Reflective Blog #6

There appears to be a smorgasbord of tools available to the online educator. While this provides excitement, it also creates confusion and stress for both the educator and students. The classroom teacher often has a difficult transition from a face-to-face classroom to the online classroom. They have effective techniques to lead class discussion and create the atmosphere for the higher-level thinking activities so important to education. What they often lack is how to translate those strategies to the online environment.  With so many tools available, which ones are going to produce similar results and how are they going to learn them.

Given the change in the tech savvy students, today’s educators are forced to change their teaching style. Gone are the days of the lecture then test format.  Many educators have simply translated their lectures into text based instruction or PowerPoint presentations to teach online then present a test. Putting together an effective online class takes skill, time and knowledge the instructors either don’t have or are unwilling to learn. In my college district, many educators view the online classes as a breeze and easy money. These are the classes that spoil the experience for the student and prevents them from signing up for more online classes.

Another issue is the student understanding how to navigate an online class. If an instructor uses too many techniques the students are often confused. A well designed online class would include these different formats seamlessly so the students can easily transition and navigate the class. The online instructor has to be well organized and plan well ahead to accomplish a class that a student can easily participate in.

If I had a magic wand I would pair each instructor with an instructional designer to help the instructor translate the content to a robust exciting online class. The colleges are starting to create master classes that instructors can enter and have already set up. The instructor’s role would be to manage the class. While many instructors are hesitant to lose this control and their attitude of being the “expert” it would help the students understand navigation and create effective online classes.  We can’t expect our instructors to be content experts and courseware designers.

Reflective Blog #5

I found the mapping information activity quite interesting. I am guilty of often simply selecting something from the first page when searching for something.  It is often hard to determine the validity of the information found on the Internet. I already knew how to dissect a URL to discover what is means, such as a ~name at the end of an URL often means it is not a dedicated website and the information there should be suspect. I also knew how to find the owner of an URL which is helpful to help determine the purpose for the website by looking at the owner. What I did not know how to do was find an archive of a website.  I can see how useful this is to determine how long the website has been around and how recently it has been updated.

I could see how the different search engines use different criteria when conducting a search. When trying some of the different search engines I discovered Excite.com did the worst job by returning quite a few shopping or search sites. I was impressed with Google and how some of the top choices were relevant and reliable sites. 

With these updated tools my searches should produce more reliable sites and the information I learned will help me teach others how to use these tools. It is vital to teach our students today the tools to search for trustworthy and credible information on the Internet. In technology education I often think this is the biggest hurdle to overcome. I am always struck when my mother sends me crazy scary emails to “warn” me of this or that danger without checking to see if they are accurate. If we do not train our students how to ascertain credible versus made up information, we will be a society of misinformation.

I really liked the Delicious site because of three features. The first feature I really liked was the ability to view my bookmarks from any machine. I don’t know how many times I have lost my bookmarks only to recreate them later and never find some. The second reason is the way you tag your links so it is easy to search by key words. When I organize my bookmarks on my browser, I place the bookmarks in folders and subfolders. Sometimes I have to click around to find a bookmark. By using tags, I simply have to search by keywords to find relevant bookmarks. The third great feature is the networking ability. I can find great sites by networking with other professionals in my field or with others interested in a specific topic.

As a software trainer, I see great potential in my department for a site such as Delicious. We could easily share bookmarks with the other software trainers and also share tutorial and tips sites with the employees. This would also model this technology to the college employees and get the word out about the use of Internet bookmarking on sites such as Delicious.

Reflective Blog #4

I think the AFL tenet that most spoke to me was “AFL should be recognized as central to classroom practice.” I choose this one because it includes all of the others. I really like the Assessment for Learning model because the teacher and students work collaboratively in the learning environment. I was a computer teacher for 9 years and witnessed that when you can engage the students, learning takes place. My approach in the classroom was project based which gave the students control and created interest. When asked, my principal said I must give a written test as part of the final, not just a project. I felt a project was a better representation of what the student actually learned.  I’m afraid Assessment of Learning is deeply engrained in our public school model.

The articles on portfolio development and practices have been very interesting. My community college district is now requiring an ePortfolio for all students starting a core program that can be transferred to a bachelor program. My department has just become involved in this process by providing the training to faculty on how to use the system. I still have not seen how my district instructs professors how to teach the ePortfolio system, but it is my hope they use the Assessment for Learning model. When the students are lead to tell their stories and showcase learning products they will get practice and reinforcement that will help them in the work place later. These are powerful tools to help them grow and become self-reflective. So many of the students entering the work place today wait to be told what tasks to do rather than being pro-active. When they are guided using such tools as ePortfolios they can be molded to be self-starters.

I have created and used an online portfolio for years when looking for work. What has changed is my perspective on what to include. I’m learning to include not only artifacts or examples of my work, but also an explanation of what and why. I can also include my vision for the future. This has broadened my perception of what an online portfolio should contain which should increase the quality of my ePortfolio.

Reflective Blog #3

In my day job I’m the lead software trainer in the software training and support department at the Dallas County Community College District. Our job is to deliver software training to the district employees. The DCCCD has 7 campuses and a virtual college and we provide training at each campus plus our own location. The software we train includes MS Windows, Office, GroupWise email, PaperWise document scanning software, RCams document storage database, Colleague – the district’s academic database, and other specialty software.

When we are in training classes we learn from the students there, increasing our expertise. This gave me the idea to create a wiki where we share software tips and tricks. The department can post different tips and tricks and allow other employees to post their tips and tricks as well. I have also included a section on each subject wiki page where questions can be posted. The software team or anyone else can then respond to the question so others can also learn. This is an idea I will take back to my team for discussion in our monthly meeting.

I think Wikis are such a great tool. The advantages include utilizing the skill and knowledge of a group and being able to easily share and discuss topics asynchronously.   Wikis are an excellent class addition to engage student’s higher level thinking skills while learning team cooperation. The main drawback to a wiki is ascertaining if the information in one is accurate. People seem to think that just because you read something on the Internet, it must be true. Our students need to be taught how to discern if information is reliable or not. Another drawback to the wiki in education is grading a group wiki based on the amount and quality of work each student contributed. I have seen one educational wiki that shows the instructor how many lines and pages each student contributed to the wiki. While that helps, it still makes it difficult to grade.

I think the wiki tool is ideal for a digital native. Today’s digital native likes to explore rather than be lectured to.  My son grew up as a digital native and has his iPhone with him constantly. Any question he has, he uses Wikipedia on his iPhone for the answer. Wikis are second nature to him, so the idea of creating and editing a wiki is very engaging and in their comfort zone. The digital natives dive right in and figure technology out for themselves. Anytime my mother needs her TV changers explained or anything digital set, she calls my children. I think through the use of video games, the digital natives have become accustomed to engaging each other from a distance by playing over the Internet. Working on a wiki cooperatively is much the same so will make sense to them.