Blog Journal 8

Working with Diigo

Diigo is an application that I never heard of or used before being introduced to it in class. However, when we first started playing around with, I was instantly drawn in. I love that Diigo is a browser extension because it gives the user flexibility and the ability to use it on any website/article. From using Diigo, I have learned how to highlight, comment, and effectively annotate an article. This can be extremely helpful in classrooms because it gives students, and teachers, the opportunity to decide if an article is relevant to whatever the topic at hand is. I have also learned how to apply specific tags to an article that will help myself and others access it in the future. This is extremely helpful when it comes to teamwork. Having the ability to group certain articles together by tags saves so much time and keeps things organized. I have also learned how to look through other people's articles and annotations with Diigo. This helps me as an individual because it allows me to inform myself on topics and articles that I may have missed or did not think to read. I learn a lot from going through  my peers' articles and seeing what they feel is important.

PowerPoint & Bloom's Taxonomy

The 1st level of Bloom's Taxonomy is Create. PowerPoint gives me the opportunity to put together and organize information in a way that is clear to students and easy for me to efficiently teach. The 2nd level is Evaluate. With PowerPoint, one is able to look at all of the information that is laid out and develop their own opinions on it. The 3rd level is Analyze. PowerPoint gives creators the ability to put differing, or similar, ideas side-by-side so that students can clearly compare and/or contrast them. The 4th level of Bloom's Taxonomy is Apply. PowerPoint has so many creative options, such as making games like Jeopardy, that will push students to apply what they are learning in order to win. The 5th level is Understand. Incorporating a conclusion slide in a PowerPoint presentation allows teachers to go through the main ideas of a lesson to ensure that students have fully grasped what the lesson was about. The 6th and last level of Bloom's Taxonomy is Remember. PowerPoint's are easily shareable and accessible, giving students the chance to revisit them when necessary. 

 EdTech Roundup

Edtech Roundup is a website that allows educators to stay ahead of progress and news in the area of educational technology. This website provides up-to-date articles, application/product reviews, editorials, other education technology links, lesson plans, and a weekly podcast. All of these things can ensure that a teacher will know what the newest technological advances in their field are.

http://www.edtechroundup.org/