I had a really good time at the Ithaca College "Tech Day". I would recommend it to any individuals interested in learning about technology and the current issues surrounding the use and implementation of technology products. i was able to attend four and a half short seminars.
I started my day at the Smart Notebook Math Tools workshop. Having a Smartboard in my classroom I was very interested to attend. I found it very professional and it gave me a few new tips to use. The next workshop was about Podcasting. The workshop had numerous "technical" difficulties. The presenter was mostly using "Garageband", which we are all familiar with. I spot "Professor Karl" over in the front row attentively watching and listening. I was not overly impressed with the presenters style, but the content was great.
The Free Software workshop was excellent. I definitely need to become more resourceful in my ability to gain access to software working on a teacher's salary. The most informative time was a half-hour symposium on "When Social Worlds Collide". I believe the presenters name was Dr. Jean Baker. She was excellent. She did a study to see if college level students would connect more with each other and the content of the class if social media networking tools were used. She found "ZERO" evidence to support her hypothesis. She made the point that college students are now coming to school with a vast degree of social networking outlets, but are not able to make the connection on how to use them in an academic setting.
Anyway, it was an excellent day and I would highly recommend it to anyone for next year.
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That sounds like a great workshop! I think the study about social networking sites is very interesting. I rarely use facebook for academic purposes, even though I am friends with a lot of my peers on it. The groups I've worked in usually text or email (never call though, odd) to keep in touch. It's almost as if social networking sites are off limits for school work.
ReplyDeleteIf this workshop is offered again next year (and I hear about it) I might venture over to Ithaca if I have the chance.