blogs updated is something that is important, too, and this will come in very handy in keeping my PLN interested in what I and my students will be doing in the classroom. Doing the C4Cs, C4Ts, and C4Ks are really giving me a lot of experience in accomplishing running a great blog spot for my students, and knowing what and what not to do for keeping the identity of my students safe is a treasure of experiences to be aware of. Besides, blogs are an important part of PLNs and connected classrooms, and the video, Kathy Cassidy - The Connected Classroom, has been included because it is great for establishing the kind of classroom that the teacher of the future needs to set up, and even innovate. I hope you got as much out of these videos that I did, because it makes no sense to not use the advances in technology to create a better teaching environment. Learning all about it continues to be one of the most precious tools in my college learning toolkit.



Sources: Dr. John H. Strange, Kathy Cassidy, The Brainwaves, Smithfield Public School, Secure Edge Technology, Georgia Baker, and Sue Waters.