Week+1

Jan. 11, 2009

Welcome to my wiki. My name is Graham and I'll start by telling you a little about myself. I am originally from BC but decided to come to Ottawa for my post secondary education. I'm not sure where exactly I want to live or move to next. I studied History and English at the University of Ottawa and graduated in 2008. I took a year off to work and travel but came back to become a teacher.

Today's class: Firstly I was excited to see that we do not need to buy an over-priced, underused textbook. Also, looking through the syllabus I am excited to cover many practical issues which we will be able to use in the classroom. However, **with the rate that technology is moving I wonder how much will be obsolete**. Currently I find myself in the middle of the current technology in the classroom debate. **Although I feel it is important to engage the students and incorporate technology in the classroom, I feel there are still several skills that can be impeded by technology.** Even though High School seems to be adapting, The University format is still stuck in the 1600s and students will need to learn to sit down for three straight hours and write essays for exams in order to graduate. Likewise **students will need to learn there is a time and a place for certain behaviour** and they **can't be pulling out there cell phone to text a friend while on a job interview**. So, as I stated before, I find myself in the middle of the technology in the classroom debate.

So far in this class the major skill I learned was **how to create this wiki** which I know will be very useful when I begin teaching in a classroom full time. Also, I found out how many programs these computers in the resource center have for the classroom (such as Comic Life).