Module 3, "Matrix"

This matrix is huge, and it is easy to get lost in all of the resources linked to it. I have not clicked on every example of every math lesson, but I've viewed enough of them to understand that technology plays a mid-level role in my math classroom, and that is all that can be hoped for, I'm afraid, until we achieve a one-to-one environment with reliable access. To the best of my understanding, I and my classroom are at the Adaption/Constructive level, occasionally stretching to the Infusion/Constructive level. Thanks to math software and graphing calculators, my students are not just passive recipients of technology. I frequently ask students to explore ideas using software. And thanks to the internal assessment required by the International Baccalaureate, at least twice a year, my students are required to explore an idea and to express their conclusions using a technology of their own choosing.

In module two, I am struck again by how completely behind I am in the world of technology integration. I love the idea of using Quizstar, for example, to assess students away from school, and I am intrigued by the language of the technology standards. They make me think about my expectations for student engagement in a whole new way. With their emphasis on critical thinking and creativity, however, they also remind me about  the danger of confusing teaching with technology and teaching course content. In my math classroom, technology will only ever be a means to an end. As I enter the Web 2.0 world, I need to keep that in mind and to stay focused on the place of technology in my classroom: it's just the tool; it's not the treasure. I often ask students to explore topics using technology, and twice a year (thanks to the International Baccalaureate Internal Assessment) I have asked my students to pick an technology they think appropriate to express their own ideas.

I have been working through the first module of the eLearning course and in doing so have become enchanted with Symbaloo. I don't know why I find it so much more exciting than the ordinary bookmarks, but I do. Perhaps it's because the tiles are spread out for all to see and not hidden away in a hyperlinked list that unfolds pieces of itself only when clicked.

I am also intrigued with this particular exercise, blogging to reflect learning. I've never blogged before, and I have quite limited experience with others' blogs. All in all, the course has already launched me on new adventures, well worth remembering and therefore in need of documenting via media like Symbaloo and Blogger.

Is there a special word to describe the odd circularity that documenting and reflecting on my eLearning adventures are themselves eLearning adventures?