BLOGFOLIO Course Reflection
This is my final post for the IT 648 course on digital communications in the classroom. The course consisted of two main components. The first one was the use of Canvas, an asynchronous digital tool used in distance learning. The second tool was the use of Weebly. This is a blog and website creation/hosting tool. Weebly is relatively easy to use making it a perfect fit for learning about digital communications tools. 1. What have you learned from this online class? This class is about digital communications, as it pertains to a classroom setting. I have learned that digital tools are, and can be, used in the classroom. At first, I struggled with the concept of teaching. I think most of my angst had to do with the “classrooms & teacher” phraseology. I have not taught in a classroom, so it was hard, at first, to think in those terms. The more I read made me realize I could think about a class, from the learner perspective, and then reverse the roles. This has helped me view digital tools in a whole new way, especially in relation to classroom use. 2. What are your weak and strong points? Weak points: It is hard for me to put to words what I am thinking and would like to say. This made the Blog particularly difficult for me. While I will eventually prevail, it takes me time. Strong points: I am a visual learner. Because I can visualize scenarios, it is easy for me to picture layouts. This makes creating something like a blog or web page very enjoyable, even if I have never used the software program. In this case, I am familiar with Weebly, a free online web application, so I could concentrate on the site content more than on how to design, setup, and use the digital program. 3. How did you like the interaction between you and your peers? I learned a lot from my peers. My group members are from different backgrounds and regions, creating a group atmosphere where many different ideas could be voiced. It is interesting to hear where everyone lives and where they are from, making for a diverse learning experience. This is reflected in our group work especially in our choices of digital tools and how we presented our projects. 4. How did you like the interaction between you and your instructor? Dr. Wang is very straight-forward in how she wants our projects to look. She has a good eye for design and will impart that knowledge, to students, when needed. She will keep you on task, when necessary, as it was for me, this semester. I was put in charge for our group project 1. There were group personalities that had a hard time merging to make a cohesive group. It would have taken us longer to work issues out, but faster, with Dr. Wang’s intervention. She, also, kept everyone up to date, with weekly announcements. These were invaluable to remind one of what needed to be done. 5. Reflection on the communication tools used in this class: email, discussion board, BigBlueButton, and Blog. From your experience, explain the advantages and disadvantages of each communications tool. Email – At one time email may have been a barrier. To a lesser extent it may still be for some in this day and age. Our group used email a lot. We could email the professor any questions we had concerning the class. We could email our peers to find out if they had problems with sections of class. Advantages: I used the email feature in Canvas, the online Learning Management System, as well as my personal and work emails. It is a convenient way to get in touch with class members. It made sending documents to all the group members stress-free. Our group connected through emails, both in and out of class. Disadvantages: The major problem with the use of email is the lag time between sending and receiving. This became problematic, especially during the project phase of the class. While it was easy enough to send an email to the group, waiting on the reply could take days. It is hard to get everyone together for a meeting when you have to wait for a response. If another question came up, in the meantime, then another email and more wait time. Discussion Board - The discussion board is used as a platform for students to get to know each other. It is also a useful way for students to interact. We used the discussion board to introduce ourselves. It was used to post our URL’s for our Blogs and web sites. Unfortunately, we did not use the discussion board for much else. BigBlueButton – The BigBlueButton is a web conferencing system that is open source. We used this for the first class. It was great to be able to put faces and names together. The tool is different than other web conferencing sites I have used, in that typically I would have to go to another site and signup before use. This was very similar to the LMS in Blackboard, however, BigBlueButton allows for emoji’s and polling. There was some difficulty, during the beginning of class, with the video and audio. The great thing about the tool is that it has an open source platform. Another key relevance is that BigBlueButton has partnered with Canvas, making for a seamless transition from one to the other. Blog -Weebly is a web site builder. It is both free, for up to 10 account, or you can pay to upgrade. The upgrade allows for the use of headers and footers, as well as giving more options for design. I have used Weebly for a previous class so was happy that this was the application we were to use for our Blog development. It is an easy program to use once you figure out the various options. I admit the site was difficult to use when I first started. Now it is very easy to add files, upload pictures, create links, and to place items on the page. It is easy to create a Blog or web site as there are many templates in which to choose from. A disadvantage of Weebly is there are not enough design choices. Once you become proficient, it is limiting in what the program allows for. 6. How helpful did you think the group work in the class was? Explain why. It was helpful for each group member to do a different digital tool. This allowed me to learn about diverse applications, something that would have taken me longer, individually. The group, once together, had meaningful discussions about classroom application of the digital tools being examined. The diversity of the group members gave different perspectives to each application. This gave way to thinking in different directions. Again, something that would not have been possible by oneself. The key, however, was to get everyone together. This is hard, especially when some people work, take care of families, go to school, or all.
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This weekend has seen the final push to get the site put together. Don't know for sure if I have all of the components. It was hard to do the screen capture tutorial and it was hard finding examples. I have been somewhat confused on how all of this will come together, especially how to submit the final project. I think I now have it figured out, with a link to Canvas, and reflections and link here (see below).
The group project was somewhat confusing as well. It was not clear whether our group needed to meet, as in the first project or briefly communicate, as there is really no mention of group member information being included other than a link on the reference page of our site. That being stated, the group member digital tools include Buncee (Katrina Seely), Khan Academy (Molly Steed), Primary Pad (Pearlina Jones), and QQ (Songtao Yi). Pearlina Jones selected Primary Pad for her Project 2. This is a web based word processing app that allows teachers and students to communicate in real time. It is compatible with Wordle and even Google Chrome. Katrina Seely's Project 2 digital application is Buncee. Buncee is a presentation tool for students and teachers. The application can create interactive classroom content appropriate for users of all ages. Molly Speed presented Khan Academy, a learning application tool highlighting different subject areas, from Art to College Test Prep. The site is free and can be used to learn a new subject or as a refresher. Songtao Yi's Project 2 is QQ. This is a Chinese social media application. The site has a seven language interface allowing for quick translations, making QQ a multinational tool. I am currently working on Project 2. My digital tool is Biblionasium. This week I am working on the tutorials needed to complete this section of the web page. In the past, I have only used a program called Audacity. This is an audio program that allows you to take audio segments and apply the segments to other applications. I had used to tool to combine my voice track to a PowerPoint presentation. This time, however, I needed a way to do a computer screen capture in conjunction with voice. I ended up utilizing a program called Screencast-o-matic. It is an extremely easy screen/voice capture program. The program allowed me to create 2 YouTube videos in under 20 minutes. The nice thing about this digital tool is that you do not have to sign up to use it. Another advantage to the tool, is the ability to save to the desktop, cloud, or directly to YouTube.
As a first-time online instructor, designing a new online course, explain the tasks needed to complete and develop the online course. What are the major components of the online course? What Web 2.0 tools or applications would be adopted for the course, and why were they chosen?
The number of distance learning courses are increasing. This raises questions on how students will fare in a digital classroom. There have been studies (Anderson & Collins, 2009) that suggest the performance of learners, regardless of the lesson presentation, tended to perform the same. However, there is a difference between gender utilization of information (Schlingensiepen, 2013). In addition to gender performance, there are differences between open and closed test taking. It has been found that online learners who took short open book chapter quizzes, and finals, performed better than students in traditional settings. This suggests online frequent open book testing can result in better learning scores. Online learning can benefit from utilizing social media. Web 2.0 technology is being used by a younger Digital Native. This can cause gaps to occur between student and teacher. The divide can be addressed by a long term commitment from the academic administration and it's campus partners. Digital application skills could then be leveraged into the classroom. The dichotomy, however, pits actual digital application use with perceived use. What teachers and student are using can be very different from what Itech departments approve. A recent study (Liu, 2010) suggests that Facebook, Wiki, and YouTube are the most popular social media applications utilized in the classroom. As such, the applications should be considered as digital tools in the classroom. Course components needed for a new online class are straight forward. They include the list below, but the list is not inclusive and can be revised as needed.
Design of online learning sites need to be designed so that learners can study alone or with guided learning. Student learning styles should be taken into account when designing learning materials. In online environments designed using cognitive and behavioral learning theories, learning situations are similar to physical classes. In constructive theory environs, learners are actively involved using their own knowledge base to further advance their learning. Researchers found that presenting new information in small bits was better, for retention, than in large quantities. It was also found that appropriate quizzes, after each new section, allows for a greater retention.
It is important to reinforce learning of new materials. E-learning has a high drop-out rate according to a study conducted in 2013 and presented at the 2nd World Conference of Educational Technology Researches. Online learning requires motivation from the learner. Without motivation, self-regulation, and some interaction with classmates and teachers, learners are more likely to drop-out. BiblioNasium
https://www.biblionasium.com As a library major and all around bibliophile, I am a firm believer of children having opportunities to read. There will always be a book out there a child will love. It is just a matter of finding the one book that sparks that child's interest. It does not matter if the child reads comic books, manga, or encyclopedias. What matters is that the child is reading while garnering a larger world view. The BiblioNasium site is a social media website where kids and teachers can discuss books they have read. Books can be recommended, viewed, discussed, or purchased. It is possible to set up library shelves and track reading. Parents can look for books based on the child's Lexile score or grade level. The website is a Child Online Privacy Protection compliant site. This means the site adheres to the government's rules, regulations, and recommendations for protection of minors while they are online. The class has been off for spring break. This has given us a little more time to complete the group project. Project 1 is due tonight. It has been hard getting everyone on the same page, as it were. There are too many different work schedules, school schedules, and life in general to get everyone going at the same time. There is a big difference in timing between people who work full time, go to school full time, and do home life, with people who go to school full time. I think it is mostly that there are only so many hours in the day. And at some point, sleep would be nice. Today has been one of collaboration. It is nice to see everyone coming together to make the last push to the end. The project report is being put together in Google Docs. It is somewhat finicky but it works. The nice feature about Google Docs is the chat option. It is possible to chat while compiling documents. Of all the digital applications we tried, the most fun is Quizzizz. The tests can be hard, or easy. It is the way the tests are presented that is the best part. I am not a good test taker. I did like the feel of the Quizzizz test we took. They were fun. The information was not easy, but you didn't stress over the possibility you were wrong. I think for students with test anxiety, this is the way to go.
We have met one last time, on Skype, to discuss the process of completing our project. Katrina, Pearlina, Songtao, and I got together. Molly could not be with us as she was in the car driving. Skype had its regular issues with VOI and video was sluggish. Pearlina could not get in so she called Katrina, who conveyed the discussion. Katrina and I both found resources for those group members undecided about the next digital tool.
I am still having issues with Periscope. I think the application does have promise for the classroom, however I believe that grade level should be geared toward upper education. It is hard to get the settings correct for a private broadcast. Because the broadcast is live and if allowing chat, there is no way to block inappropriate chats. Once they are said/posted that is it. There is no way to monitor that. Another issue with security is that even though the group broadcast has been set to private, it is possible for someone to hijack that information. The more I read about Periscope the more I wonder if the application is going to be phased out. There are less people assigned to the application, in house, than there were. It has not been as successful, bottom line, as Twitter may have hoped. Bases on all the information, while I agree that application is fun and has some uses, I don't know that I would recommend use of this application in the classroom. Mostly because of the security issues. We were given 3 articles to read and post an understanding of each.
The first article is General education issues, distance education practices by Jeri L. Childers and R. Thomas Berner. The authors design an undergraduate distance learning course utilizing videoconferencing and Web-based instruction. The methods used were based on principles for distance learning and general education. This was a learn by doing exercise. The authors redesigned a journalism class. They did an analysis of the learner base. This was followed by a look at the tools needed to present the learning and engage the student. It was discovered that there was more preparation for the class in the beginning, however, the class required less materials during presentation. The instructor can add content making the class richer. A drawback with distance learning is the disconnect instructors feel from their students. This is important to note as some instructors may become disenchanted with imparting knowledge in an e-learning environment. In the long run, this will affect student performance. Another drawback is feedback for student assignments, across platforms. Not every e-learning opportunity works the same on every device and operating system. This can create problems for learning reinforcement. The second article is the Strategies for e-learning in open & distance learning (ODL) by Sunanda More. Distance learning allows students to learn anytime and anywhere. Using the Web to train or learn, helps students succeed when there may not be traditional learning opportunities. Online learning becomes a viable option for students who do not have the traditional learning venues close to them. This makes using digital options cost effective while allowing the student and teacher flexibility not available in a regular classroom setting. The third article is Promoting student's online engagement with communication tools by Shuyan Wang. The article is a case study using information drawn from online IT classes during 2009. The study found that online students liked the peer connection during group projects and postings. They were not particularly excited about synchronous class times, however. Tuesday night Group 4 met again to discuss more of the digital tools. Songtao, Molly, and I met using Skype. It took us awhile to connect. I had some issues with VoIP, but overall it was suitable for our uses. Songtao and Molly presented their digital apps. Molly is using Twitter as her digital tool. She went over the changes that Twitter has implemented, like the increase of words in a post. She also touched on the pros and cons. Songtao has chosen Quizziz. He gave us a quick test. I am really excited about his digital tool. The Quizziz gives the students a fun feel to testing instead of the dread usually felt. It is interesting that Quizziz gives a quiz show type feel to testing but also allows for some major back end information. Songtao could tell us which question took the longest, in seconds! How many and which ones we each answered correctly. I can see kids remembering information, not just by rote, but by learning and being excited.
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