ePortfolio- Do or Don't

This past week in class we discussed portfolio's (the binder and paper kind) and ePortfolios. We talked about the pros and cons of both types of portfolios on getting a job as a teacher. We then as a class discussed what types of things should be in a portfolio, and what types of things should not be, although mostly we just had fabulous ideas ;) I created a wordle to show you some of the things we thought should be included in this important (or not important to some) document.

As I begin to create my portfolio and collect artifacts, update my resume and all that fun stuff, I wonder how crucial it is and how big of a difference it will make when heading into a job interview. As students in the education faculty we get mixed messages, some professors say it's good to have, others say its kind of a waste of time no administrator has time to look at it. Who knows!?! I guess we'll all make one, just to have, hopefully keep it updated, and maybe it will give us an edge when it comes to job interview time!

~L

Last Semester- Back in the ICT Classroom

Here it is, the beginning of my last semester of my University career. It is an exciting and VERY scary time, but I think mostly exciting. As we begin this second week of classes I already find myself counting down the weeks till our final student teaching placement! But first come the unit plans, the professional development sessions and of course, blogging.
After class yesterday (Monday) I found myself wanting to blog about something Mike (Education ICT master) mentioned in class.

We began by discussing how people often say this generation is getting to much "screen time." We sit in front of screens like laptops, iPads, iPhones, etc for too many hours. We think these kids (and maybe even adults) are losing the social aspect of growing up. We believe too much screen time means no socializing and perhaps lack of thinking on our own. Yet when we look at people reading books, we never make the same assumptions. We think they are learning, and expanding their vocabulary and views on the world, we never think "Those people are missing out on socializing and stunting their imagination and creativity." But chances may be that those who have a screen in front of them are expanding their creativity by blogging, or editing photos, or reading up on the latest news from an article that someone tweeted. This sparked a different way to look at the issue of screen time and its negative connotation. Just think about this for a minute and the next time you think to yourself, "those kids should get out and play." In this day and age things are changing a mile a minute, this is one way these "things" are changing. Technology is here to stay, think about it, grow and continue to adapt.

~Lindsey