Let me begin by saying that the title of this post may not be entirely accurate. This in more of a tentative plan, or a wish list of sorts, rather than an actual blueprint of what technologies will be implemented in my curriculum. That being said, here is my tentative “blueprint”:

1. Blogging: I think blogging has a great deal of potential in my curriculum. At this point in time, I am planning on posting a question or idea in the form of a blog on a weekly basis (or possibly more frequently). My students will then have the opportunity (actually I would require them) to respond by posting their own answers/thoughts. This would be excellent for “open ended questions,” as it provides each student to provide their input, and gain insight from the other students. Just as with “traditional literacy” training, the process would have to be modeled approximately ten times until the students take “ownership” of the methods and expectations associated with the technique. This is not to say that they don’t know how to comment on blogs, as I am sure most of them do. I am merely trying to say that it will take several times until they become familiar with the requirements (I think I will see a lot of ”I don’t know” or “I agree with _____” answers in an attempt to get out of the work. I like the idea of being able to preview their responses before they are posted (call it censorship if you want).
2. Podcasting: Podcasts may have some merit, especially when it comes to students who are absent for prolonged periods. By podcasting the lessons, the students would be able to watch them at a later date and time, outside of school. It would also allow for independent review of the material from the class. This method also has a great deal of potential for students who have poor note taking or writing skills (particularly related to speed), as they could use the podcast to supplement their notes. Notice I said supplement, not replace!
3. Wikis: I am a bit more tentative about the use of wikis, however, I do see limited potential as a means of making and presenting a final report for a project, which could then be reviewed and commented on by other members of the class.
4. Social Bookmarking: This has potential, as the students and I could use it to develop a listing of sites related to the class.
5. On-line calendars: This is something I have attempted to do off of my class’s webpage. I post a calendar for the class which allows the students, their parents, actually anyone to see what activities are happening on a given day, along with when tests/quizzes are scheduled, and when assignments are do. The key here is remembering to update it.
6. Interactive programs: We, as a school have embraced some web 2.0 applications, such as “Career Cruising”. These allow the students to take interest assessments, and prepare resumes on-line. Our “virtual hydraulic excavator simulator” also falls into this category.
7. Finally, I will continue have the students utilize some of the “old” web 1.0 methods to locate information. As in the past, word processing, will be coupled with the research to develop printed documents.

Fortunately, my program/field of study is very technology advanced, and those items have been, and will continue to be part of the curriculum. Surveying is one of these areas. Lasers and GPS are already incorporated into the curriculum. In addition, most of the equipment has, on average four (4) computer processors. Several of the machines allow the operator to interface with the machine.

I am happy to say that this class has given me some new insights into the integration of technology, and I look forward to implementing several of these items in the fall.