Thursday, May 13, 2010
Course Reflection
Overall, I learned many new things this semester. I thought I knew about the internet before this course, but now I realize that I really didn’t know much at all! Richardson’s book was enlightening, comprehensive, and very interesting to read. Some of the things he mentioned (like RSS feeds) I had never heard of and am now excited to try. His connection to education was also very powerful. I thoroughly enjoyed the book for this course. There are still so many things to learn and applications to use and play with, but I feel that I have a much better understanding of the technologies available and the potential use in education in regards to the internet.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Assignments for Internet Applications
Wiki: Very important aspect of this class. Showed how to apply the internet in a meaningful way. End product very useful. A great tool to learn and use in the k-12 classroom to encourage collaboration and participation.
WebQuest: A easy way for teachers to integrate technology. WebQuests are fun for the students and neat to create. Something to consider for future semesters… many students in this course had no experience in web design so it would be helpful to have the assignment due date later and additional resources on web design. Perhaps make that a prerequisite for this course, web design experience or to take authoring systems prior?
Participation:
Synchronous- I did not like Second Life. Although neat to play with, it took a really long time to download and install and I had a lot of technical problems with it afterwards as well. Palace worked fine, but DimDim or something similar would be my ultimate choice. These “class times” were very enlightening though! Just like the student led discussions, I really enjoyed the opinions from my classmates.
Asynchronous- I enjoyed the topics used for discussion. It did seem like there were not very many discussions in the beginning and then all of a sudden it was hard to keep up with them all. Also, the amount of “unnecessary” replies was a bit overwhelming. 2000 posts looks good, but many of them were simple “I agree”or “thanks.” While I did read all of the posts and commented on each one, I only felt it necessary to reply when I had meaningful and thoughtful comments to make.
Discussion Facilitation: This was fun! It was really neat to be able to pick a topic I was interested in, research it, and hear everyone’s opinion. These student led discussions were my favorite posts! I think for future courses that all of the discussions should be this way, even the early discussions could be students led. Start in the beginning of the semester picking topics and facilitating early on. This way students will quickly feel confident and comfortable in their discussion posts.
Web Site: Same comments as the WebQuest.
CMS: Moodle was a very easy program to use. While the project was a lot more comprehensive then I first imagined (but I probably did that on my own!), it was still very easy to edit and add content. I created a CMS that I will actually continue to add to and use for my students next year. A very powerful (and free!) application of the internet!
Blog: Blogging has a lot of educational potential. I personally do not enjoy blogging because I do not like for any personal business, thoughts, etc.. published to the internet. Although, for students in k-12, blogging is a great way to encourage participation, get answers to questions, discuss content, and even create stronger bonds with classmates and instructors. I will definitely be trying out blogging next year! And now with RSS feeds, I won’t have to worry about inappropriate content being posted!
PodCast: I really liked this assignment! I had a few friends come over and record the character voices. We all got really into it and had a blast! The end product was great too. PodCasting is definitely an internet application that should be used in k-12. Not only teacher created, but the students could create them as well which will help them better master content.
Twitter: Not a fan. Would be interested to see what that online seminar says are the benefits in education. The only benefit I see is important mass information to parents and students. Apart from that I do not think it is appropriate for parents, students, and teachers to be tweeting. It is too personal.
Overall these assignments were appropriate for the learning goals. There was definitely a lot going on at once which made things very stressful at times. I felt like I was repeating thoughts over and over in discussions, twitter, and blogs. I definitely recognize the educational potential for all of these assignments as a teacher, but I found it hard to really enjoy using some of the applications because I was so overwhelmed with it all. All three of these communication tools at once in one semester was just a lot of work on top of all of the other assignments. Maybe in future semesters, these things could still be used but not all at once?
WebQuest: A easy way for teachers to integrate technology. WebQuests are fun for the students and neat to create. Something to consider for future semesters… many students in this course had no experience in web design so it would be helpful to have the assignment due date later and additional resources on web design. Perhaps make that a prerequisite for this course, web design experience or to take authoring systems prior?
Participation:
Synchronous- I did not like Second Life. Although neat to play with, it took a really long time to download and install and I had a lot of technical problems with it afterwards as well. Palace worked fine, but DimDim or something similar would be my ultimate choice. These “class times” were very enlightening though! Just like the student led discussions, I really enjoyed the opinions from my classmates.
Asynchronous- I enjoyed the topics used for discussion. It did seem like there were not very many discussions in the beginning and then all of a sudden it was hard to keep up with them all. Also, the amount of “unnecessary” replies was a bit overwhelming. 2000 posts looks good, but many of them were simple “I agree”or “thanks.” While I did read all of the posts and commented on each one, I only felt it necessary to reply when I had meaningful and thoughtful comments to make.
Discussion Facilitation: This was fun! It was really neat to be able to pick a topic I was interested in, research it, and hear everyone’s opinion. These student led discussions were my favorite posts! I think for future courses that all of the discussions should be this way, even the early discussions could be students led. Start in the beginning of the semester picking topics and facilitating early on. This way students will quickly feel confident and comfortable in their discussion posts.
Web Site: Same comments as the WebQuest.
CMS: Moodle was a very easy program to use. While the project was a lot more comprehensive then I first imagined (but I probably did that on my own!), it was still very easy to edit and add content. I created a CMS that I will actually continue to add to and use for my students next year. A very powerful (and free!) application of the internet!
Blog: Blogging has a lot of educational potential. I personally do not enjoy blogging because I do not like for any personal business, thoughts, etc.. published to the internet. Although, for students in k-12, blogging is a great way to encourage participation, get answers to questions, discuss content, and even create stronger bonds with classmates and instructors. I will definitely be trying out blogging next year! And now with RSS feeds, I won’t have to worry about inappropriate content being posted!
PodCast: I really liked this assignment! I had a few friends come over and record the character voices. We all got really into it and had a blast! The end product was great too. PodCasting is definitely an internet application that should be used in k-12. Not only teacher created, but the students could create them as well which will help them better master content.
Twitter: Not a fan. Would be interested to see what that online seminar says are the benefits in education. The only benefit I see is important mass information to parents and students. Apart from that I do not think it is appropriate for parents, students, and teachers to be tweeting. It is too personal.
Overall these assignments were appropriate for the learning goals. There was definitely a lot going on at once which made things very stressful at times. I felt like I was repeating thoughts over and over in discussions, twitter, and blogs. I definitely recognize the educational potential for all of these assignments as a teacher, but I found it hard to really enjoy using some of the applications because I was so overwhelmed with it all. All three of these communication tools at once in one semester was just a lot of work on top of all of the other assignments. Maybe in future semesters, these things could still be used but not all at once?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Communication Tools
Now that the semester is coming to a close and I feel more comfortable with the communication tools we have experimented with and discussed, I just wanted to share my thoughts.
Facebook: I am still not convinced this is a good tool for education. While fun and informative, I think that this medium gives teachers and student way TOO much information.
Twitter: While I am not a fan of twitter for personal use, it is a great way to send mass information to parents if all parents have access.
Blog: Potential very useful. Students could ask their peers questions, discuss content, and get quick answers from their teacher. Needs to be monitored very closely by the teacher and students need to be aware of the boundaries.
Wiki: Great tool for student collaboration. A quick and easy way for students to participate and for teachers to assess knowledge. Also can be stored online instead of a paper project/report that would get thrown away.
Websites/CMS: My favorite tool because I think most of the above mentioned tools can be accomplished using a school website or a CMS. Students, parents, and teachers can blog, they can get quick information, they can use a wiki for collaboration, and much more.
Facebook: I am still not convinced this is a good tool for education. While fun and informative, I think that this medium gives teachers and student way TOO much information.
Twitter: While I am not a fan of twitter for personal use, it is a great way to send mass information to parents if all parents have access.
Blog: Potential very useful. Students could ask their peers questions, discuss content, and get quick answers from their teacher. Needs to be monitored very closely by the teacher and students need to be aware of the boundaries.
Wiki: Great tool for student collaboration. A quick and easy way for students to participate and for teachers to assess knowledge. Also can be stored online instead of a paper project/report that would get thrown away.
Websites/CMS: My favorite tool because I think most of the above mentioned tools can be accomplished using a school website or a CMS. Students, parents, and teachers can blog, they can get quick information, they can use a wiki for collaboration, and much more.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wiki
The course wiki is really turning out great! Everyone has put so much work into it and it really is going to be a fabulous resource! I am wondering if after this course is over, if we could make the wiki public? I think it would be a priceless source for new teachers! I would have loved to have something like this when I started teaching! Or maybe even a resource for beginning ITEC students? After many semesters in this program, I still am hearing about new tools and resources from classmates. I think we picked an awesome topic! Great job everyone!
Discussion
I am really enjoying my facilitation discussions! Everyone always seems to have such valid points and brings up things I have never even thought of! It is so interesting to get others opinions and ideas. Thanks for all your comments and thoughts all!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Moodle
Finally digging into Moodle and am really enjoying it! I definitely see the potential for this type of technology. While I probably will never teach an online course, the CMS I am setting up could be used along side of my regular classroom. Maybe for resources, additional help, parents, fun activities, things I don't have time for during class, etc... For this project, I plan on completing the required aspects, but I will definitely be working on it over the summer in order to use it for my students next year!
Friday, April 30, 2010
CMS and more?
Almost done with the CMS assignment. Excited about that.
I really feel like I have put more work into this course than any other course I have taken for this degree, yet I still can't keep up with all the different parts. The things that I feel like I'm doing really great with (the major assignments) I'm a little frustrated about the marks I received. Nothing "horrible" but still disappointed :(
Sorry for venting, but I am so used to be on top of everything and I just can't seem to do that here. Not a good feeling!
I really feel like I have put more work into this course than any other course I have taken for this degree, yet I still can't keep up with all the different parts. The things that I feel like I'm doing really great with (the major assignments) I'm a little frustrated about the marks I received. Nothing "horrible" but still disappointed :(
Sorry for venting, but I am so used to be on top of everything and I just can't seem to do that here. Not a good feeling!
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