Wk 12 - 6105

Well, this is my final post for this course. It has been nice to keep a log of my personal thoughts and learning experiences that I have had in this course. It really has made me reflect on my learning.

Distance Education Evaluation
I've usually viewed DE from a student perspective, so when it came time to review on how to evaluate the effectiveness of distance education all I could think of was the end of course evaluations we do. But it goes a lot deeper than that. I also see the need for more formal evaluations in DE is perhaps more critical than in a f2f environment because you don't get the regular feedback (body language/facial expressions) to adjust your teaching. In teaching math, I rely heavily on facial expressions to determine student understanding.

It was also a good reminder of what I should be doing in my f2f classes. Sometimes I get a little lazy and don't want to do a class end evaluation.

In one of my other classes this semester I created an educational website. I also have to do some kind of usability testing. I used a Google Form for this and it worked out quite nice. This could be one way to have formal evaluations for a DE class. I would prefer this over the postcard idea. (I think the 3rd article was a bit dated)

To wrap things up, I have gained vast amounts of knowledge about the plethora of resources available if I ever get the opportunity to teach a DE class. I hope that if this happens in the future, I will be able to fully utilize what I have learned and properly implement the knowledge I have gained into the DE classroom.

Adios

Wk 12 - 6105

Who knew that iTunes had so much to offer. Especially free!!! I surely didn't. It is so great that the restrictive bounds that have been set on education are being crossed and knowledge is being freely shared over the Internet. Creative Commons is aiding in this endeavor. It is truly a remarkable day we are living in.

One note on last weeks accessibility. I just did a simulation for another class on how it would be to be blind and have to navigate the Web using a screen reader. The simulation had 3 relatively easy questions for me to find the answers to... I couldn't do it. I had to cheat. I hope I can be more conscientious when creating learning modules/activities/websites/etc online to be more accessible to ALL that may use my products.

Wk 11 - 6105

So I've always been an Internet Explorer (IE) person. Mostly because that is what came installed on my computer, it is what my dad used his computer, and that is what my work used. Then last summer for my internet development class Doug wanted us to use Firefox. I actually prefer Firefox over IE. Then this week I was introduced to Google Chrome. I think I am switching again. I just love how using the Internet just keeps getting better and better.

I also learned about wiki tools. I still don't feel comfortable with using that in my classroom because I don't trust my students. I am responsible for everything that is posted and teenagers can be very mean. I would hate for something inappropriate to be published that hurt another student. I just don't want to take that risk. Perhaps if I move to the college level I will incorporate wiki's.

Wk 11 - 6105

I read an article about accessibility of the internet for people with disabilities (PWD) and boy did it hit me hard. I can't believe that I have never thought of the frustration it might cause somebody trying the surf the internet with out a mouse, or accessing a website to find you can't access the links. I have been around PWD my entire life and thought I was pretty sensitive to their needs, but I completely missed the boat when it came to the internet. I am creating a website for one of my other classes and it looks like I have to go back and reconfigure some things. It is great when you learn something in one class that applies to another class.

Wk 10 - 6105

I read a very interesting article on characteristics of the distance ed learner. The distance learner still needs to be intrinsically motivated and have a internal locus of control, the population of learners is becoming younger and more techno-savvy. Another interesting characteristic of the online learner is they should possess great interpersonal and communication skills, especially in typing. I had to chuckle at that characteristic because I have neither. I have such a hard time getting the thoughts out of my head and on to paper. Interestingly enough, I do a much better job verbalizing my thoughts. You would think that it would be the same, but it's not. Last semester I had a 25 page paper I had to write. The instructor gave us many questions to answer. When I was struggling, my husband would come over and read the question aloud to me and I could usually answer him immediately. Then he would say, "K, now type that." I don't know why but that made a HUGE difference.

The article also covered what online instructors need to do to meet the educational needs of the changing online learner. More inquiry-based learning such as WebQuests and social interaction through dialogue and conversations. There have been many times in this class where I have read the same article as someone else, but they picked up on something I totally missed. It has truly deepened my learning and understanding of the material.

Great read and very interesting article for anyone that plans on being an online learner or teaching an online course.

Here is the reference:

Dabbagh, N. (2007). The online learner: Characteristics and pedagogical implications. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 7(3), 217- 226.

Accessed 7/20/2010 at http://www.citejournal.org/articles/v7i3general1.pdf

Wk 10 - 6105

I learned this week about Jing which is great because in another class I have to create a lesson plan with screen shots. Very convenient. Screen shots are great for some things, but not all and Jing only allows you to create 5 min videos. For most topics I teach a five minute video will not suffice.

I also learned about Moodle. Now that is something great for distance ed. Especially because it is free! I wish the presenter would have spent more time describing what each activity did instead of spending so much time on the lego example. Show me how to use it, not just what it can be used for. I have had a limited amount of interaction with Moodle, but in no way proficient. I know it will support an entire course very similar to Blackboard.

Wk 9 - 6105

I read an article this week about how distance ed is just as effective as face to face learning. . . on average. They did find that mathematics (and other sciences) are more effective in a face to face environment. I couldn't agree more. I can not begin to express the need for interaction between teacher and student in a mathematics course. Especially if you struggle. I know math does not come naturally to many people.

I have been very successful in many online courses, but I always knew I needed math face to face. The article confirmed my notion that math is better in person. Hopefully that means my job is secure :)

Wk 9 - 6105

I learned this week that Facebook actually has educational value.

I heard from a bishop in the LDS church that the number 1 reason why couples were getting divorced was because of Facebook. Being a newly wed, I wanted nothing to do with it, but I created an account to go along with the presentation this week and am actually glad I did. I have found long lost friends from high school and college and get to keep in touch with my family that is out of state. It will be important that I use facebook appropriately and not let it get in the way of spending time with my husband.

I don't think my district has any plans of allowing facebook to be accessed at my school any time soon, but the presentation showed how social networking sites can be of educational value. I kind of see it like the discussion boards we have with blackboard. The discussion boards have been a great resource throughout this degree, so it could be very effective in a classroom situation rather it be F2F or online.

Wk 8 - 6105

What I've been learning about this week (not particularly in this class) is that change is coming. Technology is here to stay and we, as teachers, need to adapt to the changing world of education. That is why I think this course is so beneficial. We get to spend 8 weeks learning about technologies and how to implement them into the classroom or in a distance education setting.

This week we learned about Windows Movie Maker and Audacity. Both great tools to use in the classroom, not to mention free, which is a word all educators love to hear. I wrote a lesson plan a few weeks ago that had the students creating a movie. I didn't know quite how I was going to implement it because I was not aware of Windows Movie Maker. Now I am definitely going to use this lesson plan next year.

Wk 8 - 6105

In our readings this week I read a research article done by Jung in 2005. Summing it up very briefly they compared the cost-effectiveness of online teacher training to face-to-face instruction. They found that the online teacher training was more cost effective than face-to-face instruction. However, the face-to-face instruction was more effective. They gave a couple of reasons for this. The one that stood out to me was "... the absences of online pedagogies" (Jung, 2005, p. 145). "This supports the results of previous studies in which instructional design, rather than technology itself, has been found to be a key factor in making differences in learning" (Jung 2005, p.145). These two phrases really jumped off the page for me. We, as teachers, need to be aware that what may work fabulously in the classroom probably won't have the same effectiveness in an online setting. As we prepare online courses, we need to be educated ourselves in online pedagogies and best practices for the online classroom to facilitate student learning and not solely rely on what works in a face-to-face environment.

Wk 7 - 6105

The presentation I watched this week was on PowerPoint. I thought I knew all I needed to know about PowerPoint, but Marc did an excellent job of showing the many capabilities of the tool. The presentation made me think of all the PowerPoint's that I have created in the past. I started out really well making them thought provoking and all, but recently I have become lazy and just put bullet points up. It reminded me that I need to capture the attention of my students and keep them engaged. I need to do a better job. Looks like I'll be revamping quite a few of my PowerPoint's to make them more student friendly.

Wk 7 - 6105

This week our class read an article about the trends of distance education. The article mostly focused on wiki's, blogs, and pod-casting. I post daily to my teaching blog on what activities we did in class that day. Wiki's I am a little more concerned about. I totally see there use in higher education where students are a little more mature. One of the class members (in the discussion group) related a story of a friend that had a class wiki and a student went to it and changed it to say derogatory remarks about another student. I can see that being a big issue in the k-12 setting. I know on my school blog, if anyone wants to post a comment, I have is set up that a email is sent to me first to either approve or delete the comment. That is one of the things our districts' appropriate use policy (AUP) stresses that we as teachers are responsible for EVERYTHING posted on our blog including student comments. So we have to take appropriate measures to block unwanted comments/material from appearing on anything school related.

Wk 6 - 6105

As I read about open courseware and how teachers and students could benefit from it, I thought to look up MIT's offerings for math and psychology. Most of the math classes were above what would be taught in a high school setting. (As I thought about it, you are probably not going to MIT if you need Math 950.) Their lowest offering was for Calculus and since I don't teach Calculus it is not going to do me much good. However, as I was researching psychology, they do offer quite a few courses for it. This could be a great resource to develop my skills as a psychology teacher. I was just playing around for about an hour and came up with all sorts of ideas I could use next year. For example, I feel I do not do enough cooperative learning in my class and one of the classes I looked at was read this article and discuss it within your group. I think it would be great for me to hand out some of those articles for my students to read and then have them discuss in small groups.

I also looked at USU's open courseware. They only had a doctoral level class for psychology and there was a math 1050 offering, but none of the links worked. I'll have periodically check back to see if there is more for psych or math.

Wk 6 - 6105

This week I learned about 2 new technologies. Slide Rocket and UStream. UStream looks like it has a lot of functionality and could have huge benefits for distance education and face to face education. However, for me right now it is not a reality because I don't have a camera. I don't have personal funds for one and my department is strapped for money. We have to buy our own batteries for our calculators.

Slide Rocket looked like it could create amazing slide shows that are a step above PowerPoint. However, it is only a 30-day free trial and then you have to pay. I can see my administrators saying that PowerPoint is "good enough". So I'm afraid that this week, I can't really use what I learned. However it is good to have it in the back of my head for future references.

Wk 5 - 6105

I just watched the workshop for Skype. While I have heard of it, it was great to see how it could be used in the classroom. For psychology next year, I am going to see if I can get some professionals to "visit" class via Skype. It cuts on transportation costs and time away from work for the professional. It has the potential to be a very useful tool.

Wk 5 - 6105

So I learned this week about Google Calendar. I am a big fan of the syllabus so I know what is going on for the whole semester and since my undergraduate work, I've always transferred what was on the syllabus to a monthly calendar to keep track of everything. If I have a spare minute, I'm going to transfer all the stuff from my paper calendar to the Google calendar. This is a great tool for students to utilize.

But I wanted to focus my attention to how a teacher could use this for distance education and since you can share the calendar with others, why not create a calendar for a class instead of a syllabus. I would prefer that if I was a student. Also since you can add a detailed description to any event or task, you can add all the pertinent information. Some details may need to be worked out, but I think it is a great idea.

On a side note. . . What would we do without Google nowadays? I don't think I know how to research any other way :)

Week 4 - 6105

Web 2.0 is a great resource that I have yet to really explore how to use in my classroom. I haven't really explored the idea because getting into a computer lab is next to impossible at my school, but even if I am able to use my computer and project onto a screen, I think there are some great things out there just waiting for me to discover. Hopefully this class will expose me to some of the resources available.

Week 4 - 6105

I have been using a blog in my classroom for a while now to upload class notes, but I haven't tapped into the potential of blogs. For teaching math there are a few ideas out there how to incorporate a blog, but with my AP Psychology students the possibilities are endless. It is important on the AP exam that they write carefully constructed essays. A blog is great for getting them thinking and practicing writing essays for the exam. I think it would also be of great value for them to read other students writings and comment on them. It would also be very easy for me to make personalized comments to the students. This is something that is feasible to incorporate next year into my teaching.