The reading this week in Going Google has made me more curious about the ability of google to support communication with families. I have been using google gmail, calendar and docs for myself and with colleagues for the last two years, but I am just now realizing that theses tools have more features and options.  I also read about new features; templates and sites. I am very interested in trying out  the google site to create a website for my classroom.  However, in the reading I did learn that there may be other ways to keep families up to date( calendar, google docs, etc) The one question I have is how much education will it take to ensure families understand how to access these tools, etc in order to receive the information. It made me wonder about creating some type of questionnaire or information gathering tool at the beginning of the school year to assess what families are already using and what their preference and comfort levels are with technology.

As we are discussing all of the free apps for use with students, it got me thinking about how to use technology with very young children. I know of a few apps that I can use, and I am sure there are many more, however, I began to wonder if it might be helpful to start thinking about how technology can support me as the educator. What software, apps, etc are out there that will help me, maybe help me to be more organized, to be better at tracking and analyzing data, planning embedded curriculum or engaging students and increasing parent involvement.  When I was reading the articles on facebook for the online discussions this week one had a link to another Facebook page called Free Tech for Teachers, a site I want to investigate a little more. I also found a few links to digital portfolios for young children that were intriguing.

Where do I hit a wall with technology.......at times I feel like every time I touch a computer, tablet or other devices I hit a wall! I have basic computer skills, I can use simple programs, databases, social media, and apps, but I believe there is more I can do, that I am not using the programs or apps to their fullest potential. I also feel like I use the same technology over and over again because it is what I know and what I am comfortable with. I am not afraid to try new technology and I feel comfortable playing around, however, it is the time I need to explore that creates a very large, brick wall!

The first obstacle I have that does impact the use of technology is the lack of it. In the classroom currently, I have one old desktop. This computer is very temperamental, slow to start and slow at almost all the  software. The upside is that this computer is not a school computer, it belongs to the agency with whom we have collaborated with  for several years. Unfortunately, the collaboration is coming to an end, and they will be taking the computer with them. We have had several talks about what we need in the classroom to support our work and what we could use interactively with children. At the least I will have a laptop, and possible a Promethean board, or maybe something else. I am not sure how to work around the obstacle of not having any technology in the room, except advocating for the needs of both myself and my students. I can also provide concrete information for the principal and technology department of what the needs are and how technology can be used to support and increase students engagement in learning opportunities.

Recently I was told that there is a possibility of  installing Promethean boards in our preschool classrooms. What I realize is how much I have to learn in order to use this technology in a way that is interactive and meaningful for the children in my classroom. I have never used a Promethean board and have only observed briefly in classrooms where they are in use. I fear that this technology will be added without the support to learn both the hardware and software.  However, for this blog I researched Promethean boards and found some great YouTube videos which showed how early childhood educators are currently using them as well as instructional videos for the basics, such as, how to turn on the board and how to use the active inspire software. I am uncertain whether or not we will have Promethean boards for this upcoming year, but after watching the videos I am excited to try this new technology.

     So here it is, my first blog. As I was thinking about technologies and what I know little to nothing about, it occurred to me, I know little to nothing about Blogs. When I did a little web research on blogs I found out that it is an abbreviated name for web log(a website with a series of entries). I understand now that there are many types of blogs, and that they can range from personal to political. Blogs can have one author or many authors. When I explored a little further I found one site called 'Edublogs', this site allows teachers to create and manage blogs for themselves and their students. The teacher can create a blog which then provides students with the opportunity to publish and reflect on their own work.  It is also a way for students to share their work and collaborate with other students. I was thinking of using technology to share information with families, I wonder about creating a blog. It looks like blogs would give me the capacity to add information, such as, articles, calendars and links. I wonder if other educators in this course are using blogs, and if so how?