If anyone is looking for a great site to bookmark for future reference, I recommend the one from svanabel’s Delicious site titled “10 Online Learning Tools for Students.”  This page has some great resources I didn’t not even know existed to help students in many different subject areas. They can be used by people at all different levels.

For the Chemistry people, there are a couple different interactive Periodic Tables that will connect you right to a Wikipedia article or information window on the different elements simply by clicking on them.  What a great resource not only for high school students studying the different elements for the first time, but even college students reviewing information.

Math help is also available.  One site has a calculator that could eliminate the need for a scientific calculator when doing math problems.  Another site not only gives the solution to an answer typed in, but it also explains the steps taken to solve.  That can be a great learning tool for people struggling with higher-level math.

Several websites are also available that can help with the English language, showing strong areas and other areas that may need work.  One of the writing websites actually gives you a score on what you have written based on how well your point will get across to others.  Another resource in this article helps with several different foreign languages for people learning a second language.

These sites are all great, but the one I find most useful helps a person cite sources correctly when doing research, and then helps organize a bibliography.  As a student it is important to give credit where it is due, and this helps you do it correctly.  As a teacher, it is a great resource for your students so they understand how to cite sources and organize them in proper format.

I am sure this is just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to technology and educational tools, but I was amazed at how helpful some things can be to both students and teachers.  I have these pages bookmarked and hopefully they will come in handy at some point for me!

I am not completely out of touch when it comes to technology, but I definitely am not up to date on the newest information.  Sure, I have a Blackberry (though I admit I only use it for calls and text messaging).  I have an Ipod, and have been taking digital pictures for years.  I can search the web in a useful way and find most of what I am looking for. But, I definitely could use some help on a lot of areas of technology.  The first day of class a different language could’ve been spoken by the teacher – Twitter?  Blogging?  Picasa?  All I could think was, “Man, I have a lot to learn.”

I am excited to learn more about technology.  I ended up buying a new laptop a few days ago because my other one was outdated and not working properly.  So, I want to learn how to use this new one to the full extent.  I would like to organize my photos more effectively (I thought the face recognition software was amazing).  I really like using Firefox, even though it is going to take some getting used to.  I also didn’t realize technology could be introduced to the classroom in so many different ways.  I read the article on Iphones and how so many Apps for that are used for study aids.  And the YouTube videos on classes blogging and the advantages it has for students have also been interesting.

I am sure this class will be challenging, but I want to become more knowledgeable about technology and use some of the resources out there.