What are my aims? To be perfectly honest, I need to gain a whole lot of confidence when it comes to working with IT, so that in turn I can offer more IT experiences in the classroom. Working in Preschool teaches me something new every day….and it is becoming more and more obvious that 3-5 year olds have an immense amount of knowledge of and interest in IT experiences. IT for me falls somewhere close to my fear of maths….and the self full filling prophecy that it is something “I’m not good at”. I’m determined to change both my attitude and abilities!
A close second to becoming more competent and confident working with IT is my desire to network with Early Years peeps. EDC601 totally enables me to develop a personal learning network – through blogging and twitter I’m learning just how big the new definition of networking is; it’s networking on a completely different level, and one that all passionate, play based, emergent curriculum peeps desperately seek. The thought of being connected to like-minded people regardless of distance and time is exciting. And last, my aim is to integrate IT into my classroom in meaningful ways, every single day.
So does Web 2.0 change teaching and learning?The answer is yes, and on so many different yet equally important levels. In my opinion, it has the potential to dramatically impact the rate in which education moves from a traditional approach to one that is progressive. It’s the difference between putting the concept of play/ inquiry based learning on a train and sending the train around the world to putting it on Star Treks space ship!!! It has serious implications for positive educational change as advocates around the world are able to connect, collaborate and empower others to be advocates. On the other end of the extreme, every student in every classroom will no longer view teaching and learning the same after Web 2.0….it makes it clear that a change in education is long overdue, whether you look at it from a student, teacher, administration, classroom or philosophical level.
Anissa Eglington 