Professional Uses of Technology

My Professional Learning Network will consist of various tools collected on one common site, iGoogle.

Using iGoogle, I will add several gadgets that will help my professional development as a foreign language teacher. These gadgets will include, but not be limited to: Spanish podcasts, links to technology tools and resources, and fun features like words/phrases of the day.

Podcasts will allow me to listen to ideas from other professionals while perhaps searching for corresponding materials. Links to technology tools and resources will allow me to really diversify my teaching methods to keep the class engaging and interesting. Fun features will give my students side notes that are not only fun, but also useful.

Using these tools via iGoogle will be very efficient in that I will have all my resources in one place that is easy to navigate. I will be able to check for updates everyday to get new ideas for my classroom.

Communication Tool

During lab, we formed groups to research and explore a specific communication tool. My group's activity focused on Zoho Wikipedia, an on-line resource that has "180,000+" websites. Teachers can use this tool in a variety of different ways. Zoho Wiki is similar to any other Wiki site in that anyone can post anything to the page, though teachers do have control over the tool. The image to the left shows how to create a new page on Zoho Wiki, as well as various other tasks noted on the sidebar on the left-hand side.

This screen shot explains some of the different uses for Zoho Wiki in the classroom. When I was considering how I could use the tool in my future high school level Spanish classes, I thought about how Halter's Class took advantage of the features of the tool.

Mr. Halter set up his Zoho Wiki page as an on-line class. There are links to class notes, review sheets, assignments, and more. I would choose to model my page after his for my high school Spanish class to ensure that everyone is up-to-date on class materials. I can post lecture notes and class activities as well as study guides and practice quizzes/tests.