Week 5 in Review

This week was a difficult and confusing one for me. It took several days of reading over different sources for Bloom's taxonomy and talking to colleagues before I decided how to pursue the assignment. In the end, I think I have a better understanding of Bloom's and a definite appreciation for the need to use it while creating not just online courses but developing any material I will use in my classroom. My Bloom's Taxonomy Assessment assignment for the Casey article did look a little different from others but I think functionally it works for me.

Another note, I have learned more about learning objectives. A couple of postings this week included classmates posting their learning objectives for classes they teach. Also we were given a link to a site that gave a basic how-to of creating learning objectives. I also received our graded rubric for the group project last week. In the notes I was given a brief summary of what LO should look like. For the final, I think I might get this right :)

Week 4 in Review

I really enjoyed this weeks assignment. We were asked to evaluate an assessment tool from a list. I had used most of the tools listed, but had not heard of Live Journal so I decide to work with it. At first I thought is was just another journaling website and thought of several other sites I would problably use instead. But as I studied the site further, I discovered some useful aspects of the site and am currently working with another teacher at school to implement this tool in her classroom. A link to our assessment toolbox can be found below.

For the most part, the week went pretty well. One downside, we heard from one of our members at the beginning of the week and have not heard from him since. I am just hoping things are okay.

Just coming off of 12 days of being down with the H1N1, I know how things can make an online class difficult. When you can't get online or are just out of it from an illness, online classes can be more difficult than a f2f class to get caught up. In a f2f class, you can go in at before or after class and get things made up, but in an online class where a good part of the class is discussion, lost class time can be impossible to make up. I will keep this in mind when I develop or teach online classes. Glad I had the experience although I am not happy about the missed discussions.

Group 1 Assessment toolbox.

Week 3 in Review

Wow, what a week. Started off by coming back from a weekend get away by spending 3 days in bed. Felt fine on Sunday and then head south for the week. Finally Wed, went to the hospital and was told I had swine flu. Won't go into all the details, but I have not felt like this since I was a kid. Not sick, just miserable. Anyway, tried to do the readings and post, but this week has been hard to concentrate. Waited until this weekend till I felt I could at least comprehend what I was writing.

I loved the article by Bonk. With his study, I can use it to approach our district administrators and hopefully help implement online instruction in our district the right way. So many districts in our state are just posting their f2f classrooms online trying to increase numbers so they can increase their funding from the state. Too bad everything has to be tied to money.

The article on concept mapping also helped me organize my web design class into a visual so I can see where I am and where I want to go. I have used them before, but not to design a class.  I think this may help me in the future when I develop my online classes for the tech department.

Concept Map

I have seen concept maps before, but have never actually produced one for personal use. I was assigned the task a couple of years ago to introduce Inspiration to our staff and a few still use it today. I used other tools to help me organize my materials. Although now after using it again for the first time in years, I think I found a use for it in my web design class. I think students will be able to use it to map out their web sites. Development of web sites can get a bit disorganized, but using Inspiration with notes and adding pictures might help a few students who have organizational problems. Here is my map on my web design class. I think I will be refining it to help me with the flow of the class.

Interactive Inventory

I agree with the statements made in the inventory, but feel with the standards imposed on classrooms by policy makers (district, state and federal) that is impossible to have a classroom able to conduct itself in a total learner-centered environment.

We have had Chris Moersch from the LotiConnection conduct several workshops in our district. He uses the term learner-centered regularly as part of his presentation. For that reason the terms learner vs. teacher centered has become a part of our disctrict termonolgy. However, I have issues with our teachers being able to conduct their classrooms in a learner-centered format. I feel that because of the requirements students and schools must meet, we will always have some limits on the ability to have full implementation of a learner-centered environment.

My Interview

I started off my interview working with Damian. When I was getting ready to post my interview with him I noticed that Matt had already done so. I was confused (not a first by any means). I went back to my email to make sure I had not dreamed the conversation I had with Damian. Found out that my email was not coming through and Matt had emailed Damian needing a partner so we did the round robin thing. Just happy I wasn't going crazy. Turned out, Matt and I had both spent time in Colorado Springs. Small world. Anyway, here is what was shared about me from Damian.

It is my pleasure to introduce Rick Sanchez of Buffalo, WY. 
He instructs technology courses for middle school students.  He is currently in the process of developing all of his class topics in an online format so that his students have more curriculum options.  Topics include:  programming, photo manipulation, adobe flash, web design, robotics, animation, building and fixing computers (IT) and others as they request them.  He is taking this course as part of the E-Learning Certificate to assist him with his work in converting the topics to the online format.
In his free time, he enjoys traveling with his wife, camping, and riding his motorcycle (they live at the base of the Big Horn Mountains).
With all of the topics that Rick teaches, I'm sure he'll have some awesome perspectives to assist us in our learning.
Damian @ Minneapolis 

First thought

I just finished creating this blog and started writing my first post titling it "Module 2 (Week 2): Reflective thoughts." After a few moments of staring at the screen I questioned what I was going to type and how I wanted it to look for the week. I quickly scratched that topic heading and started this one. Since blogs were initially used by people to journal or keep diaries, I thought I would start out the same. So for this week I will keep a journal instead of a weekly posting. Not sure if I will keep the format, but I think it will be a lot easier than trying to create one posting to cover the week.

Happy blogging everyone.