Week 3 - The Perfect e-Storm

I feel as though all of the four storms, listed in report A Perfect E-Storm by Dr. Curtis Bonk, have a lot to do with student engagement. Selecting the right technology to use for an online course can definitely make or break the course. One must be sure to not only select the appropriate technology for the specific course they are designing/teaching, but they must also select the one that will be the most engaging. When technologies are always changing and improving , I feel it makes it easier and yet more difficult, at the same time. The benefit of having many option is that htere is sure to be something out there for an instructor to use for any selected course. The downside, however, is that they are always changing and new (maybe better) options are also always available. An instructor who is one to care about the engagement of their students must be prepared and educated enough to know that there may always be a better option. A designer or instructor should never be satisified with the same old technologoes they have used for years, even if it does work. One must be on top of the newer technologoes in order to engage the newer learners and to also keep less technologically advanced students up-to-date with the new technologies.

One example I have with an advancing technology problem is from many years ago (as technology is concerned is was long ago). Back in 2004, I created a project at the Henry Vilas Zoo, where I worked as a zoo keeper. I wanted the visitor to be able to get some current information about the zoo and the animals, as the graphics were very old and worn down. In 2004, the PDA was a tool that maost people know about and used. You can read a little about the project on page 2 of this newsletter. By the time I got all of the PDAs purchased and the website, that would run on the PDAs created, the automatic updating docking stations up and running, we decided to cancel the project because the PDA was so "old school" by then and we were in the age of the iTouch. It made a big different because the iTouch would allow the visitor to download a zoo app. right from their own computer. Things changed so drastically in just a year that we really had no choice but to stop the project and re-evaluate everything we had spent so much time doing. However, this was very beneficial to do as then we didn't continue with a project that would have not been as engaging to visitors as the newer technology would have been. What we did wasn't bad...just frustrating and costly. Anyone want to buy a PDA????

Week 3- The Perfect e-storm.

This weeks objectives, as listed in our course material, are:

• Integrate learning objectives with authentic online assessment
• Diagram and map course plans and assessment preferences through the use of mind mapping software
• Coordinate and engage in virtual teamwork
• Evaluate use of the jigsaw method as a form of online assessment
• Define further assessment terms.

We have gotten into our groups this week and had some dialogue (ours is the Cookie Monster Group). Our first group project involves each of us taking an assessment tool, and creating a one page report about that tool. The report will include an introduction of the tool, uses, benefits, weaknesses, challenges, examples of use in education and one learning objective connected to the tool. We will be creating our midterm project using the jigsaw method. This means that we all add in a page of work that then gets edited to create one document. I have chosen to report on Blogger, which is a reflection assessment tool.

Another project we had this week was to take a class were are currently teaching (or one we would like to teach someday) and create a concept map from three modules' learning objectives. I used bubbl.us to create my map. The course I used is a course I recently created. I have never taught this course but would very much like to someday. It is a course dealing with captive crane genetic management.

By using this concept mapping tool, I was better able to see how each module and objective connects with each other. None of my modules stood completely on its' own. I can see how I would use some objectives to complete others.

Week 2 - All about blogs and wikis

This week's objectives, as listed in our course material, are as follows:

• Distinguish between measurement, assessment and evaluation
• Evaluate use of blogs in an online writing course
• Practice and demonstrate use of educational blogs as a collaborative, reflective assessment technique
• Formulate plans for a student-centered learning environment
• Design learning objectives that are connected to authentic assessment techniques

I was pleased to learn that this week we were going to focus on blogging tools used in education. I have been somewhat of a blogger for a few years now and I see this tool as a valuable one for educators of all subjects. In this course, we will be using the blog as a reflective assessment tool. Weekly, we will add our thoughts about the course and also post assignments. I still look back at my past e-portfolios from classes years ago. It is nice to have all of the work, that I spent so much time producing, easily accessible.

I think one of the most important thing to take fromthe readings is that so many different groups of people are using blogs. Families use them to keep relatives updated on events and family activities, businesses use them, organizations use them for advocacy projects, people use them for social bookmarking (mine for crane articles - have slacked a bit lately), and students use them to show off their work (mine for a course some time ago). They are being used for so many different reasons and by so many different people because they can be quite easy to use. There is no HTML code to learn and it is as simple as WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get! A lot of information can be accessed byindividuals who subscribe to a blog. Those users do not even have to revisit the blog to get updates; they can simply have the updates e-mailed to their inbox. I see blogs being used in education also for many different reasons. A classroom could create one to share inforamton with parents or among the students. They could post information and have others comment on what was posted. It is kind of like a running discussion on a topic.

A good book that discusses uses for blogs (and other web 2.0 tools) is: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, by Will Richardson

Assessment: Teacher-Centered or Learner-Centered?

This short "quiz" helped us to better understand where we fall in the range of teacher-centered or Learner-centered beliefs. Although there was one that I did not select on the previous page, I do believe that the emphasis should be placed on generating better questions and learning from errors. It was a mistake for me not to have selected that particular option.

My thoughts about the results of this quiz are shown in the photo below.

If you would like to take this assessment to determine where you stand,

please visit this site on WISC-ONLINE.

Week one: Why is assessment important?

As listed under the Introduction module of our course website, these were the objectives for the week:

1. Define, compare and contrast standardized and alternative assessment techniques
2. Illustrate the role of formative and summative assessment in an online course and program
3. Interpret and practice the use of a wiki as an online assessment tool
4. Practice and demonstrate use of a discussion as an informal assessment technique.

The introduction question of the week was titled, "Let's go to the Movies." we were asked to discuss our favorite movie and tell why it was so special to us. This is the post from my discussion forum.

Ok, so it's a far cry from "Gone with the Wind" or "Miracle on 34th Street" but I have to say it is an all time favorite of mine. I can remember back to when I was 8 or 9 and watching that movie everytime it was on TV. I loved Olivia Newton-John from the first time I saw the movie. I guess she was my musical role model at that young age. I collected all of her records (funny to say that now) and still have them, to this day. I don't listen to her music and don't ever watch the movie anymore but I still remember the feeling of being young and carefree, watching Grease and dancing to "Let's Get Physical" with my friends. Too bad I had to grow up (-:

This brings back old memories!!

An assignment, which I enjoyed very much, was to add to our class wiki. The wiki was created using (PBWorks.com) by our professor and we wee asked to add information about online netiquette. It started off slow but then all students did a good job of adding to the list and adding links top other netiquette pages.

To better understand wikis, please visit this YouTube video from CommonCraft: "Wikis in Plain English"