I like the potential for web conferencing in schools. That said, I have struggled a bit with them on the student side, though I am getting more comfortable. For instance, I like the Tuesday sessions we in CEP 812 w/ Chuck and before that with Tammy, but I find myself distracted with all of the colors, sounds, and visuals (do I need to increase my Adderall?!!!). The result is that the questions I end up having, I don't think about until after the session ends. I did like Chuck's office hours because I was able to converse one-on-one.
My web conference on WebHuddle with the High School team did not go well. We had troubles w/ communication, and I was dropped from the meeting for no apparent reason. The result is that I was not able to contribute much, and I still have not received a copy of the meeting. Our moderator said she neither could not find any support on the site nor was there any intuitive links that would solve our problem. The only positive thing I can say is that WebHuddle is free, but it is a classic case of "you get what you pay for."
The potential I see in web conferencing is that it could be very useful for students who have missed school and/or are struggling, and they can't or won't stay after school. Now, I can have "office hours" and give kids more personal attention and feedback without them feeling threatened by peers.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wicked Problem Project - Part B Application of TPACK
For the TP portion of my project, my goal is to learning opportunities that will cover as many learning styles as possible. Some students like traditional worksheets and notes, but not all so I have provided links to video tutorials that show traditional math techniques, but also some that have music and animation. Also, there are interactive sites like Khan Academy and Larry Green's Applets, and I have an interactive StAIR that can be helpful for a variety of students. I plan on making videos and/or podcasts of my daily lessons to add a more personal touch to the site. In addition to math, I teach/monitor an online curriculum class, and the feedback from every person I've had the discussion with is that they like the traditional classes much better than the online classes (all of which have video and/or audio pieces) because they like to have a teacher with them. CEP 811's and 812's weekly live sessions and our recent leadership project meeting has made me think about offering daily/weekly video meetings to help kids with their homework and to provide students with opportunities to complete group projects.
For the TC piece, I will need to make sure that all students are comfortable with the technologies I use. A significant percentage of my students, especially the ones who have been absent from school, have a high level of stress when it comes to math so I don't want to add any more stress by not having them be well-versed using the website, finding videos, locating tutorials, accessing practice, and blogging. I would love it for the kids to not have to troubleshoot problems and deal with bugs so technical issues need to be minimized.
The PC piece of the puzzle is covered because students will be able to enhance their reasoning skills, both inductive and deductive as there are a variety of activities that will give them chances to visualize and hear the content I want them to learn and also chances to discover things on their own. I am excited about the opportunities for my students!
For the TC piece, I will need to make sure that all students are comfortable with the technologies I use. A significant percentage of my students, especially the ones who have been absent from school, have a high level of stress when it comes to math so I don't want to add any more stress by not having them be well-versed using the website, finding videos, locating tutorials, accessing practice, and blogging. I would love it for the kids to not have to troubleshoot problems and deal with bugs so technical issues need to be minimized.
The PC piece of the puzzle is covered because students will be able to enhance their reasoning skills, both inductive and deductive as there are a variety of activities that will give them chances to visualize and hear the content I want them to learn and also chances to discover things on their own. I am excited about the opportunities for my students!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Group Leadership Project-Part A
My group used a free service called WebHuddle for our meeting, and it met with disastrous results. One of our members set up the web meeting, and she gave us the lo gin information. Things began ominously when we were unable to get all of the mics to be heard and were forced to text. Things continued downhill as one of our members was unable to log in despite having the necessary information (I and the other two members were successful logging on), and she ended up getting into the discussion via telephone. Also, while I was able to logon to the meeting, I was booted off the meeting after about five or ten minutes and was unable to get back into the meeting. How frustrating!!!! Because our leader was on the phone with another team member, she was unable to answer my phone calls so I could not participate. Fortunately, I was able to provide input before getting dropped. The final "slap in the face" was that, for reasons I don't understand, the moderator has been unable to provide us with link for the meeting so I can post it here.
As frustrated and helpless as I felt during this time, I felt worse for our moderator. She worked hard to get this to get the meeting organized and to find a platform for us to have the meeting, but nothing worked. WebHuddle is a poor website as, from my vantage point, there was little or no help support and things seemed intuitive, such as buttons that looked as if they would have allow all microphones to be heard at the meeting, were not effective at all. I would not suggest anyone use WebHuddle unless he or she were proficient with it already.
As frustrated and helpless as I felt during this time, I felt worse for our moderator. She worked hard to get this to get the meeting organized and to find a platform for us to have the meeting, but nothing worked. WebHuddle is a poor website as, from my vantage point, there was little or no help support and things seemed intuitive, such as buttons that looked as if they would have allow all microphones to be heard at the meeting, were not effective at all. I would not suggest anyone use WebHuddle unless he or she were proficient with it already.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wicked Project Part A- Description of Need or Opportunity
A major issue at the alternative school I teach at is absenteeism. Some of the problem is student/parent apathy, but most of my students care about their grades but have to deal with their children or transience. The unfortunate result is that many kids fall behind on their homework and have trouble catching up because they don't have access to the assignment and my teaching. Hence, there is a need for students to have the ability to access assignments, notes, and tutorials so they can more easily learn the material and maintain good grades.
To help alleviate this issue, I have developed a website on Weebly.com called mrhsgroovyalgebra.weebly.com to help with this issue. I am able to use the office copier to scan worksheets and notes, though I need to, and have started to, scan or download completed notes. Additionally, I have provided links to sites like khanacademy.org and youtube that provide video tutorials for just about anything I have taught. I have a blog page on the site that I have not utilized yet, but I like the idea of having me and/or my students being able to have discussions about various assignments. I uploaded a StAIR that can provide kids immediate feedback about how they are succeeding on a particular topic. I would like add podcasts, screencasts, surveys and videos of my lessons could be to the site as they would do even more than the site offers already to help cover various learning styles or learning disabilities.
I provided all of my students with the website (hard copy and on my whiteboard), and when I talk with parents, they get the address, as well. I have received positive responses from the students (approximately ten) who have used the site, and unanimously, they like the ability to get their assignments. They seemed to be tentative about using the video tutorials, but I got positive feedback after I showed a few students a tutorial on Cramer's Rule.
Next year, assuming I have the resources, I will need teach my kids how to utilize the tools on my website and will make parents aware of its existence and what it provides. Also, the person who is our "resident" grant writer says I may have something that I can use to gain resources. For the remainder of this year, I plan on designing surveys that will help me check for understanding and provide formative assessment and to use the blog.
To help alleviate this issue, I have developed a website on Weebly.com called mrhsgroovyalgebra.weebly.com to help with this issue. I am able to use the office copier to scan worksheets and notes, though I need to, and have started to, scan or download completed notes. Additionally, I have provided links to sites like khanacademy.org and youtube that provide video tutorials for just about anything I have taught. I have a blog page on the site that I have not utilized yet, but I like the idea of having me and/or my students being able to have discussions about various assignments. I uploaded a StAIR that can provide kids immediate feedback about how they are succeeding on a particular topic. I would like add podcasts, screencasts, surveys and videos of my lessons could be to the site as they would do even more than the site offers already to help cover various learning styles or learning disabilities.
I provided all of my students with the website (hard copy and on my whiteboard), and when I talk with parents, they get the address, as well. I have received positive responses from the students (approximately ten) who have used the site, and unanimously, they like the ability to get their assignments. They seemed to be tentative about using the video tutorials, but I got positive feedback after I showed a few students a tutorial on Cramer's Rule.
Next year, assuming I have the resources, I will need teach my kids how to utilize the tools on my website and will make parents aware of its existence and what it provides. Also, the person who is our "resident" grant writer says I may have something that I can use to gain resources. For the remainder of this year, I plan on designing surveys that will help me check for understanding and provide formative assessment and to use the blog.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
CEP-811 Final Thoughts
I found this course to be very challenging and rewarding, and ultimately will help my teaching. My favorite was designing the website, and I have given my students the address. No one has yet to use it, but a few kids have expressed interest in checking it out. I have a blog page and intend on starting conversations as we go along.
I can see a Wiki being a useful tool for any course that requires group work. I like that they offer the ability for groups to communicate and to edit each others work. Yet, it has many of the same features of a regular webpage. The only Wiki I didn't like was the one I took 4 or 5 tries to get them to accept the page I made for my place of employment. Actually, I found it good to know that they are picky so people aren't adding material that is untrue or hurtful. The frustrating part was that the "help desk" was not very helpful.
The goal-directed lesson plan was time consuming but was effective, along with UDL principles, in making me think harder about differentiating lessons so more kids can learn the material. An additional bonus is that such plans will make me more organized.
It is also important to realize that technology is not a "magic pill" that will cure all of our woes. I learned that educators must plan and analyze the quality of technologies with the same vigor as traditional lessons lest we risk ineffective teaching and/or students who are not prepared for quality jobs. However, it is vital that educators strive to keep up with the rapid changes in technology because we must do justice for our students.
I would like to know more about PowerPoint. I've had some training on it but not nearly at the level I needed to do everything that I wanted to for my StAIR. I spent more time on that assignment than any I can remember in my high school and college years yet I could not get it completely correct. Much of my frustration centered on adding my voice to the show. I made a folder with the show and the sound files and I even used WinZip to compress the files to know avail. I like the StAIR idea and will continue to pursue producing them for my students.
As far as my goals for this course, I have reached my goals and more. I have sat through many workshops on all sorts of software or hardware yet none of them effectively trained me adequately enough for me to feel comfortable enough to add them to my teaching. The fact that I have already given my students my webpage is a strong indicator that technology will be a strong force in my teaching. Also, I made a website for my in-laws' church!
As far as my future plans, I am excited about 812 and intend on going for my MAET. Also, I have applied to teach a professional development course for my colleagues on blogging and designing a webpage! My goal is to be on the cutting edge of educational technology.
I can see a Wiki being a useful tool for any course that requires group work. I like that they offer the ability for groups to communicate and to edit each others work. Yet, it has many of the same features of a regular webpage. The only Wiki I didn't like was the one I took 4 or 5 tries to get them to accept the page I made for my place of employment. Actually, I found it good to know that they are picky so people aren't adding material that is untrue or hurtful. The frustrating part was that the "help desk" was not very helpful.
The goal-directed lesson plan was time consuming but was effective, along with UDL principles, in making me think harder about differentiating lessons so more kids can learn the material. An additional bonus is that such plans will make me more organized.
It is also important to realize that technology is not a "magic pill" that will cure all of our woes. I learned that educators must plan and analyze the quality of technologies with the same vigor as traditional lessons lest we risk ineffective teaching and/or students who are not prepared for quality jobs. However, it is vital that educators strive to keep up with the rapid changes in technology because we must do justice for our students.
I would like to know more about PowerPoint. I've had some training on it but not nearly at the level I needed to do everything that I wanted to for my StAIR. I spent more time on that assignment than any I can remember in my high school and college years yet I could not get it completely correct. Much of my frustration centered on adding my voice to the show. I made a folder with the show and the sound files and I even used WinZip to compress the files to know avail. I like the StAIR idea and will continue to pursue producing them for my students.
As far as my goals for this course, I have reached my goals and more. I have sat through many workshops on all sorts of software or hardware yet none of them effectively trained me adequately enough for me to feel comfortable enough to add them to my teaching. The fact that I have already given my students my webpage is a strong indicator that technology will be a strong force in my teaching. Also, I made a website for my in-laws' church!
As far as my future plans, I am excited about 812 and intend on going for my MAET. Also, I have applied to teach a professional development course for my colleagues on blogging and designing a webpage! My goal is to be on the cutting edge of educational technology.
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