Lessons+Learned

This class has been one of the more useful and quality classes in the MIT program. Part of what made this a great class is the design of how Dr. Pyatt set up the instructional time and the respect he extended to the students time. One of my first lessons learned is that if you want someone to be able to do something… let them try and do it. It was refreshing to be able to use the computers in the la to work on the tools that were being demonstrated and in real time with the ability to consult our professor or peer in the setting of the class. Regarding the actual web 2.0 tools that where the focus of the course, I found the use of widgets and html format files to be jam packed with potential to make my instruction more effective. There was one platform and several programs that I found most suited to meet my needs. The Wikispace was the most versatile and most appeals as a free platform to set up a learning space. Within my wiki I was able to embed various widgets including a Google Calendar that functions publicly and has the options for various approved editors. I have great hope for this widget in my future classes to communicate deadlines and class events. An ah ha moment was when I started looking at the Hot Potatoes software for building assessments and study tools. The jmatch drag and drop quiz has a tremendous amount of potential for helping put dates and times in place in my history class. The dojo gave me a chance to see others actually do some to the things I was wondering how to do and me to teach my classmates some of the tricks I have picked up too. I expected to be checked out by the last class of the summer, but I took pride in my learning space and enjoyed the process.