This course asked us to jump right into multiple tools, play around with them, and get comfortable. I ask my students to do this with technology, so it was fun being on the opposite end.
Our certificate program uses the Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle. It took some clicking around, but it is fairly intuitive and I got it down pretty quickly.
Blackboard Collaborative is a fun meeting spot that we will utilize on a weekly basis through the course. We can see and hear everyone utilizing our computer cameras and microphones. I like how we can see someone’s home screen. This is a cool tool to use as a meetup, I could see myself using this professionally with other teachers across the country.
Diigo has been my favorite tool to play with so far. You can highlight and add notes right on the website page. I grabbed the Chrome extension and have been playing with it a lot.
Here is an example of what it looks like on a webpage:
The highlight and my note are what Diigo can do with an open webpage. When I pull up the webpage again in the future and open up the Diigo extension, the highlights and notes will pop right back up on my screen.
What I have enjoyed most in this intro course is building community through Google+. This is where we’ve made our introductions, posted our elective plans, and brainstormed for our innovative project. I’ll be checking the community daily for ideas and support.
I feel that the best way to learn a new tool, is to get hands-on experience with it. This confirmed my belief. I am no where near an expert with any of the above tools, but I do feel comfortable and confident using them in the future.
Caleb Neilson 