Hi, All!
Week 6 was a reflective paper to talk about what we have learned and to give strengths and weaknesses of the class. I have to say there were no weaknesses that I could speak of--only my own lack of knowledge. As a result, I felt overwhelmed. I felt the hands-on exercises, the feedback from my classmates, and the connectivity between the assignments made the class very relevant. I was able to apply what I learned immediately to work and personal projects.
I enjoyed the class, and I'm looking forward to the next one on Instructional Design and Delivery.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Week 5: Learning Outcomes
Whew! Week 5 has been a whirlwind!!
Last week, we created classes in Ning, Facebook, and PBWorks. This week, we had to invite all of our classmates to our classes and make comments on three of our classmates' work.
We also had to comment on an article http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-12-03-digital-brain_N.htm which asks, "Is technology rewiring our brains?" I believe it is.
We had to create a delicious.com account, which is a social bookmarking site, and invite our classmates into our network as well as join the network for this class. It's amazing the different interests we all have even though we are all in this program. I believe we will learn a lot from each other.
We had to write a letter to our boss, principle, or chairman proposing a social networking tool for use in our work environment. My letter coincided with the class I developed in PBWorks that was assigned in week 2.
Lastly, we had to analyze chapters 6 and 9 in our text about micro-blogging and what all this "stuff" means to the educational process. One more week! I'm in the home stretch!
I'll post again in week 6!! Bye for now.
Last week, we created classes in Ning, Facebook, and PBWorks. This week, we had to invite all of our classmates to our classes and make comments on three of our classmates' work.
We also had to comment on an article http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-12-03-digital-brain_N.htm which asks, "Is technology rewiring our brains?" I believe it is.
We had to create a delicious.com account, which is a social bookmarking site, and invite our classmates into our network as well as join the network for this class. It's amazing the different interests we all have even though we are all in this program. I believe we will learn a lot from each other.
We had to write a letter to our boss, principle, or chairman proposing a social networking tool for use in our work environment. My letter coincided with the class I developed in PBWorks that was assigned in week 2.
Lastly, we had to analyze chapters 6 and 9 in our text about micro-blogging and what all this "stuff" means to the educational process. One more week! I'm in the home stretch!
I'll post again in week 6!! Bye for now.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Week 4: Account Reflections, Developing Classes, and Learning 2.0
Week four was busy!!! To piggyback on my week 3 assignment of setting up social networking accounts, this week, I set up classes in Ning, Facebook, and PBWorks and had to give the pros and cons of each. I found that PBWorks was a much better environment for a learning event because there were minimal distractions. Ning and Facebook are, to me, primarily social and gives a learner too many distractions. PBWorks seems to be geared more toward learning and collaboration.
I developed a "class" of sorts in PBWorks to create a Frequently Asked Questions document for a work process. I felt totally inadequate when I saw the assignment, but, once I got started, I found it to be pretty simple. I even added an avatar with a message for the participants. I'm pretty proud of myself (maybe I should wait for my grade before I get all puffed up!).
I also had to decide if I felt Ning, Facebook, or PBWorks could replace Blackboard, Moodle or any other Learning Management System (LMS) Of the three, I thought PBWorks could come close. Of course, after reading some of my classmates' posts, I have to agree with them that none of the options could truly replace an LMS. I believe they could play a decent role in learning, but the LMS would still be necessary for posting grades and submitting dropbox assignments.
Lastly, I read an article, Minds on Fire: Open Source, and Learning 2.0 by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler. The article describes a different learning environment that I experienced. Learners are able to participate in learning events all over the world through virtual environments like Second Life. There is access to information on the law, the arts, and, of course, up and coming technologies available without enrolling in a brick and mortar university. The article predicts a shortage of universities within the next decade that makes virtual learning (synchronous and asynchronous) necessary to educate everyone who desires a college education.
The article refers to this outside-the-box learning as Learning 2.0. This alludes to the fact that the internet started out as a unidirectional learning tool. The experts published, and the learners read. This is the first phase, or 1.0. Today, the internet is a collaborative tool that allows contributors of all levels of expertise to work together. This is the second phase of the internet, from which the phrase, Learning 2.0, was coined.
Again, I am excited about what I'm learning. I used PBWorks to create folders for meeting agendas and meeting minutes for my church's finance team, and, for me, it seems like a great use for the tool. I will continue to use it in this way and also look for additional finance team uses for this workspace. I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me.
Chat with you next week!
I developed a "class" of sorts in PBWorks to create a Frequently Asked Questions document for a work process. I felt totally inadequate when I saw the assignment, but, once I got started, I found it to be pretty simple. I even added an avatar with a message for the participants. I'm pretty proud of myself (maybe I should wait for my grade before I get all puffed up!).
I also had to decide if I felt Ning, Facebook, or PBWorks could replace Blackboard, Moodle or any other Learning Management System (LMS) Of the three, I thought PBWorks could come close. Of course, after reading some of my classmates' posts, I have to agree with them that none of the options could truly replace an LMS. I believe they could play a decent role in learning, but the LMS would still be necessary for posting grades and submitting dropbox assignments.
Lastly, I read an article, Minds on Fire: Open Source, and Learning 2.0 by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler. The article describes a different learning environment that I experienced. Learners are able to participate in learning events all over the world through virtual environments like Second Life. There is access to information on the law, the arts, and, of course, up and coming technologies available without enrolling in a brick and mortar university. The article predicts a shortage of universities within the next decade that makes virtual learning (synchronous and asynchronous) necessary to educate everyone who desires a college education.
The article refers to this outside-the-box learning as Learning 2.0. This alludes to the fact that the internet started out as a unidirectional learning tool. The experts published, and the learners read. This is the first phase, or 1.0. Today, the internet is a collaborative tool that allows contributors of all levels of expertise to work together. This is the second phase of the internet, from which the phrase, Learning 2.0, was coined.
Again, I am excited about what I'm learning. I used PBWorks to create folders for meeting agendas and meeting minutes for my church's finance team, and, for me, it seems like a great use for the tool. I will continue to use it in this way and also look for additional finance team uses for this workspace. I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me.
Chat with you next week!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Week 3: Facebook & Ning
This week, we talked about if there should be privacy on Facebook. We read an article about a teacher who thought she posted a comment privately, but it was public, and her students saw it. She was reprimanded by the school, and the question was should she be penalized for a comment that she thought was private. My take on the article was that she had to take full responsibility for her careless comment. There are privacy settings on Facebook, and she didn't use them properly which left her open for scrutiny by her employer. Facebook is for networking and can work to your detriment if you put negative images of yourself out there and make negative comments about others.
We also were assigned to explore Facebook applications, of which I had absolutely no knowledge until this assignment. There are support groups, book clubs, quiz developers, word games, and other educational, social, business, and entertainment applications. I just thought Facebook was something to play around with--I was not aware of it's functionality as a learning environment. I will be setting up a class in Facebook for week 4. I'll keep you posted with the link.
Ning.com is a networking site that allows you to join existing networks as well as create your own. It is amazing the capabilities it has as a learning environment. It has about 20 pages that have different types of information, such as discussions, chats, videos, etc. I really enjoyed the assignments this week, but they really showed me how behind the times I am. I have to step up my game!! I will be setting up a class in Ning, too, so I'll let you know how it goes!
Will post again in week 4!! Take care!!
We also were assigned to explore Facebook applications, of which I had absolutely no knowledge until this assignment. There are support groups, book clubs, quiz developers, word games, and other educational, social, business, and entertainment applications. I just thought Facebook was something to play around with--I was not aware of it's functionality as a learning environment. I will be setting up a class in Facebook for week 4. I'll keep you posted with the link.
Ning.com is a networking site that allows you to join existing networks as well as create your own. It is amazing the capabilities it has as a learning environment. It has about 20 pages that have different types of information, such as discussions, chats, videos, etc. I really enjoyed the assignments this week, but they really showed me how behind the times I am. I have to step up my game!! I will be setting up a class in Ning, too, so I'll let you know how it goes!
Will post again in week 4!! Take care!!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Week 2: Wiki, Wiki, Wiki
This week, we are learning about the power of the wiki. A wiki is an online collaboration tool that allows many authors to edit the same document. This is the basic capability, but I'm finding that there are document sharing capabilities, communication opportunities, and tracking mechanisms for edits. It requires strict ground rules and concise learning outcome expectations in order to be effective. I am somewhat limited in my knowledge of just how effective a wiki can be as a learning tool.
I have read about the pitfalls of unclear instructions, the possibility of uninvited authoring and inappropriate content, and other things that could compromise the integrity of the learning experience. If the pitfalls can be managed, however, the wiki can be a very powerful tool to enhance writing and editing skills, collaboration skills, critical thinking, etiquette, ability to give and receive constructive feedback. I am still, in my opinion, a novice when it comes to what can be achieved by using a wiki as a learning tool.
I will be working on designing a project to use a wiki to develop FAQs for a work function, and, hopefully, it will earn an "A" in class and some cool points at work. Once I get started designing my wiki project, I'm hopeful that I will become more proficient and more comfortable with the prospects of using it as a learning tool and in other applications such as work, church, and sharing family moments.
I will let you know how everything works out in week 4 when my project is due. Pray for me!!
I have read about the pitfalls of unclear instructions, the possibility of uninvited authoring and inappropriate content, and other things that could compromise the integrity of the learning experience. If the pitfalls can be managed, however, the wiki can be a very powerful tool to enhance writing and editing skills, collaboration skills, critical thinking, etiquette, ability to give and receive constructive feedback. I am still, in my opinion, a novice when it comes to what can be achieved by using a wiki as a learning tool.
I will be working on designing a project to use a wiki to develop FAQs for a work function, and, hopefully, it will earn an "A" in class and some cool points at work. Once I get started designing my wiki project, I'm hopeful that I will become more proficient and more comfortable with the prospects of using it as a learning tool and in other applications such as work, church, and sharing family moments.
I will let you know how everything works out in week 4 when my project is due. Pray for me!!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Week 1: SWOT, Web Quest, Blogs and Wikis
Week one has been overwhelming for me. I feel like I'm so far behind because I was in the ER all day Tuesday with a kidney stone. Although I have completed my week one assignments, I feel pressured right now because I'm used to being ahead of the game. Oh, well.
I read the 2009 Horizon Report and had to give strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of six up and coming technologies. The articles were clear on some of these areas, but some of it was subjective and depends on your perspective. As I read my classmates' posts, I saw that my perspective from corporate training is very different from teaching in the school system. I learned a great deal from the article, but that learning was enhanced by the information from my classmates.
Through the web quest assignment, I learned that I know about a lot of tools, I have tried several, but I am not proficient with many. I am looking to this course to force me to use some tools that I have not used before and look at some tools in a different way. For instance, I plan to suggest to my church finance team to communicate via blog or wiki instead of email so all communication is visible by every member and in chronological order. I keep misplacing emails and meeting minutes, and everything will be in a central location.
Through the Blogs and Wikis paper, I found that wikis are very different than what I thought they were used for. Before starting this program, I was not aware that Wikipedia was editable by anyone. Now, I know that the information has to be checked with other resources for accuracy. I also was impressed with the number of tools that could be utilized within a wiki, such as document sharing and networking. I, again, feel overwhelmed at this point, but I am expecting that, as my knowledge and proficiency increase, I will feel more at east with the tools.
Talk to you in week 2!
I read the 2009 Horizon Report and had to give strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of six up and coming technologies. The articles were clear on some of these areas, but some of it was subjective and depends on your perspective. As I read my classmates' posts, I saw that my perspective from corporate training is very different from teaching in the school system. I learned a great deal from the article, but that learning was enhanced by the information from my classmates.
Through the web quest assignment, I learned that I know about a lot of tools, I have tried several, but I am not proficient with many. I am looking to this course to force me to use some tools that I have not used before and look at some tools in a different way. For instance, I plan to suggest to my church finance team to communicate via blog or wiki instead of email so all communication is visible by every member and in chronological order. I keep misplacing emails and meeting minutes, and everything will be in a central location.
Through the Blogs and Wikis paper, I found that wikis are very different than what I thought they were used for. Before starting this program, I was not aware that Wikipedia was editable by anyone. Now, I know that the information has to be checked with other resources for accuracy. I also was impressed with the number of tools that could be utilized within a wiki, such as document sharing and networking. I, again, feel overwhelmed at this point, but I am expecting that, as my knowledge and proficiency increase, I will feel more at east with the tools.
Talk to you in week 2!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
EDU 651
Hi, Everyone!
I have to blog on a weekly basis about what I am learning in my class, Collaboration and Learning in a Virtual Environment. So far, I've learned that I don't work well under pressure, so I need to get some assignments completed so I can keep up! I'll blog soon!
I have to blog on a weekly basis about what I am learning in my class, Collaboration and Learning in a Virtual Environment. So far, I've learned that I don't work well under pressure, so I need to get some assignments completed so I can keep up! I'll blog soon!
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