Throughout this course, I was introduced to a large variety
of technology tools that are beneficial to online education. Thus, the
implementation of such tools will definitely engage the students in their
education, define the instructor’s role as facilitator, and enhance learners’
critical thinking and problem solving. Ms. Andrea Smith (2015) explored and
discussed “grammarly.com”, Ms. Jen Lowe (2015) shared “studyboost.com”, and Ms.
Ebru Taskan (2015) introduced her readers to “blogger.com/home”.
Grammarly is a technology tool that assists instructors in
controlling plagiarism as well as proofreading one’s documents grammatically.
Based on Ms. Andrea Smith’s blog post (2015), she states that the benefits of
implementing grammarly in adult education are not only limited to documents but
also it offers “explanation on errors and tips for correction”.
The description of this program encourages me to consider it
as a tool in my adult career. It is valuable, as it will enable me to eliminate
or at least control plagiarism in my classes. Moreover, it will allow me to
double-check and improve my documents before sharing them with my
students. Also, my students can improve
their writing and create documents that are free of errors.
Ms. Lowe (2015) describes the above
website as an “interactive social media studying platform that allows students
to learn outside of the classroom”. This technology enables learners to
challenge themselves with quizzes based on study cards similar to index
cards. In addition, students can easily
access midterm exams, specialized exams and even drivers’ permit. The platform
is easily used on a mobile phone with an SMS plan, which is a great way to
strengthen one’s learning or knowledge anywhere and anytime the person has a
few minutes to spare. Furthermore, it is
free to use.
In my adult teaching career, this
technology will help my students to review, enhance and really invest time in
their learning. Whether the student is riding with someone or waiting at the
dentist, s/he can transform his mobile phone to a learning tool.
Ms. Taskan defined weblog and described
it as different from regular websites. She stated that weblogs “are comprised
of reflections and conversations that in many cases are updated every day”
(Taskan, 2015). She shared that reflecting on a paper, a lesson, or a homework
is a great way to learn and emphasize on the main ideas. Blogs allow learners
to collaborate, exchange ideas, and comment on others’ thoughts in the blog.
Blogs are a tool that enhances learning
and create a thread of communication where bloggers can critique, agree, or
disagree with the writer of the blog and with each participant. This
collaboration develops a learning activity where students are active
participants and critical thinkers. These are some of the reasons I’d like to
implement blogs in my teaching career.
References:
Lowe, J. (2015, January 28) Mobile Technology [Blog post].
Retrieved from http://jenloweemergingtechnologies.blogspot.com/
Smith, A. (2015, February 13) Digital Citizenship [Blog
post]. Retrieved from
Taskan, E. (2015, January 14) Podcasts and Blogs [Blog
post]. Retrieved from
https://www.blogger.com/home