iClassroom

I have never been one of those people obsessed with the newest Apple product.  I didn't own an iPhone until last year and even after I got it I didn't use all of the features that make it so useful.  Then I decided to be a teacher and the program I signed up for required me to get an iPad.  

Soon after my program started I realized my Dell computer wasn't going to last through the school year and I was in need of an upgrade.  I weighed my options and decided on a Macbook Air.

I was acquiring quite a collection of Apple products and recently received an iWatch as a graduation gift for completing my teacher preparation program.

Now, I am lucky enough to start thinking about my own classroom for next year and I think I would like to use all of this newly acquired technology as an integral part of my classroom.  I am excited to use my watch as a timer without having to take out my phone.  I am excited to have the freedom of using different apps on my iPad while circulating the classroom and I can sync the iPad to my Macbook and use airplay to display my screen for the entire class to view.

I am currently considering purchasing an Apple TV for my classroom to complete the collection of Apple tools.  I am finishing up my training year in a classroom that has 1-1 iPads and an Apple TV would be great to display student screens to help facilitate a discussion.  This would make it easy to switch between videos and powerpoint slides.  The more I use these newly acquired Apple products the more I can see the uses for them in my own classroom.  I can't wait to learn how else I can use these great products to educate my students.

Second Life

Personally, I don't get it.  I tried exploring Second Life with an open mind and I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm a little older or that I am just a person who prefers real life interactions but I found Second Life to be tedious.  I feel like it requires a lot of work to set up your life inside Second Life.  Selecting my avatar was simple, but once that was complete I couldn't really navigate the program.  I tried to look at different locations and I found the location search engine to be difficult.

Now that I have shared my personal thoughts of the program I would like to share my thoughts on why one would like to participate in Second Life.  I know that it can be difficult for some people to try out different personalities in real life and they feel much more comfortable sharing their thoughts and viewpoints through a virtual outlet.  Second Life creates a space for people to be who ever they want to be.  This could be a personality that they would never want to be in real life or it could be a personality that they would like to try out virtually before trying it in real life.  I can see the practicality of both, especially for young adolescents who are learning more about themselves everyday and are changing moment to moment.  

I have to admit that the graphics in Second Life were pretty cool.  I thought the different destinations that I could find on there were beautiful.

I thought it was cool that you could visit different places virtually, but when I had trouble navigating the program I thought I would research information about Second Life on the internet.  When I searched Second Life images on Google I saw some graphic pictures that were very inappropriate for young students.  It seemed like many people use Second Life to experiment with their sexual curiosities and I would hope that there is a filter for what users are exposed to.  As an adult I would be uncomfortable with some of the images I found on my google search.

Overall, I don't think that I would ever use Second Life, but I like to know that it exists and think it could be useful for some individuals.