Getting Hip with the Internet

Wow, before I started diving into class I thought I was good with my knowledge and understanding of online resources.  I figured “blogging” wasn’t something I needed to really do or look into.  When searching, Google was all I ever needed if I was forced to look something up.  Living in my own  tech-savvy bubble just came to an end as it was popped and I came crashing to the ground just minutes into ED 620.

I was dumbfounded when I saw a list of 150 search engines available for various uses.  Again, I was in my own “Google bubble” and never realized that other search engines may have better answers to my questions.  Even some of the kid-friendly search engines gave me good, concise results compared to Google, Bing, and Yahoo!.  Google Scholar was something I heard of but never tried and now I wish I would have know about it years ago for all of those research projects in Undergraduate and Graduate school!

Browsing through some other search options I stumbled upon a great quotes & sayings site that provides a ton of famous quotes and sayings from authors, movies, and other people.  I throw in a few quotes throughout the year in my teachings and some worksheets but this site made it easy to find hundreds.  It got me thinking about the inspirational quotes and funny sayings I can begin classes with or lighten the mood when the math lessons are a little heavy.

Besides the vast search options available to anyone on the internet, the blogging realm is apparently booming.  Where have I been??  I do have a colleague that is always finding cool things to do in her class through Twitter, Facebook, or other media sites.  I envy her now and then because I don’t have the time to search and research things like that.  Getting into Twitter, Facebook, and blogging sites for educational purposes can really benefit me and I found that it isn’t that hard or time consuming.  Following the right people or organizations can put the information right in front of you.  Again, I said educational purposes and not socializing….but there can be socializing for educational purposes, don’t get me wrong.  I may look into the Twitter realm (I do Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat currently but for socializing) and some of the educational blogs that are out there.  To start me off though, I did find a search engine called Socialmention* that actually searches blogs for specific information you are looking for.  This can plug me into some really good blogs and Tweeters that have great ideas for the classroom.

So, what I’m really trying to say is that ED 620 started out sharp.  It got me to burst out of my bubble and find many more useful search engines (some with a little more privacy) and dabble in the educational media.  Obviously I’m now blogging and finding more sources to connect me to educational resources for my classroom.  Week 1 has been a success so far and I’m looking forward to spreading my wings even further through the rest of the course.