Week 8-My Ahas!

I have had several Aha! moments this semester. One was to really grasp the idea of just using technology for the sake of saying that you are using technology. I am not sure if I every really thought about it before. This occured to me when I was research articles and reading through discussions on the reluctance of teachers to use technology. In some cases the resistance my come from past experiences with technology and to what extent they were asked to use it. The workshop approach just simnply not enough. Teachers want hands-on, pracitcal experiences. They want to talk to other teachers in simiilar situations (teaching an overflowing classroom of students, extra duties, etc) and see how the technology is working out for them. Is it REALLY making their lives easier or are they using technology for the sake of saying they are using the technology? If it has positively contributed to their lives that will allow other educators to have a different perspective from the beginning.

Just because my experience with technology has been, for the most part, positive, I cannot assume that it will be the same for everyone else. I need to stop saying "this is SO easy" or "you're going to love this" when discussing the use of technology. I have found that others are much more willing to ask for help if I take a different approach. Letting them know that it works for me and maybe it can do the same for them takes the pressure of failure out of the picture.

I enjoyed the class and the opportunity to not only look at available technologies, but also to reflect on current practices and chances to improve upon what is already being used.

Educational Technology Concept Map

Week 7 Reflections

I really like the reminder about teaching and learning (and demonstrating to mom how to send an email is DEFINITELY teaching!) in areas other than K-12. I am guilty of getting wrapped up and focusing on teaching inthe classroom. This week I decided to focus on a team that I will be putting together this summer to develop a much needed and anticipated teacher education manual for our department. While every team member has SO much to contribute to the manual, organizing, analyzing, and presenting the material is another story. From what I understand there have been efforts in the past, but it has been too much of an overwhelming task to take on in addition to all the other required duties. By using Skype, even those off campus will be able to participate in the meetings. I have used Google and its various applications for several years and can't believe how under-utilized it is. By developing one document for use by the team, it may eliminate confusion due to numerous emails and attachments floating around. I am hoping that by using some of the FREE available technologies we can accompish this task and keep everyone satisfied that their input is valued and considered.

Week 6 Reflections

I cannot imagine teaching my online courses without some sort of communication tools. I know many professors that only ise the discussion forums for communication and it is not as effecitve in collaboration as some of the tools that we have used in this class. Students want additional means of communicating with their classmates and the professor. It is not enough to throw a topic out on a discussion forums to 20-30 students and expect them to provide meaningful exchanges between one another.

There is so much reluctance and resistance to change in higher education. We cannot use the excuse that it costs too much because some of the best tools to enhance communication or very reasonable or free. There are no excuses. If I had a magic wand I would ensure that every person teaching an online course had to be a student in both a really well constructed online course and a really poorly designed course.

Texting in Class

I subscribe to the Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus and received this in my Inbox yesterday. I only teach one undergrad class and I get SO irritated at the students texting in class. Any suggestions?

Guilt Is Not Enough to Stop Students From Texting in Class

Week 5 Reflections

The MAPping activity was very useful. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that the website “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus” was not a real website. I used the website activity with my children as well and my oldest was baffled that there would be something “fake” on the Internet. The links within the document led to either the document itself or Wikipedia. When using other search engines such as Google.com, Altavitsa.com, and Yahoo.com, the search yielded about the same results. The website listed “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus” first and then some sites referencing it as a spoof. My son pointed out that it was listed first on all the searches so it must be real. It wasn’t until we read down the list that he realized the additional information regarding the site. I went to www.easywhois.com to do a search on the website but nothing came up. I did another search for another website and it worked fine so maybe it was the particular site. The website was created in 1998 and had numerous page revisions until 2009. It was originally created for entertainment but later became used for educational purposes, as noted in Dr. November’s article.

The implications were evident when I talked to my children about this. We have good filters on our home computer and I have not been overly concerned about them accessing inappropriate material. It was a great opportunity to share with them the importance of being an informed consumer of information. Lessons such as these should be conducted in the classrooms to teach children this at any early age.

I have been interested in setting up an account in Delicious for a while. It was a good opportunity for me to consolidate and organize some folders on my desktop and many links within my favorites. I especially like the fact that I can network and learn of other informative sites that could be useful. Bookmarking applications could be a useful tool for my students to gather useful websites, share them, and set up networks with other users.

Week 4 Reflections

Ironically, this week I received a review copy of a new textbook titled "Instruction for Learning." Normally this book would have found its place among the other textbooks that will not be used because it is not related to my discipline. I took some time to review the contents of the book because of its relevance to the current week in class. It is full of information related to the 10 research based principles and I will be sharing with my colleagues for possible implementation in their courses.

The tenet is which I most readily relate would be the one on motivation. I think this is because of my fields of special education and classroom management. I have witnessed the most disengaged, poor performing students become interested in learning once they became motivated. This may be through the use of technology, or simply finding what interests them and applying it to the learning environment. I think teachers underestimate the power of motivation.

I am actually in the process of implementing some sort of eportfolio system both for the teacher education program candidates and my educational diagnostician graduate students. It is a daunting task and I am just waiting on the right people to help get this from a theory to practice! Under the right circumstances and guidance I believe that an eportfolio system is imperative to students graduating and entering the workforce.