Web 2.0 Technology Professional Development

As I come to conclusion with my Web 2.0 Technology class, I will focus my future on not being scared to explore things that I am not familiar with. I have really enjoyed finding new tools to work with, so much to the point where we are implementing several of the tools I have discovered in this class on my own campus. Moving forward, I am going to focus on keeping up with new and innovative technology by attending a few conferences. The TCCA, TCEC and TCEA are all on my list to attend. Although I did miss a conference just recently, I was able to keep up with it by following it on Twitter and having my tech-spec send me snap shots of a few vendors that I should check out. Twitter was a tool that I really was hesitant to use, but have a new found happiness with it. It is a great resource to use for keeping up with what is going on in the classroom and new idea to incorporate in the classroom. I have followed groups such as eLearning Industry, EdTechFam, Schoology, EdSocialMedia, KidsDiscover, WeAreTeachers, MindShift, EducatorInnovator, TCEA, just to name a few that I have found helpful with keeping up with new innovations. Another great way to keep up with technology is through Schoology. Within the platform, you can join communities to share ideas with other educators. Also, there has been a website that I have recently fell in love with is a blog by Amy Mayer called FriedTechnology. This website reviews new technology and creates discussion over topics that are relevant to the classroom. I really enjoy her posts as she covers some pretty interesting topics. All of these that I have posted are new ways that I have discovered either through my exploration for this class or by communicating with collegues and coming across them. These are all ways that I would not normally seek out professional development opportunities to explore new web 2.0 technologies. Outside of these listed above, I can always resort to my district as we have online as well as in-person professional development. With my district, I also have access to Region 4 which offers a plethora of professional development. I have really enjoyed my searches thus far and can't wait to see what I come across next.