This blogfolio was created for IT645: Computers in Education in the summer of 2016. It has my weekly reflections on course content as well as pages exhibiting how my work in this course meets the ISTE Standards. In this reflection I will discuss what I learned in this class, including different learning tools and resources, my strengths and weaknesses in this course, and future learning goals.
What I have learned in this class: In this class I have learned about computers in education in general, specific educational technologies available to teachers, how to create digital instructional resources, the benefits of using technology in the classroom, and so much more. This class gave me the opportunity to explore several different resources that I likely wouldn’t have taken the time to explore (like Scoop.it and ThingLink or making a podcast). I honestly did not know there were so many resources available to teachers. Technology has really created an amazing opportunity for teachers to reach students in ways they could never have imagined. Learning tools used in this class: Google Forms. This was a weirdly simple tool that can be used for any surveys or quizzes. We didn’t connect it to Google analytics, but I imagine that would be extremely helpful to teachers and those who create curriculum. I did notice users cannot print results, but if that is not a necessity, then this tool is great. Google Docs. Of all the collaborative tools I’ve used, this is my favorite. Google Docs is the simplest way to work on a document with others. It allows you to see exactly what others have done, work at the same time, and chat about it on the side. I will definitely use this in the future as a teacher and student for any collaborative papers. Google Slides. As a fan of PowerPoint, I was less excited about Google Slides. While it does allow for collaboration and cloud storage (even though I could upload a PPT in Google Drive just the same), it didn’t have all the functionality I like. For simple presentations, it is a good tool. I likely won’t use it again, but who knows what the future brings. GarageBand. I used GarageBand for the first time to create my podcast. I really liked it once I learned how to use it. I did have to watch several tutorials, but that was mainly because I wanted my podcast to have certain features like multiple sound effects and tempo adjustments. Now that I have the hang of it, I can see myself using it in the future for storytelling or something like that. iMovie. I used iMovie to create my movie story. It was not my favorite. I believe I would like it if I took some time to learn more about it. It seemed better suited for those making movies from photos from digital cameras. Since my images were stock photos from the internet, it was harder to navigate. If I could learn more about this tool, I might use it in the future. I did enjoy uploading to YouTube though. EDpuzzle. This is an amazing tool. I had never seen it before and was amazed at the possibilities. It was very easy to use and I will definitely use it again. I do wish it would allow the use of longer videos. I had to crop out the end of my video to make it work, which was not idea. Because I am a millennial and love commenting on things that are not mine, this tool is perfect. RubiStar. I used RubiStar to create two rubrics. Creating them was very intuitive and resulted in complex and professional-looking rubrics. I wish I knew about this resource in my undergrad studies (Elementary Ed). After using RubiStar, I added it to the Faculty Resources site for curriculum developers at Belhaven. They struggle with creating rubrics, so I think this site will be extremely helpful. I do wish it were possible to mix topics (like parts of “Group Report” and “Digital Presentation”), but downloading both, manually combining and then recalculating is not too hard. Quizizz. This is a quiz-making tool that allows the creators to view and use other users’ quizzes if they want. It’s a smart and simple tool. I liked that I could create my own questions and use one or two from someone else’s quiz. And the quizzes were fun to take! I think I took all of my group’s quizzes. I will remember this tool in the future. ThingLink. This is an interactive image creation tool. It is a great resource for teachers to guide students through websites and other media. I had fun finding my links and connecting them to the image. If I don’t use this in an educational setting, I will be using it for fun. I can see the benefit in paying so that the dots will be invisible. It would be extremely helpful to students learning geography or charts. Or really anything in web/mapping form. Scoop.it. This is a tool to create a curated site of resources (or articles/information) about a specific topic. I think this tool would be more useful to a teacher covering a subject that changes (science, politics, law, etc.). I was unable to use the suggestions feature because there are no current articles/media about Greek mythology…it’s ancient. However, I do like the e-publishing feature. Scoop.it creates a resource page for students and is good because “suggested articles” do not show to the users (like they would in Pinterest). My strengths and weaknesses in this class: My work in learning management systems was helpful in this course. We did not do much in that area, but it was helpful to be familiar with using and creating course pages. My weakness in this course was managing my time. Everyone probably says that. This course was not too much work, but finding time to do it was difficult. I work full time and things usually get stressful during the summer (more people want to take online classes in the summer, so that’s more work). And I spent a while moving into an apartment, so that was a distraction. Because I dropped my second course, I was able to fit in all the work and submit (mostly) everything on time. Future learning goals: For now, my future learning goal is to continue my education in Instructional Technology and learn more about the tools available to teach others. I would like to find resources that would be helpful to the curriculum developers at the school where I work. Also I hope to later use my knowledge in the field of library science and connect the public to these resources.
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Chapter 11
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Rubrics |
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Quizizz
1. Open http://join.quizizz.com in your browser
2. Enter the 6-digit game code 566933 , and click "Proceed"
3. Now enter your name and click "Join Game!"
4. You will get an avatar, and then see a "Start Game" button. Click it to begin!
2. Enter the 6-digit game code 566933 , and click "Proceed"
3. Now enter your name and click "Join Game!"
4. You will get an avatar, and then see a "Start Game" button. Click it to begin!
Chapter 9
(2) The Internet is a public communication area that many believe is protected by the First Amendment. Others believe that its contents should be moderated and the public protected from inappropriate content. What is your view on this controversial issue, particularly in light of the extensive use of the Internet in schools?
The question of internet content moderation has many complicated factors and strong proponents for both sides of the argument. I personally believe that the internet is free speech, and as such is protected. Obviously there are exceptions, such as libel and infringing on legal agreements, etc. But part of what makes the internet the massive and fast-growing machine that it is (in America), is that no one is restraining or censoring contributions.
If there were a governing body responsible for moderating content, how would we be any different from China. Try to get on Facebook in Shanghai…not happening.
Now how this affects children and schools is something we cannot guess. Although I am against moderating the internet for the public, schools can definitely benefit from using protective software that protects students from accessing questionable sites. That would only work with school-issued computers, but it’s the best that we can do. For the public though, censorship is not the answer.
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My online classroom project is linked below. I did enjoy creating this site—it was less scary than I expected. I did realize my lesson plan was less fleshed out than I thought. The trickiest part of this project was creating the banner. It took several tries before I figured it out. Ultimately this was really fun. It did take most of the day today though. I can’t imagine being a teacher and having to spend the extra time building and maintaining the course website.
If there were a governing body responsible for moderating content, how would we be any different from China. Try to get on Facebook in Shanghai…not happening.
Now how this affects children and schools is something we cannot guess. Although I am against moderating the internet for the public, schools can definitely benefit from using protective software that protects students from accessing questionable sites. That would only work with school-issued computers, but it’s the best that we can do. For the public though, censorship is not the answer.
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My online classroom project is linked below. I did enjoy creating this site—it was less scary than I expected. I did realize my lesson plan was less fleshed out than I thought. The trickiest part of this project was creating the banner. It took several tries before I figured it out. Ultimately this was really fun. It did take most of the day today though. I can’t imagine being a teacher and having to spend the extra time building and maintaining the course website.
Chapter 8
After completing the podcast and video projects, reflect your working experiences of creating multimedia materials, the challenges you encountered during your creation. You also want to focus on how you will use these technologies into your own classroom? How can authoring software help you teach and your students learn? Make sure to use Chapter 7-8 as your reference.
The projects for this week were both new to me--I have never created a podcast or edited audio or video files. After watching the tutorials and understanding the process better, I can see how creating the content through audio or video would be extremely useful in the classroom. Editing allowed me to only include content that I thought would be useful to students.
While researching several of the more popular stories in Greek mythology, I found endless helpful videos, articles, and other resources online. BUT none of them were exactly what I needed. Either the stories were on the wrong reading level or they included characters I didn’t want to cover in my course. The biggest issue with existing resources is that most include Roman mythology crossover information. Creating my own content meant that I could choose exactly what to teach and what NOT to teach.
Creating the Podcast was my favorite assignment in this class so far. Listening to podcasts is how I spend an almost obscene amount of my free time, so a “behind the scenes” look was fun. I enjoyed learning how to use GarageBand and experiencing the recording and editing process. Initially I was afraid of how my voice would sound (it is very weak from several vocal cord surgeries as a child), but the editing features in GarageBand allowed me to cut out the long pauses and change the tempo on slower parts. Unfortunately, my iMovie struggles, so I could not do that with the movie story in WeVideo.
EDpuzzle is an amazing program. I can see that software being very useful in the classroom. Students would benefit from teacher-created guided videos, especially for remediation. The internet has so many educational videos that it is not always necessary (or time permitting) to create content videos. ED puzzle allows the teacher to focus in on aspects she likes, create checkpoints for comprehension, and track feedback. This was helpful for me because there were references in the Pandora video that I wanted to pause and remind students about.
While researching several of the more popular stories in Greek mythology, I found endless helpful videos, articles, and other resources online. BUT none of them were exactly what I needed. Either the stories were on the wrong reading level or they included characters I didn’t want to cover in my course. The biggest issue with existing resources is that most include Roman mythology crossover information. Creating my own content meant that I could choose exactly what to teach and what NOT to teach.
Creating the Podcast was my favorite assignment in this class so far. Listening to podcasts is how I spend an almost obscene amount of my free time, so a “behind the scenes” look was fun. I enjoyed learning how to use GarageBand and experiencing the recording and editing process. Initially I was afraid of how my voice would sound (it is very weak from several vocal cord surgeries as a child), but the editing features in GarageBand allowed me to cut out the long pauses and change the tempo on slower parts. Unfortunately, my iMovie struggles, so I could not do that with the movie story in WeVideo.
EDpuzzle is an amazing program. I can see that software being very useful in the classroom. Students would benefit from teacher-created guided videos, especially for remediation. The internet has so many educational videos that it is not always necessary (or time permitting) to create content videos. ED puzzle allows the teacher to focus in on aspects she likes, create checkpoints for comprehension, and track feedback. This was helpful for me because there were references in the Pandora video that I wanted to pause and remind students about.
EDpuzzle course code: UDEREDU |
Chapter 7
Teacher task software is abundant for instructors to perform all types of teaching and learning responsibilities. After completing the Google Docs projects, reflect your working experiences when collaborate with your group members by using Google Docs. You may want to focus on how you use these technologies into your own classroom and how Google Docs promote active learning and collaboration among students? Make sure to use Chapter 7 as your reference. Link your projects at the end of your reflection and make the links open in a new window.
Teacher task software is essential to the productivity of teachers today. In chapter 7, we covered several of the basic software that are available, including word processing software and spreadsheet and calculation software. Although the Microsoft Word tutorial was helpful, I personally benefited more from the Excel tutorial. Microsoft Excel has features that can save teachers an incredible amount of time and energy. I have never prepared a gradebook, but the averaging function within Excel almost blew my mind. I do use Excel at work often, but more for organizational purposes. This chapter has encouraged me to dig deeper into what these software programs have to offer.
Google provides its own version of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that enable multiple people to collaborate on any project. With Google Drive, the work is saved automatically and available on any computer or smart device. My first experience with Google Docs was in college working on a group project. It became such an issue finding times that we could meet in the library. Finally, someone suggested Google Docs. That interaction literally changed my college working experience. As an Elementary Ed. Major, basically all of my school assignments were group assignments. My groups used Google Docs from that day forward. It allows each member to work on the same paper/spreadsheet/ppt at the same time AND see what everyone is doing AND chat on the side. It’s the perfect collaboration tool.
This week’s projects were interesting to collaborate on. Although we each did our own according to our lesson plans, the collaboration feature was helpful. I spelled a few things wrong in my slides and later saw that a group member had corrected them. In the same way, I had the ability to help with others’ slides. The more eyes on a project, the better (to a degree—let’s not get carried away).
Google provides its own version of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that enable multiple people to collaborate on any project. With Google Drive, the work is saved automatically and available on any computer or smart device. My first experience with Google Docs was in college working on a group project. It became such an issue finding times that we could meet in the library. Finally, someone suggested Google Docs. That interaction literally changed my college working experience. As an Elementary Ed. Major, basically all of my school assignments were group assignments. My groups used Google Docs from that day forward. It allows each member to work on the same paper/spreadsheet/ppt at the same time AND see what everyone is doing AND chat on the side. It’s the perfect collaboration tool.
This week’s projects were interesting to collaborate on. Although we each did our own according to our lesson plans, the collaboration feature was helpful. I spelled a few things wrong in my slides and later saw that a group member had corrected them. In the same way, I had the ability to help with others’ slides. The more eyes on a project, the better (to a degree—let’s not get carried away).
Chapter 4
(1) The concept of universal design suggests that all instructional activities should ensure equal access for all learners regardless of their unique needs. After reading the In Depth feature on universal design and examining its evolution from architecture to learning, consider how you might include universal design in your classroom. Do you intend to adjust your instruction to include universal design principles when you teach? Explain why or why not.
This is, oddly enough, the first time I’ve encountered the concept of universal design for learners (UDL). As a student with visual impairments who does not always inform instructors, the idea of having built-in accessibility features as opposed to specially requested accommodations in lessons is appealing.
In order to understand UDL more fully, I found a few explanatory videos:
For the visual learner--
In order to understand UDL more fully, I found a few explanatory videos:
For the visual learner--
For the audio learner--
The National Disability Authority also has a very helpful breakdown of the 7 Principles of Universal Design.
There are several ways to easily integrate universal design in the online classroom (which is the format most likely to happen in my future). The first and likely easiest adjustment to online instruction would be to ensure all text documents are presented in a format that could be interpreted by an assistive reader. This may mean avoiding PDF formats because of its inflexibility. Another adjustment would be to only use textbooks that are also available as e-books. I personally try to avoid print-only books because of my vision problems, so classes where that’s not an option are challenging. I use the text-to-speech function of my computer on a daily basis. While researching this chapter, I found a great text-to-speech reader that sounds more natural than most I’ve used. Try it here with Chrome (it doesn’t work in other browsers).
Chapter 5
(2) Discuss the cloud storage. Why is it advantageous for educators to share resources and programs on a network? What concerns are associated with program sharing?
Cloud storage is online storage that can be purchased and shared among verified users. Using online storage frees up hard drive space and allows for larger amounts of data. File sharing and storage services like Dropbox are available for individual and group usage for a monthly fee. One of the main advantages of cloud storage is its accessibility—users can access their files from any place and any device that is connected to the internet. As teachers are constantly adjusting and adapting their lessons (at work and at home), that kind of mobility is essential. File sharing is also a great way for teachers to use each others resources and create a unity within the school. If one teacher has an excellent resource for students with hearing impairments, file sharing allows other teachers to access and use that resource if needed.
Online program sharing does have its disadvantages. Access to stored files requires internet access. This would be very difficult for those without a strong or stable internet connection. Using online storage requires faith in the host company for security. The storage is only as good as the host and also comes at a fee. Instead of paying for space on a physical server, the school would need to pay a monthly fee based on the amount of storage space required.
Online program sharing does have its disadvantages. Access to stored files requires internet access. This would be very difficult for those without a strong or stable internet connection. Using online storage requires faith in the host company for security. The storage is only as good as the host and also comes at a fee. Instead of paying for space on a physical server, the school would need to pay a monthly fee based on the amount of storage space required.
Chapter 6
(3) You have learned about the challenges you will face in implementing technology in your classroom. How do you plan to meet these challenges during your pre-service and in-service career? Be specific in describing a strategy to meet each challenge.
Integrating technology in the classroom has challenges on both a small and larger scale. Small challenges include things like software and hardware compatibility, internet stability, and the selection of appropriate resources/technologies. To avoid compatibility issues, I would test all equipment and software prior to using them in the classroom. This involves testing every plug, website, and mouse that is going to be used. It would be wise to test equipment early enough that there is time to repair or replace anything broken. Internet stability is less easy to prepare for; any activity that relies on technology needs a back-up activity that does not. Selecting appropriate technologies is also a difficult and sometimes overwhelming task. Page 140 of our textbook provides a great rubric (shown below) for evaluating technology.
More difficult challenges that arise from technology integration in the classroom are teacher literacy and funding. In order to successfully use educational technology, teachers must be knowledgeable in the field. This means regularly attending classes, workshops, and other programs in educational technology. I would try to attend a workshop at least once a year and then use online training often. There are also many great blogs online by other teachers who are sharing their knowledge and resources. This leads to the greatest challenge of integrating technology—paying for it. The textbook suggests grant writing as a solution. That’s not something I am personally familiar with, but it would be a great way to acquire money for the school. Raising money might take getting creative with fundraisers and other student-led programs.
Chapter 1
(2) Lifelong learning is not just a teacher preference; it is also a requirement for maintaining state certification. Technology literacy courses and workshops are some of the most popular learning experiences for certificate extension and renewal. Do you believe that taking additional courses in technology literacy is as important as those for your content or discipline? Is too much emphasis being placed on developing and maintaining technology competency? Defend your view.
Maintaining technology literacy is very important as a teacher. Technology is now the language of students; it is how they learn and communicate. As teachers, it is our job to speak that language and use it for effective instruction. Technology is growing and changing constantly—teachers must be able to utilize new tools to effectively communicate content with this generation of students. For this reason, additional courses in educational technology are just as important as content specific courses for teachers.
We are gradually moving away from the traditional classroom model of the teacher lecturing to a room full of students taking notes in their desks. As an administrator in higher education, I have seen what happens when the teacher holds on too tightly to that model instead of embracing educational technology and “hands on” learning in the classroom—students suffer and ultimately learn less. For example, which student is actually learning? The student memorizing a list of bones that comprise the hand OR the student who created a virtual diagram and labeled each bone in its position? No contest. What about the student who still struggles to remember the bones even after the online activity? A teacher proficient in educational technology would have more effective remediation than, say, flashcards. With guidance, students have access to endless online activities to help content sink in. YouTube alone provides catchy songs about every subject under the sun (see Carpal Bones Song). Students are already accessing and using technology, so it imperative that teachers are as well.
Chapter 2
(3) You have learned about a variety of technologies useful to support learning in this chapter. With which one of these are you most comfortable? Which are most useful in helping to prepare 21st century learners? Describe the technology and its potential applications in the grade level or content area you wish to teach and demonstrate why it is most appealing to you.
Of the different technologies discussed in this chapter, the only one I am very familiar with is Moodle. The first two years I worked at Belhaven, it was as a type of course administrator in Moodle (their LMS at the time). I did not realize it was a free platform or have any personal interest in its educational capabilities at the time, but see now what a great utility the site is. Moodle would be a great online platform for schools that do not have the budget for a license with learning management systems like Blackboard or Canvas.
Although I have never used LiveBinder before, I can see it being an extremely useful tool for learning. LiveBinder is essentially an online tool for organizing and presenting information on specific topics. Unlike Prezi or PowerPoint, LiveBinder operates more like a wiki and contains embedded websites. See this Earth Day LiveBinder as an example:
(2) Lifelong learning is not just a teacher preference; it is also a requirement for maintaining state certification. Technology literacy courses and workshops are some of the most popular learning experiences for certificate extension and renewal. Do you believe that taking additional courses in technology literacy is as important as those for your content or discipline? Is too much emphasis being placed on developing and maintaining technology competency? Defend your view.
Maintaining technology literacy is very important as a teacher. Technology is now the language of students; it is how they learn and communicate. As teachers, it is our job to speak that language and use it for effective instruction. Technology is growing and changing constantly—teachers must be able to utilize new tools to effectively communicate content with this generation of students. For this reason, additional courses in educational technology are just as important as content specific courses for teachers.
We are gradually moving away from the traditional classroom model of the teacher lecturing to a room full of students taking notes in their desks. As an administrator in higher education, I have seen what happens when the teacher holds on too tightly to that model instead of embracing educational technology and “hands on” learning in the classroom—students suffer and ultimately learn less. For example, which student is actually learning? The student memorizing a list of bones that comprise the hand OR the student who created a virtual diagram and labeled each bone in its position? No contest. What about the student who still struggles to remember the bones even after the online activity? A teacher proficient in educational technology would have more effective remediation than, say, flashcards. With guidance, students have access to endless online activities to help content sink in. YouTube alone provides catchy songs about every subject under the sun (see Carpal Bones Song). Students are already accessing and using technology, so it imperative that teachers are as well.
Chapter 2
(3) You have learned about a variety of technologies useful to support learning in this chapter. With which one of these are you most comfortable? Which are most useful in helping to prepare 21st century learners? Describe the technology and its potential applications in the grade level or content area you wish to teach and demonstrate why it is most appealing to you.
Of the different technologies discussed in this chapter, the only one I am very familiar with is Moodle. The first two years I worked at Belhaven, it was as a type of course administrator in Moodle (their LMS at the time). I did not realize it was a free platform or have any personal interest in its educational capabilities at the time, but see now what a great utility the site is. Moodle would be a great online platform for schools that do not have the budget for a license with learning management systems like Blackboard or Canvas.
Although I have never used LiveBinder before, I can see it being an extremely useful tool for learning. LiveBinder is essentially an online tool for organizing and presenting information on specific topics. Unlike Prezi or PowerPoint, LiveBinder operates more like a wiki and contains embedded websites. See this Earth Day LiveBinder as an example:
Instead of analyzing these technologies for their usefulness in the K-12 classroom, I consider their applications in the education of college students and their instructors or administrators. LiveBinder would be the perfect solution to a project at work right now. As more and more programs are being offered online, we (LMS administrators and program staff) are considering options for how to present specific program resource pages, such as APA Resource page for the English department or Student Teaching Resource page for EDU. LiveBinder would be a great way to do that and be accessible on a programmatic level.
Chapter 3
(2) To effectively design instruction with technologies, a number of instructional design models are used in education. After reading this chapter, discuss the Dynamic Instructional Design (DID) model with the focus on its five steps.
Dynamic Instructional Design (DID) Model is an intuitive instructional design model that has five steps. Step #1 is to know the learner. This includes assessing students’ backgrounds, learning styles, intelligence level, specific special needs, and any other characteristic that will have an effect on the instruction. Tools are available online to help determine these characteristics, such as this personality test similar to Myers-Briggs or this Multiple Intelligences quiz. Once the learner’s characteristics have been determined, the instructor will (Step #2) articulate standards-aligned performance objectives. The instructor should consider Bloom’s Taxonomy and applicable content and regional standards. Performance objectives must be actionable and measurable.
Step #3 is to identify teaching and learning strategies. This step includes planning what you as the instructor will do and what the learner will do in order to achieve the previously determined objectives. This is the step where the content knowledge is planned and mapped out. Step #4 is to choose the technologies that will support the lesson. The instructor should consider all information from Steps 1-3 and choose the appropriate tools. Examples of technologies are clickers, online labs, webquests, blogs, etc. The possibilities are almost endless. The final step (#5) is to assess and revise. This is the time to reflect on the planning and implementation of the lesson, make any necessary changes, and try again. This last step means the DID Model is cyclical and is always evaluating and improving.
The image above is taken from Chapter 3 of our textbook, Teaching and Learning with Technology, 5th ed., by Lever-Duffy and McDonald.
Hi! My name is Callie. I am working on a dual master's degree: Instructional Technology and Library Sciences. It's an odd combination, but I'm enjoying it so far. The dual degree was a result of always wanting a future career in the library and also growing to love my current career in instructional technology. The two fields are very complimentary-- one is teaching me how to find information; the other, how to use it and show others. This is my second purely online course in the MSIT program, so I'm still getting the hang of it.
Last month was my three-year anniversary working at Belhaven University, a small liberal arts college in Mississippi. As Curriculum Coordinator, I connect non-traditional instructors with their curriculum/course materials as well as maintain the online course pages for the Adult Studies program (that is all of the night classes on each branch campus). It's not a job I ever expected or prepared for in school, but I love it and can see how much the field is growing.
Working in instructional technology has familiarized me with many different online resources. I can't write code or anything like that, but computers and software come pretty easy to me. I've built several websites in Weebly and prefer it to other website builders, so I'm glad to use it in this course. At work I'm always in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF, but Publisher and Access are a bit of a mystery.
As far as electronic communication goes, I've used email, discussion boards, and chat within the Collaborate window. I constantly get emails from the USM MLIS listserv, but very rarely read them. Listserv feels like junkmail...maybe I'm not using it correctly... Discussion boards are a good way to interact with classmates, but Blackboard doesn't allow participants to subscribe to individual threads . That feature would be handy.
With the advancement of technology, education is having to get creative with resources. Blogs, podcasts, and video clips are all great tools. Right now I feel like podcasts are one of the greatest secrets in education (and in life--I'm addicted). One of my library classes used podcast clips, which was not the best way to use the resource. With podcasts, it's best to find a topical show that is updated often, otherwise it's the same as watching a YouTube clip from 1990. Wikis are a great tool for students to learn basic linking procedures, but my experience with them is in group projects where all but one member of the group (me!) is allowed to be impatient and completely give up after confusing all the links. So wikis are best for individual assignments in my opinion.
I'm not currently a teacher (unless you count Sunday School). However, my teaching philosophy is that students learn best through experience. We can talk about building websites all day, but the learning comes in the actual doing. This is a great first assignment for that reason. I'm excited to start this class!
Last month was my three-year anniversary working at Belhaven University, a small liberal arts college in Mississippi. As Curriculum Coordinator, I connect non-traditional instructors with their curriculum/course materials as well as maintain the online course pages for the Adult Studies program (that is all of the night classes on each branch campus). It's not a job I ever expected or prepared for in school, but I love it and can see how much the field is growing.
Working in instructional technology has familiarized me with many different online resources. I can't write code or anything like that, but computers and software come pretty easy to me. I've built several websites in Weebly and prefer it to other website builders, so I'm glad to use it in this course. At work I'm always in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF, but Publisher and Access are a bit of a mystery.
As far as electronic communication goes, I've used email, discussion boards, and chat within the Collaborate window. I constantly get emails from the USM MLIS listserv, but very rarely read them. Listserv feels like junkmail...maybe I'm not using it correctly... Discussion boards are a good way to interact with classmates, but Blackboard doesn't allow participants to subscribe to individual threads . That feature would be handy.
With the advancement of technology, education is having to get creative with resources. Blogs, podcasts, and video clips are all great tools. Right now I feel like podcasts are one of the greatest secrets in education (and in life--I'm addicted). One of my library classes used podcast clips, which was not the best way to use the resource. With podcasts, it's best to find a topical show that is updated often, otherwise it's the same as watching a YouTube clip from 1990. Wikis are a great tool for students to learn basic linking procedures, but my experience with them is in group projects where all but one member of the group (me!) is allowed to be impatient and completely give up after confusing all the links. So wikis are best for individual assignments in my opinion.
I'm not currently a teacher (unless you count Sunday School). However, my teaching philosophy is that students learn best through experience. We can talk about building websites all day, but the learning comes in the actual doing. This is a great first assignment for that reason. I'm excited to start this class!
Author
Callie is a graduate student of Library Sciences and Information Technology at the University of Southern Mississippi.
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