Blog Post #9

My experience in EME2040 has been a positive one. I never imagined myself utilizing as many online tools as I have in this class. I was very hesitant when starting this course since I am the opposite of tech-savvy, but with clear instruction and a little bit of effort, I have grown to enjoy learning more about how to utilize technology. There can be so many ways to enhance the classroom experience for students, but having students try new things and giving them easy tasks with easy instruction to start seems like the best way to have them enjoy class a bit more. Routine, strict, and unimaginative classrooms don’t allow kids to get excited about learning or trying new things. To ensure the best experience, I aim to keep my students engaged, willing, and curious.

Open educational resources (OERs) are (mostly) free and readily available resources to assist in all aspects of education. EdX is an OER that lets you search for college courses and their materials from many universities worldwide. It allows students (or people in general) to explore courses or topics of interest without having to commit monetarily. For teachers or professors, edX can be a great OER to gain insight, foster ideas, and collaborate.

edX link: https://www.edx.org/

While working on assignment 4 (PowerPoint for Information Dissemination), I found that it was easier to make a PowerPoint for teaching rather than for presenting. The topic I chose (our solar system) was a pretty straightforward and easy thing to talk about so I didn’t encounter many obstacles when creating it. I enjoyed creating a black space theme with plenty of pictures of planets, however, I didn’t quite know how to structure the slides or make it appealing to kids. I struggled with this the most, and even though I was pleased with how the PowerPoint turned out, I had no way of knowing if students would be engaged with it or basic the information I chose to provide. As for improving my PowerPoint for next time, I could start by reading the grading criteria (which I had completely missed and forgot to read) so that I can make something more structured. I think if I look for similar presentations for a specific grade level, I could get some inspiration or insight on how to make the slideshow a bit more kid-centric.

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