Big Waves in The Brandon Center

             It's totally understandable that people have differing views on using technology on classroom, but I think one point we all can agree on is having class in the Brandon Center was AWESOME! Being able to break out into groups where each group has their own space equipped with large displays and a quite environment allowed us to hash out our ideas without having to huddle around a 13" screen and play "which group can talk the loudest?"

            Not only was the environment enjoyable, but so was the lesson and it's discussion. FINALLY we got to practice not only making lesson plans, but using a teaching theory! Being able to use backward design to  construct a lesson plan, as opposed to just talking about the theory itself was a great help. I think it's safe to say the group I way in (RJ, Curtis and myself) must be more backward-oriented then most. And yes, I'm admitting that we may be a little "bass- ackwards". We were able to hash out our overall goal relatively easily, and use it to form an effective lesson that would help us arrive at our intended goal.

           Adding to the ease of this lesson was the help we received from our personal librarian. She was able to to not only offer suggestions about the lesson plan's design, but was able to show us different avenues on the computer we could explore to enhance the lesson's effectiveness. She was able to show us tools ranging from research databases, to presentation tools such as VoiceThread and Ustream. I believe incorporating these tools and others like them into the designing and presenting of lessons will provide great new ways of presenting information in a manner which will keep the students interested.

So here's a thought: What if every class was in the Brandon Center, all lesson plans are done in groups, and we have access to our own personal librarians whenever needed? Is this possible? If not, I definitely think it should be considered in order to maximize our "learning experience". BOOM! What up now, Anderson & Krathwohl!?