Online Learning - Facilitating Interaction Online, Blog Post #6

My first online course was a shocking experience! It was a May-mini with Dr. Espinoza and was a definite crash-course in learning to interact in an online learning environment. (Did any of the rest of you have this as your first class?) Since that time, I have completed eight other online courses. Most of the instructors have done a good job at including each of the three types of interaction deemed necessary for a successful experience in distance education. I have never felt like a passive learner and have been totally engaged in discussion with the instructor and with fellow students.

Learner-Learner interaction has been a major part of all but one of my courses. I have enjoyed discussions with other students and have found it necessary to actually rely on them for direction at times. I have also made several friends and met several face-to-face at professional events.

Learner-Content interaction has also played a major part in my online education experience. Instructors have provided textbooks and online resources in the form articles, websites, and tutorials. Dr. McElhany made a very valid point when she mentioned the content that we can receive from our classmates. I have a plethora of great websites, ideas, and resources that I’ve gotten from my classmates.

Learner-Instructor interaction has probably been the area that I have been less satisfied with. Maybe I’m just comparing it too much to traditional education in a face-to-face environment, but I miss the interaction with an instructor. It’s been really refreshing to have two classes this semester that meet in the traditional sense. It has helped provide the “counsel, support, and encouragement” that Mr. Moore mentions in his article. Another complaint I have is that I have often worked really hard on an assignment and then the instructor just gave me a number grade with no comments and without the benefit of seeing my papers “marked up” in any way. This has seemed very flat and anticlimatical—not nearly as fulfilling as getting real feedback from a “real person.”

I believe that effective interaction between students, content, and instructor is key to successful online education programs. Without it instructors cannot pass on information to their students (what Mr. Moore calls a “defining characteristic of learning”) and cannot bridge the gap that the term “distance” implies.

Desktop Publishing & Movie Maker, Blog Post #5

I’d first like to discuss how Desktop Publishing can be used to make my job easier and more effective. When I need to communicate with students, teachers, administrators, and parents, this amazing software tool enables me to do so with speed and in professional quality. When publications look exciting and interesting, readers are more likely to be excited and interested in the subject matter. Some of the ways I can use Desktop Publishing are:

· Make creative bookmarks to pass out to my library patrons
· Advertize special programs with eye-catching signs and flyers
· Send enticing invitations to award parties
· Produce professional-quality awards for reading programs
· Create fun forms for my K-Kids organization
· Make my own business cards

Programs such as Movie Maker and Digital Photostory can be used to enhance lessons. Pictures, music and videos can be easily combined to make a film on any subject. I envision making a short video about our local Audie Murphy Museum. Better yet, students could work alongside me, and they could learn technology and local history in a constructivist setting. This past fall I hosted an Audie Murphy family night at our school and found out that many of the students had not been to visit the museum. I would like to work with the museum staff to put together a virtual tour to inspire the students to want to visit the museum and learn more about our local, and World War II, history. Along the same line, I would like to create a movie or Photostory highlighting other local historic sites. Both of these are products that wouldn’t be available for purchase or download, and could only be produced locally.

These web applications align well with my vision and definition for educational technology, in that I would be designing, developing and utilizing processes and resources for teaching and learning.

I believe that use of this sort of technology is become more and more popular in our visual society. This is probably due to the vast amount of visual media available to us through television, movies, video games, computers, etc. As educators we need to keep in step and even lead in the trend toward the use of images and sound in our methods and media.

Web 2.0 Technologies, Blog Post #4

From what I have learned so far, Web 2.0 technologies offer many interesting and innovative means to enrich the education of today’s students. I believe they have the ability to encourage and motivate our students, to provide them with needed information and resources, and to prepare them for the future which will surely include more and more of these types of applications.

My school offers almost none of this type of instruction. One teacher uses an occasional webquest and many students use Wikipedia in the course of research. That’s really all I’m aware of them using! Imagine the excitement of our population getting to see their work published through a wiki, a blog, or through digital storytelling. I believe they would try to produce a superior product and would be eager to show others their accomplishments.

I also think the teachers would be excited to learn about applications that could ease their workload. Using RSS feeds and social bookmarking are two applications I want to introduce to our teachers.

The future looks bright to me when I think about Web 2.0 technologies and schools. It will take time because of finances and faculty training for this to become a reality on my campus, but I believe we will get there.

The wiki I developed is a forum for students to add a page on which to tell others about their favorite book. Since I’m in a library, I thought it would be an interesting place for students to go when they need help finding a “good book.” I really plan to use it this year and am excited about it!

Information Literacy, Post #3

Information Literacy—What Does It Mean?

The American Library Association says that to be information literate a person needs to be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use the needed information effectively. Put another way, an information literate person is one who knows how to learn what they need to learn. They are prepared to be lifelong learners and can find reliable information with which to conduct their lives.

Why Is It Important?

We live in an information society with an amazing abundance of information available to us. People need to have the training to know how to gain access to the information they need, both personally and professionally. Our schools need to take the lead in equipping students toward this cause. Schools should teach not only how to locate information, but, given the plethora of information available on the Web from both reliable and unreliable sources, should also teach how to discriminate between the good and the bad.

How Will I Encourage It?

In the library at my sixth grade campus, I will teach students and teachers how to use both print and electronic information responsibly. I will demonstrate proper search strategies using the online catalog and databases to which we subscribe. I will also teach them to search the Internet in a way that ensures that they are acquiring accurate information from reliable sources.
Our campus houses many minority and at-risk students. It is a challenge to try to instill in them the desire to be lifelong learners and to try to break generational cycles of poverty and ignorance of information that can improve their situations. I am very cognizant of these factors when I work with them on a daily basis and will continue to look for ways to motivate and educate them so that they can become able seekers and users of knowledge.

How Does It Apply To My Vision?

Being information literate applies to my personal vision in that I desire to see students’ lives changed through information acquisition, sharing, and communication. I desire to teach the skills and processes needed to enable my students to find what is helpful and true on the Internet. I want students to learn to think critically and intelligently and to be well-informed users of knowledge.

What's a "Boolean?"

Hey, friends, I looked up on ask.com and they said that George Boole is the inventor of "Boolean" search techniques!

Educational Technology Organizations, Post #2

Department of Education Office of Educational Technology

Department of Education Office of Educational Technology (OET)
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/index.html

The Office of Educational Technology coordinates the U.S. Department of Education’s educational technology policies, research projects and national technology summits. Its main goal is to develop national educational technology policy and implement policy to support the goals of No Child Left Behind.

I selected this organization because I wanted to see what our federal government has to say about our subject. I have ordered a number of free resources from them in the past and was interested to see what they might offer us in this area. I noticed that this website offers a link to possible grants for technology. When I finish my coursework I plan to devote time to applying for grants for our financially-disadvantaged (poor!) school district. I also enjoyed looking through the links provided under “Federal Resources for Educational Excellence.”

EDUCAUSE

http://www.educause.edu/node/720

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. It provides professional development activities, applied research, policy advocacy, teaching and learning initiatives, print and electronic publications, and much more.

I know we’ve read the article on blogging from this site, but I wanted to mention it again because of how wonderful it is. My favorite part of this website is the “7 Things You Should Know About…” series. It gives a brief and practical explanation of various Web 2.0 applications beginning in 2005. It’s a great resource to keep up-to-date about new technologies. In these overviews you can also read about ways the technology can be used to impact learning in the classroom. It’s definitely one you might consider for tagging.

Changing the look...

In case you've been to my post before and might get confused...I'm changing this blog to be more "academic." I didn't quite "get it" when I designed it earlier. Thanks for your patience!