This semester at the U of R, one of the classes I'm in is focussed on strategies for teaching and implementing physical education. Last class, our professor had us read several articles that examined the relationship between technology and the increasing rates of physical inactivity in children.  After we read the articles, the professor had us discuss as a class what we thought of the articles.  Everyone in the class started knocking technology and saying how it's to blame for kids not being active enough nowadays.  If I would have been in this class a year ago, I would have been right in there with the anti-technology comments.  But from working at a medically inclusive daycare and having recently been enrolled in the class ECMP 355, which promotes technology as a learning tool, I was able to see technology as an asset and give the class an example of how technology enables the group of kids I work with to get active.  

I explained to the class how, at the daycare I work at, which is situated in an older school in Regina, there are three classrooms that each have ten to twelve children in them with varying conditions/diverse needs, and that there is only one nurse who circulates between the three rooms.  If it were not for cell phones, our group would never be able to go to the gym or outside because there would be no way to quickly communicate with the nurse if one of the kids needed something or started to decline.  If we did not have cell phones, our group would only be able to go to the gym or outside when the nurse had a few free minutes to go with us and we would have to go back inside when it was time for him/her to go see one of the other two classrooms.  So, depending on the situation, technology is sometimes the only thing that can help  get children active.  

As a pre-service teacher, I believe that it is very important to always ask myself, "What can I be doing better?"  For myself, I find that once I have been able to practice something several times, I tend to get comfortable with it and continue to do things in the same way that I learned/taught myself how to do it.  And what have I been doing lots of lately and getting comfortable with?... Blogging!  

You know what's better than giving your students fun and engaging assignments that incorporate technology?  Giving your students fun and engaging assignments that incorporate technology that are already planned for you and ready to go!  Introducing  DS 106 - the coolest site for teachers to find ideas for multimedia projects on. 

This week I read an article entitled Why Twitter and Facebook Are Not Good Instructional Tools by an English and digital media teacher named Paul Barnwell.  In his article, Barnwell discusses how students do not use certain social networking sites, such as Twitter, to their full potential but, rather, they use them as a distraction from their school-work.  Barnwell also argues that certain web services, like Poll Everywhere and Prezi, do not offer any educational value because they allow students to use gimmicks, such as colourful graphics and fragmented text, to convey their ideas, and their novelty only lasts for a short amount of time. 

Something that I don't like to talk about a lot or to many people, for that matter, is that I have been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.  It's a chronic condition that is, often, misunderstood and that has symptoms that are unpleasant to talk about, even at the best of times. 

Before I was enrolled in my ECMP 355 class, I used Google for the basics - searching, (g)mailing, mapping, word documenting, and, without even knowing it was part of Google's empire, Youtubing.  Since enrolling in the class, however, I've learned a few other Gricks (that's Google + Tricks!) that are sure to help me personally and professionally.  

What's that snazzy new purple thing at the bottom of my page(s), you ask?  It's Wibiya - my latest technological discovery!  

I wonder if the creators at Apple ever envisioned that the iCloud could help crack down on crime?