Mod 6 – Reflection

My Pre-Course survey is here.

This unit or Mod seems to be a bit limiting. I like the idea of cybercoaching. I have even done it with out knowing it had a name. But why does it have to be in Word and through email? It seems so exclusive of newer and “cleaner” technologies. By way of example just watch this video to see why people might move away from this slower and more awkward system.

In the experience I did have with cybercoaching I really liked the features the new 2007 version of Word has. The Track Changes and the Comments make for powerful feedback. And, the students seemed to get a lot more out of it. They actually read the comments! There are some “the cup is half empty” reasons that could explain their enthusiasm though.

1. It was new and exciting, let’s see what he has to say!
2. I did not post a grade on the assignment, for that they had to go to the grade management software.

Cynical, perhaps, but whatever! The results were greater student buy-in and better interaction with the students for me.

MOD 5 – Reflection

Ha! After checking again I learned how to insert the document AND have a link to it…there is always one more step it seems.  Assessment taxonomy

Ahhh…Bloom’s Taxonomy, an old friend. I’ll admit that I use it, old school or not. I’ll also admit that i have to refer to it when I am crafting assessments. The best part though is that most o f the time when I do look at the chart I end up creating much better assessments. Something that would have been a lower level knowledge or comprehension question becomes a synthesis or evaluation assignment without too much added effort.

I’ll be seeing Ken O’Connor in a week or two and I am interested to see how his ideas fit with not only Bloom’s but assessment models (especially online ones) from a variety of sources and situations.

MOD 4 – Reflection

This project worked out really well. I especially liked using the Google Documents for compilation of the work. This is something I am planning on doing with my classes so this “experiment” worked well for me.  The only thing it did not answer is why we could all get signed in so well where as my High School students are having a terrible time getting registered…sigh.

Here is our Mid Term project (minus the pictures which would not come through) for the complete project please point your browser here

Alex

Introduction
This paper has been developed using a Jigsaw cooperative learning
approach. Each team member has provided an analysis of one assessment
tool from the four assessment categories of; Quiz and Test Builders,
Reflection Assessment Tools, Peer to Peer Collaboration Tools and Course
Tracking Tools.
The various assessment tools are analyzed to provide a general introduction
to the functionality and key features of the tool. The analysis also provides
an evaluation of the individual tools uses, benefits, weaknesses and
challenges. The tools are reviewed to provide an example of a typical online
classroom application and discussed in terms of relating learning objectives
to the use of the tool.
1) Quiz & test builders:
by Donald LaFleur
Exambuilder.com is a website that an instructor, trainer, or school can
use to create and administer exams online. One benefit was the potential
customer service support, the next day after creating my account a
representative contacted me by email offering to answer any questions that
came up. Creating the exam was fairly straight forward and allows for a
variety of questions such as, fill in the blank, matching, true and false, etc.
Creating the students accounts was also done without any problems. I had
several students participate in an online exam and they reported no problems
logging on and completing the exam. I received emails when the student
completed the exam that reported their grade. Overall, I would say that the
ease of use was good and I had a good experience with this product.
I am not certain that I would choose this product when Angel, D2L, etc.
have an exam function part of their product. You can not assign multiple
instructors to an account. The minimum block to purchase is 50 licenses for
600 dollars a year. I was able to sign up for a 30 day trial period with a
maximum of 5 licenses to use. These challenges could limit the chances of
a higher educational institution utilizing this as tool. It does appear that the
tool is used by a large number of companies and for certification exams. The
representative sent a list of all the companies that use their product. “Current
ExamBuilder clients include: Microsoft, Computer Associates, Procter & Gamble, 3M, IBM, TD
Waterhouse, Schering Plough, UBS, Hilton Hotels, Altria, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, the
U.S Armed Forces, and the State of California Dept. of Insurance (ExamBuilder is used for
every insurance licensing exam in the state of California).”
This tool could be used for creating quizzes, review questions, and exams.
An instructor would be able to assess the student’s knowledge on specific
content by asking a variety of questions. The tool allows for the instructor
to provide feedback for each question answered correctly or incorrectly. The
objective is to assess the student’s knowledge of the content being taught
during the course. This can be achieved by scheduling the student to take the
exam at a precise time or allowing some flexibility by offering an extended
period of time for completion. The instructor is then able to receive an email
when the student has completed the exam.
2) Reflection Assessment tools:
by Gregory Rein
The use of educational blogs in the classroom is becoming much more
prevalent, yet many teachers and administrators continue to shy away from
this social networking tool out of fear of misuse by the students. This short
paper will attempt to demystify the educational blogging experience.
For all intents and purposes, a blog is simply an online journal. It
can be used by an individual student and shared only with the student’s
teacher or it can be used by an entire class working on shared projects. A
teacher may wish to elicit a discussion around a required reading or may ask
a student to maintain the blog as a personal learning journal. The
possibilities for blog use in the classroom are seemingly endless. However,
the use of student blogs must come with a word of caution. If students are
allowed – or required to use blogs in the classroom setting, they must be
first instructed on how blogs work – who the audience is and what is
appropriate and not appropriate. Sadly, students have been know to use
their blogs to vent their anger towards another person, teacher or another
student and this is clearly not appropriate. Therefore, specific guidelines
should be in place before a teacher begins to use a blog as part of a
student’s curriculum. Yet the benefits of blogs far outweigh the potential
consequences.
According to Louisiana educator Nancy McKean, student blogging
can:
1. Help create a learning community
2. Provide an authentic audience for student writing
3. Allow for multiple feedback loops
4. Encourage student creativity
5. Encourage reading
6. Build technology skills
For many students, and parents, blogs are something new and oftentimes
misunderstood. The horror stories in internet abuse are constantly being
refreshed and renewed in the daily newspapers and nightly news. To many,
and social networking tool is one that must be avoided at all times. Parents
want to protect their children from the dangers that are lurking about in the
internet. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to inform the
parents and the students of the benefits of blogs, who they work and how
they will be used in the classroom setting. Quite possibly, the teacher
should set up a blog devoted to teaching parents and students about the
benefits of blogging. In the end it seems the greatest fear is that of the
unknown, if the teacher can bring the educational value of blogging to light
all might ultimately benefit
3) Peer – to – peer collaboration tools:
By Don Wright
WebEx Overview
Webex is primarily a tool designed for corporate online communication and
collaboration. It does also however integrate special features for e-learning
that are mainly targeted at Vocational education and training.
As an e-learning platform WebEx combines functions for live training and
delivery of on demand sessions. It offers real-time desktop sharing with
phone conferencing so groups can see the same thing and interact by voice
at the same time.
Common features of WebEx include:
· Access Anywhere
· Application Sharing
· Document Sharing
· Presentation Sharing
· Web Co-Browsing
· Desktop Remote Control
· File Transfer
· Polling
· Live Chat
· Record and Playback
· Live Video (requires a webcam)
· Meeting Calendar
· Public/Private Folders
When using Webex as a learning tool students or staff can Schedule ahead
or meet instantly, using Webex functionality or other software such as
Microsoft Outlook and can join a voice conference by VoIP or phone. Screens
can be shared and separate breakout discussions with individual students
can also be held by the instructor.
As an e-learning tool, WebEx allows easy borderless collaboration with
synchronous and asynchronous communication functions through a rich
media environment. It also provides virtual classrooms and features to
facilitate easy group assignments/projects.
The interface is relatively simple to use and intuitive. Seamless browser
based integration of features such as video, audio and data generally
provide a user friendly experience. Webex provides options for hosting and
tailoring for integration to other applications.
Webex offers tool for easy and rapid authoring and re-purposing of learning
objects. It offers authoring tools for simulations, animations and quizzes.
The application also integrates features for e-business allowing integrated
charging for course fees. A major disadvantage of Webex can cost. It can be
prohibitively expensive in terms of license fees depending upon the number
of users and the environment it will be used in.
Webex screen shot shown below:
4) Course tracking tools:
Assessment in E-Learning Mid-Term write up of Calendar Builder by Tailwag
Software
Alex Braden
Introduction:
The Calendar Builder by Tailwag Software seems to be a basic tool for
creating a calendar to keep track of events. It is a simple download that then
installs on the user’s computer. It offers various views including single week,
month, multiple-month and mini preview modes. It also allows the user to
customize appearance and add icons to help identify or highlight events. This
is a basic organizational tool that would help anyone in need of this level of
organization.
Weaknesses and Challenges:
The Calendar Builder has no multiple user interface. In other words it is
tasked to one computer and cannot be accessed or shared by others at
different locations. It does not seem to have the ability to email, embed or
otherwise be shared to other users. While it is capable of keeping track of
tasks, it is only usable on the computer on which it has been installed.
Example in an online classroom:
Calendar Builder would be essentially worthless in an online environment. Its
limitations prevent multiple users from interfacing with the calendar; it
cannot be embedded or linked to by multiple users. Essentially it is
incompatible with the online environment. Far better would be a multiple
user, online version. Several are available such as Google Calendar, Zoho
Planner, Yahoo! and others would allow for all of the things that Calendar
Builder does not. Should one of these examples be used a potential
application in an online classroom would be to have the instructor place all
assignment due dates in her/his calendar and then share that calendar with
students. In this way the students would be aware of deadlines, and in
addition should changes be made those changes would be reflected in the
calendar immediately.
Learning objective connected with this type of tool:
In any classroom environment, be it face to face or online, one challenge,
and therefore often a learning objective is organization. In the sense of an
objective this could be seen in the organization of a major project. If the
instructor assigns a group a large, multi-week project one measurable
objective could be how well the group is able to stay consistently on task
and on time. The use of a multi-user calendar would allow not only for that
organization but for the group to show the instructor what strategies they
used and how effective they were.
Screen Shot of Calendar Builder by Tailwag Software:
Conclusion
This paper has analyzed and evaluated four online assessment tools to
identify their uses, benefits, weaknesses, applications and potential learning
objectives.
In the Quiz and test builder category, the tool “Exambuilder.com”, was
identified as a tool to create and administer exams. The tool was tested with
a student group and demonstrated sound functionality and ease of use.
Exambuilder appears to have a strong market in vocational education and
training but may be considered superfluous when using systems such as D2L
where exam building functionality is already present.
Reflection assessment tools were analyzed from a general perspective to
provide a comprehensive overview. The analysis identified the massive
growth of blogging in general and noted the reluctance of students and
teachers in the past to utilize blogging as an assessment tool due to
potential for misuse and abuse. Blogging was clarified as primarily a
reflective journal tool an d noted as offering options for private viewing by
only a teacher or sharing with a group. The importance of properly
instructing students in the educational use of blogs was highlighted to avoid
misuse and maximize potential benefits.
In the Peer to Peer collaboration tools section, the tool “Webex” was
analyzed. Webex was evaluated as primarily a corporate communication and
collaboration tool but also offering strong e-learning functionality with the
options for live or on demand learning. The product offers a very good and
intuitive interface with options for screen sharing and integrating voice
conferences through telephone or VOIP. Cost was identified as a potentially
inhibiting factor depending on the application and number of licenses
required.
In the course tracking tools section, the software “Calendar Builder” was
analyzed and identified as a basic customizable tool for creating a calendar
in support of e-learning to keep track of events. The lack of functionality for
screen sharing in a multiple user environment was noted as a weakness and
also the lack of integrated communication by email noted as a potential
major limitation. Due to these limitations, the tool was identified as having
very little potential use in an e-learning environment, with alternatives such
as Google Calendar and other similar tools offering far superior functionality
in terms of multiple user applications.
The Jigsaw learning exercise undertaken through this paper has provided the
individual group members with a sound understanding of each category and
the various selected tools for analysis. The Jigsaw approach also promoted
active participation of group members and communication among the group.

MOD 3 – reflection

While I have not gotten into the discussions yet I would like to reflect on the activity 3-1 and the reading thus far while it is fresh in my mind.

I enjoyed the reading to a point. I did, however, find it dated – not surprising in this business – and a bit biased towards the pay or subscription services. For example, not once did I see any reference to any of Google’s free services including Doc’s, Show or their book scanning archive. In addition I did not see anything about Second Life in the section about virtual learning environments, and yet it is used by many major universities, including Harvard and Yale, and is used for other purposes like retail business and political campaigns. It has real potential, and ye no mention.

The activity using Inspiration was a pleasant surprise. I had used it as far back as 2002 and a few times since, but not after 2005 as I found it too clunky, and while it is still a bit awkward, I found it to function more intuitively than in the past. Nice. Oh, here is the .jpeg of my chart.

As for the discussions it seems that most people have found different parts of the Bonk article to be relative to them. In fact I have noticed very little overlap. This is nice as it has allowed me to gather lots of different points of view concerning a wide array of themes from the article. I wonder, if we as a class had to pick a top point, or even top three, what would they be?

Reading Interactive Survey

While I did pretty well (one misplaced on each side) I think that this is an example of a slightly biased survey. The questions seemed to be worded in such a way that you were obviously not supposed to pick one or you were a the wrong kind of teacher.

While I am a (I hope) student-centered teacher, I feel that some activities, lesson styles etc. are appropriate, even though they may (gasp!) appear teacher-centered.  For me it comes down to a choice between being student centered and differentiating lessons. Differentiation is something that I feel should be done. With that in mind there are students (I was/am one) that enjoy a lecture. They learn that way and it is a teacher centered lesson.

Like most things in left; it is the middle ground that achieves the most. Extremism leaves too many people unaccounted for.

Interview

Here is the interview from the Discussion Board:

Hello Class!

Melisssa is a college professor and director of the radiation therapy program at UW-La Crosse in La Crosse, WI. She has been an educator for 2 years now and prior to that was a radiation therapist and medical dosimetrist (treatment planning) at a cancer center in Colorado Springs, CO (about two hours from Alex’s hometown of Loveland). She and her husband Matt have been married for almost 10 years and have 2 kids, Wyatt age 5 (just started Kindergarten) and Ayda, age 2 1/2 (which she emphatically mentions the 1/2 to anyone when they ask her age!). She has worked on online course development and taught online in the summer and is so excited to be able to learn about more assessment methods through this course.

Alex is a High School history teacher at the American International School of Riyadh Saudi Arabia. He and his wife (and two kids, Isabel – six today! and Dante, three and a half) have been in Riyadh for five full school years and have two more to go. Before this they were in Mexico City for three years at the American School Foundation. Alex teaches US History, World History II and one class called Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) which is part of the IB program.  The ITGS class is mostly on-line now, but he would like to improve his delivery, assessment and content.  And, as it turns out, their entire school is going online as the King has temporarily closed all schools due to H1N1 (strictly as a preventative matter) so he will have to learn to adapt the history classes fast!  His interests include reading (mostly history), travel and working on the family cabin in Wyoming…sadly a long way from Riyadh. 

Mod 2 – Reflection

Creating another blog actually caused a few problems, that though they were a pain this time around helped illuminate a few issues concerning blogs. The main problem was that my log-in to Word Press (my favorite blog tool) took me to the blog my wife uses for her class. Unfortunately we did not discover this until I had reset the password and noticed that there seem to be two administrators for one blog.  For the life of me I did not know we had set it up this way. As our school is not totally on line she was understandably stressed at the thought that her students might not be able to access the blog.

That problem resolved it was on to creating a new account under a new email…which ment creating a POP account so that I don’t have to check a thousand different emails.

The up side to all of this, readings from this week included, is that I have really been experiencing things from the student perspective. This, in my opinion is one of the best ways to make sure you are an effective teacher. Our superintendent had to come around to the whole school today and ask everyone to back off a little as many teachers were overloading students. This is so easy to do, especially when you forget that they have seven other classes besides your own.