What?
Google has such amazing technology it is inconceivable to me people would think of such devices. Throughout this unit there were so many new applications I learned about which I could apply to my future classroom exercises. As we learned about the many different models in class I found there were many use full applications which I could apply to health.
In iGoogle I have the ability to create and design a web page for my future students. I can build different pages to the site thought the use of google documents. I will be able to have assignments for students to do which I post online for my students to view. I will be able to give students homework to view online so they will not have to worry about keeping track of a book or a handout. This will hopefully will be easier for students to become more organized if all their homework was online.
I thought it is very useful to have a calendar on the web page which we design which can be changed accordingly. Students will have a clearer understanding of what to expect when they come to class as well as to be able to keep caught up on information they may have missed. I also enjoyed learning how to put pictures online which will be very fun and interactive for students to follow throughout the semester. I also enjoy Picasso where I would be able to post many pictures online for students to view, although we have not covered Picasso in this particular course I am familiar with it.
So What?
All the new ideas which i have in my head can now be put onto one particular spot where all the information is available to me anywhere I have Internet access. Student will be able to benefit from the technology which I use within my classroom and help them with transferability. Students will be able to see subjects which are used within a career field through different activities which I post for them through my iGoogle page.
Students will have information which is more up to date than text books. Students will be able to see new statistics which are available regarding health subjects and which areas the community needs to work on to improve the overall health. Students will also have the ability to chat with others online through the website if they are struggling with an assignment.
Google has made the applications in iGoogle easy to navigate and very useful for educational purposes. My future students and their parents will be able to view information online from the comfort of their home regarding the classroom activities. Students will be able to review material which they need for a test through an interactive activity which i can post on my iGoogle page. I will be able to keep my students more centered and focuses if they know to refer to the web page if they feel lost within the class. I would then be able to help them with any information which is still unclear to them.
Now What?
I still need to design a fully functional iGoogle site. I need to have the site with all the information available to my future student for them to view. I need to have a few young adults review the site prior to the use of it within the classroom. IGoogle will be such a use full tool for me as an educator because of the information which I can store within the site. I still need to work with and explore all of the information which google has to offer me as an educator.
My sister informed me of Google Timeline, which will give you articles posted on each day regarding any topic as well as documents. I have yet to explore this, although it would be very informative in college level course to have students look at the Polio outbreak or the discovery of AIDS in the 70's. Students would be able to compare how information changed over such a short period of history in the medical field.
I am also looking forward to building my iGoogle web page. It is going to be a difficult task with many frustrations, but it will be worth it in the end.
