Reflections

I learned a great deal from this class and more important, I learned different ways of approaching teaching and learning.

Blogs

This is the first time I seriously posted and began reading blogs on a regular basis. They are great and I know I will continue to read and write and use them in class. I feel blogs offer a student a way to read and write about the subject focusing on what interests them. This type of teaching will result in a more engaged student who feels more in control and a sense of ownership in the process. Many of the articles I looked at for this class talk about going into a classroom where the students are blogging and they are more focused and self-motivated. I am a little concerned that as a teacher if I assign students to post and comment on each other’s posts it can be a little confusing to keep track of posts and comments because they are not in one place. There is also a bit of an added risk of the students reading material that is not appropriate but all students should be signing a contract detailing policies.

Google reader and RSS

I did not know google reader existed and I had not used RSS before although I had a vague idea that it existed. This has been a great addition to my reading of blogs and keeping track of comments on my blog. I added other blogs to my reader and realized I could never keep up with all the posts and would need a method of filtering what to read and what to scan. I am still working on how to keep up with blogs I wish to read.

Wikis

I knew about wikipedia and that some of the websites I had bookmarked were wikis. I had a clue of the collaborations they allowed but learned a great deal through experience in this class. This was a good experience because I did not know about using wikis as a way to manage communication in the class. We had an effective collaboration in the wiki project but I wish we had formed groups and worked on the project all through the class adding small pieces as we went along. This would have been similar to the way we added things to the blog as we covered them in class.

Podcasting

This was my first experience creating a podcast. I especially appreciated listening to the student’s podcasts describing their take on the events important to them. When I played my posts for others, they asked where the video was. It didn’t take long for us to become the youtube generation but each school still has announcements in the morning so I think podcasts have their place.

Elluminate

I appreciated the guest speaker and the lesson on how to use illuminate shared white board features. It was nice to meet Sheryl online and learn more about k12online. There are not enough women in the field.

Siemens

I usually like to read a text on knowledge but found this surprisingly a slog with all the interesting quick blog post read. It appreciated the choice, as it is a different twist on the subject and very relevant to the subjects we learning.

Second Life

There is something to look forward to in the future. SL is not yet supported on Vista on my new machine and my old machine does not have a powerful enough graphics card. The lesson here is technology does not always work. I will be sure to check the specifications for any software I plan to use. You need an alternate plan with or without technology.

Online class

I always miss the opportunity to meet others in person but this class had an added advantage of the personal information that was shared in the blogs. It does seem extraordinary that we can all be part of a class and never meet in person. I would have liked to have a hybrid if that was possible for this class.

One computer per Student

The last issue I am happy we touched on is how to get a computer device for every student. Communities give lip service and some funds for technology but need more training for teachers and integration of more than office products into the technology programs in the classroom.

I definitely have a better idea of what a networked classroom is and how to lead one as a teacher and a learner.

Amazed

Yesterday I posted an article on one computer per student and mentioned a company, which is involved in low cost hardware solutions. I never put the company name is a label or tag. I understood that anyone on the Internet could potentially read the post and was still very surprised when a complete stranger from the company commented. Blogs can be a great equalizer for opinions and I can appreciate that a company would want to scan the blogs for misinformation or critical data. I am not yet a purchase decision maker but I may be one day and it’s good business practice to keep the information about your company in a positive light.

Comparing one-to-one Solutions

Many school districts are starting to implement various one-to-one solutions. When I read about the implementations, I realize one-to-one is so much more than a hardware project. One-to-one computing is generally defined as the ability to provide a student with an individual personal wireless computing device on a continuous basis throughout the school day and afterwards, if possible. Laptops, PDAs and cellphones all have pros and cons as devices to implement a one-to-one program. Laptops seem to be favored although they are the largest and most expensive. In addition to comparing the devices, the programs themselves can be implemented in many different ways.

One-to-one allows students to be more self-directed and creates a learning environment where the student is more invested in the outcome because the process is personalized. The best programs recognize that a teacher should know the individual student; know his or her strengths and weakness; know their preferred learning style; know their interests and develop and present lesson plans that differentiate the teaching and learning for the individual student. I feel the one-to-one programs with their access to vast amounts and diversity of data on the Internet (public and private) can allow for collaboration and the best opportunity to learn.

One Computer For Every Student

An example of the one computer for every student concept is the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. I read Naomi’s blog on OLPC post with interest as I recalled the segment on the television news program 60 minutes. I had mixed feelings about this particular project and googled the project. The founder, Nicholas Negroponte states on the OLPC website, “It's an education project, not a laptop project.” The project’s approach toward education is among several criticisms of OLPC. I share Pam’s concern about the best use of funds in third world. For instance, there is no money allocated for maintenance, schools or teachers. Children may learn some valuable skills on their own; however, I believe children need some guidance and machines need maintenance. Training is a crucial part of integrating technology in a classroom and maintenance is an essential component for an effective computer lab.

In an article in eSchoolNews, senior editor Corey Murray profiles a product from nComputing with a different twist on providing one computer per student for under $100.00. Rather than provide students with their own CPU, the technology operates similar to a thin-client solution. Dukker, the company CEO “demonstrated how nComputing's product--when connected to a host computer--could perform more intensive, multimedia-type functions such as streaming internet video, while still maintaining near-seamless integration and image quality.” Basically, a piece of hardware allows multiple users to work from one machine. Drawbacks include, potential licensing violations, the cost of monitors and other add-ons. The main complaint I hear about thin clients is the lack of acceptable performance for certain types of activities and I would want to ensure the viability of this solution. Also, hardware is only part of the total cost of owner for technology. As Naomi points out, first we need to get teachers (and others) on board and recognize that cost of hardware is only part of the cost for a successful technology program in our schools.

Student Assessment

We are a society that loves success and hates failure. Relative student success in learning has historically been judged by testing or sampling knowledge. I believe this hold over from the 19^th century is overdue for an overhaul. Test scores are too often used to judge success in an individual, a school or a district. Teachers and administrators often hear that we do not want to be held accountable when we disparage standardized tests as a sole basis for assessment. Not true. I believe standardized test are a one-dimensional and at times lazy method to assess learning. Critical thinking and the genuine ability to transfer and apply skills are better evaluated in different form. Using blogs and wikis as teaching and learning tools holds part of the assessment solution.

I am advocate for the rubric. I believe a rubric helps remove much of the subjectivity of assessment. In assessing a blog or blog entry, I propose the following:

1. Did the student post an entry for the appropriate topic?

No post 0 – points Not on topic – 1 point Related to topic - 3 points
Precisely on topic - 5 points

2. Did the student use appropriate English syntax, spelling and grammar in their paragraph of five complete sentences?

Three or more errors per line – 1 point Two errors per line – 2 points
One error per line – 4 points Fewer than one error per line – 5 points

3. Did the student post the assignment on time?

No post – 0 points 4 days late – 1 point 3 days late – 2 points
2 days late – 3 points 1 day late – 4 points On time – 5 points

4. Did the post ask high-level/fat questions that prompted critical thinking for comments?

No – 0 points 1 low-level/skinny question – 2 points 1 high-level question – 4 points More than one high level question – 5 points

5. Did the student leave well thought-out comments on other blogs?

No – 0 points 1 comment – 3 points 2 or more comments – 5 points

6. Did the student respond to the comments of others on their own blog?
   No – 0 points 1 comment – 2 points 2 or more comments – 4 points

7. Did the student post contain a link?
   No – 0 points 1 link – 2 points More than 1 link – 3 points

8. Does the student blog contain images?
   No – 0 points 1 image – 2 points More than 1 image – 3 points

9. Does the student blog contain video?

No – 0 points 1 video – 2 points More than 2 videos – 3 points

Personal Learning Network

The google reader and RSS feeds have been helpful in organizing my interests and finding new blogs by linking from those sites to others. I had previously used bookmarks as my method of keeping track of all sites I wanted to read but the RSS feeds provide a much more efficient way of knowing if there is something new to look at. This is only true for blogs and wikis but I find that websites are more stable and I use them for reference more than the magazine or newspaper type posts I read in blogs.

Admitting that I am not able to read ever post on every blog I have on my reader was a big step for me. I realized early on that one cannot follow all the links and read all the referenced sites and blogs but initially I wanted to read all the posts of the blogs I felt were worthy of being included in my reader. It’s OK to read, comment, scan or skip. You own the blog, the blog does not own you.

My PLN includes everyone and anyone I can learn from. I ask questions and opinions and I find that my use of reader has dramatically changed by taking advantage of other people’s tricks and tips and recommendations. Knowing how to learn and how to think has always been very important but more so now in the fast changing information environment.

Web 2.0

It might not be an official or O’Reilly definition but I see web 2.0 as the transition that confers on the computer an integral role in the mainstream culture. The Internet began as a tool of government and research institutions and progressed to a business necessity and home luxury. Today, an individual who doesn’t have access to high tech is missing out on participating in a significant part of modern culture. Our electronic gadgets are pervasive in the culture and allow for a cross-cultural communication that did not exist a generation ago. I don’t feel you can define web 2.0 in terms of new software tools because these are not exactly new. Web 2.0 to me is a different way of thinking.

In the words of John Lennon, “Power to the people.”