EDU 505 – Multimedia and Internet for Educators

pounds08 — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:09:34 +0000

OVERVIEW:

I honestly have never been one to enjoy online classes very much. I took one a few years ago that completely turned me off of them, so I have preferred the face to face classroom over the virtual classroom. Last fall however, I decided to set my hesitations aside and take another online class. I am very happy with that decision I made and because of this class I have signed up to take my last two classes at SUNY Oswego online this summer. My background is not extensive when it comes to online classes but I can only imagine they are only getting better.

I can understand the adversity to online classes, with being a teacher myself, interaction between the student and other students as well as a teacher is very important for students. However, what I don’t understand is the research that suggests there is a lack of social support and presence. This class would prove the research wrong. I really liked that we established a great sense of community without ever seeing each other face to face. This may be because we are all teachers, and teachers are the outgoing, “helper” type. Or this may be that you just got a good group of students. I could not believe the willingness to help that so many offered. So many people were there to answer questions, to give advice and to share ideas. You really don’t see sharing very much in other professions; people are too territorial over “their” work. But teachers share to survive.

While taking some time to reflect, I can’t exactly pinpoint a major concern that I have with this graduate course. The discussions were great, this class was very much student centered. You took off your “teacher hat,” and gave the students full reign in this course. You let the discussions go where they needed to go, and you didn’t impose your views on the class. I also liked the format of this class (four modules was not overwhelming), you gave sufficient time to complete assignments, and you always gave sufficient ways to implement certain projects in our classroom. It did not feel like we were being charged with doing busy work. The projects completed were things we could actually implement into our classroom, and that was much appreciated. When compiling my list of links for the webliography I couldn’t help but think why I didn’t do this before. I think this is a great resource to have for each unit that I teach. I say this because there are always students who are interested in going above and beyond, or students who are primarily interested in one particular project. This webliography would be great for those students. They would have an opportunity to learn more than what I just teach in the classroom, and they could become the mini expert for the class. The webquest project alone was something that opened my eyes. I was doing these things in my classroom that I called webquests, but looking back after learning what I learned, they are in fact NOT webquests. They are just a list of links with information that students needed to use to answer questions. The last project, the weblog was probably my least favorite. I say this only because it is almost like we are adding another thing to teacher’s already overcrowded plate. I know this could be used sporadically through out the course but then I do not see that as an authentic blog. So blogging for me will have to be well thought out before I decide to implement it into my classroom.

When I take some time to reflect on online classes as a whole, I do have some reservations. My reservations do not lie with taking graduate courses online; I think that is a fantastic idea for many reasons. I think taking online classes is a great choice for parents who have children that need to be attended to, students who would like to take classes at a certain college that may be too far away, or especially now, the ever looming possibility of four dollar a gallon gas. My reservations do lie however, with students fresh out of high school taking their associates or bachelors degree solely online. The college experience is so much of a learning process in and of itself. Our young adults learn how to act in certain social situations, they learn what the classroom is like when people actually WANT to be there, and sometimes, they learn how to live with each other. So while I am a definite proponent of online classes, I don’t believe that students coming directly out of high school should be able to take their entire coursework online.

I truly am happy I took this class. I learned some great things and I didn’t feel the stress and pressure that some online classes possess.

WEBQUEST

The WebQuest is probably the most challenging activity that we had in this course. It was completely new to me at the time. I had heard of WebQuests in the past but had no idea how to make them. WebQuests are designed to be a student centered learning experience. It requires the teacher to facilitate learning, rather than spoon feeding it to the students. A WebQuest requires students to complete a series of online tasks in order to accomplish a specific goal.

The WebQuest I designed is intended to help my 8^th grade students complete four tasks that culminate with the students building a scale model of a bridge. My WebQuest is not a true WebQuest because the information is not completely online. Much of the WebQuest is facilitated in class, rather than online. I do feel that it’s a good starting block for the bridge unit. It gives students a clear direction and outcome for their work. It also gives students the ability to see what the expectations are for each task. The rubric for the activity is online and the students can check their work against it. Due to the lack of computer technology at my school, it’s almost impossible to implement WebQuest lesson/activities with my students. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to take full advantage of this type of media.

Link: Click here to view the web quest

WEBLIOGRAPHY

I have taken the opportunity to compile a list of exceptional web sites that I use all the time to share with you. These sites are really fun and for some of them they are really interactive. I hope you all enjoy exploring these sites and find them as valuable as I do.

Link: Click here to view the web sites

I really liked this activity. I my final relection I stated that doing this project was probably my most favorite. I think the uses for this project is limitless.

EDU 506 – Computer Applications & Resources in Teaching

pounds08 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:05:22 +0000

Overview:

EDU 506 was a very worthwhile class. We focused on Microsoft Office applications. Dr. Yang provided easy to follow instructions on using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The course book by Dr. Yang offered a nice resource while not in class. His presentations were easy to follow, and were often times very fun and engaging. I came to this class with a good understanding of the basic Microsoft Office applications; However, Dr. Yang taught me many shortcuts and additional functionality associated with the programs. I am much more confident with all three of the programs that we used in class, and because of that confidence I have been able to create a working grade book through Excel. The use of this grade book has saved me several minutes per class and it also calculates averages for me at the end of the marking periods. This alone, made Dr. Yang’s class very valuable to me. I highly recommend Dr. Yang as a professor. His personality and sense of humor is unmatched by any professor I have had thus far.

Lesson Plan

This is a lesson that I have used for a couple years in my middle school technology program. It’s designed to be taught in 8^th grade and is an introductory lesson to the bridge unit that is highlighted in the WebQuest activity. I learned how to insert pictures into the text while allowing the text to wrap around it. This has been an annoyance to me for several years. I have always found Microsoft Word to be painful to use. Fortunately, after learning a few tricks, I can finally get the program to work for me, rather than against me.

Link: Click here to view the lesson plan

Spreadsheet

This part of the class was fantastic and I feel is going to save me a lot of money over the course of my lifetime. Learning how to input data and manipulate it with Excel has already proven to be beneficial. The program is very intimidating at first. With the help of Dr. Yang, I have been able to produce a functional spreadsheet that allows me to input student data (grades), and output that data in the form of averages, graphs, and charts. I’ve definitely gained a sense of confidence with this program as a result of this class.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint is one of those programs that I’ve always felt I could manipulate without a problem. However, after taking EDU 506, I realized there was much more to the program than I knew. Unless you’re the type that will dig around in a program to figure out all the ins-n-outs, you’ll probably benefit from this portion of the course. I wasn’t aware of the button option that allows in-presentation navigation. Basically, putting navigation buttons on each of the slides that allow the presenter to instantly go to the first page, last page, or forward/backward in the presentation. I have my 7^th grade students make a “history of tech” presentation and they inevitably have problems navigating their presentation. I think that adding these buttons will help them tremendously.

Link: Click here to view the PowerPoint

WebQuest

Link: Click Here to view the WebQuest

Mr. Pounds' Technology Weblog

EDU 505 – Multimedia and Internet for Educators

EDU 506 – Computer Applications & Resources in Teaching