Welcome to my blog!

My name is Alyssa Johnson. I am a first year student at the University of Lethbridge. I was originally born and raised in Calgary and I finished my first two years of schooling in the Education program at Mount Royal College. I am a Physical Education major with a passion to teach Special Needs. I have worked with numerous children with various disorders and am looking forward to broadening my knowledge in this area. In my spare time I enjoy being with my friends and family, playing fastball and volleyball and coaching. I am very excited to be in this program and to be working with such inspired individuals!

Blogging is one of the newer productivity tools I have been introduced to. I am somewhat familiar with it from a previous education technology course I took at Mount Royal College. Although I am in no means an expert at blogging, I definately see the positive aspects it can bring to the "education world." Through many of the articles posted I can see the many ways in which blogging can enhance learning. It is useful for personal reasons such as student reflections and diaries, daily homework assignments and postings and serves as an effective parent-teacher communication strategy. Besides personal use, blogging can be an interesting way for students to interact with one another. Through blogging students have the opportunity to post their own work and ideas for other students to reflect upon. It is also a way for students to share with their parents what they have accomplished or are working on at school. For example, in a grade five class I was in last year the students were working on their online art portfolios. They uploaded pictures of their artwork at school and reflected on both their own work and the work of their other classmates. Furthermore, they were to have their parents also review and reflect on their work. I found it to be a very beneficial activity.

There is so much that I would like to learn about blogging. I see blogging as a way for students to not only interact with eachother but also students worldwide. The technology we are being introduced to and providing for our students is creating lifelong and memorable learning experiences. Students of all ages can benefit from using online tools such as blogging and I look forward to intergating these tools into my classroom.