Online Learning

I think that one technology that would be cool to use with my first grade students is an electronic portfolio.  First graders grow and learn so much throughout the year it would be great to electronically see their growth.  Two things that I think would be great to include in an electronic portfolio are their reading and writing.  I would like students to record themselves reading at the beginning of the year, in the middle of the year, and at the end of the year.  They would be able to hear how much they have grown as a reading over the course of the year.  In first grade we also “publish” a few of their Writers Workshop stories.  I would love for their writing to be saved electronically so they could see their growth. 

It would take a lot of practice and modeling in order for first graders to be successful with an online portfolio.  I think that it would be a great ongoing project to do with an older grade.  First graders could have a “technology buddy” from an older grade to support and help them with this project. 

One technology that I think would be difficult to use with my students is online research.  It is difficult for first graders to complete online research.  Finding information that they can read and understand is difficult.  Students need to be giving specific sites to visit and finding these sites can be hard.  Research is a difficult thing for first graders to complete on their own.

Online learning is a great way of learning for students to become familiar with at a young age.