E-learning has been a great experience for me. I am a mother of four and very busy. The ease of being able to learn on my own time has been a great blessing to my family. This course did a great job in introducing many web based applications. I was able to become familiar with the many tools that are available to teachers. There is no greater way to learn then to learn by doing. This course allowed this each week. As the author stated the two phenomena that characterize e- learning are "1. functional architectures that employ various collaborative or interactive functional entities and components 2. technics that use technology designed or selected to reach learning outcomes." This course did a great job on the second component. I know I have become more comfortable with using web based applications.
Referring to the first idea stated by the author, the other course I have been taking required more group work. There was group discussion required each week via chat of some capacity and also a group presentation due at the end. This became very frustrating as you had to rely on other people who did not show up or contribute to the group. This was a frustrating aspect of e-learning for me.
I have started using Google Docs and find this tool extremely helpful with my current vocation. This is an excellent tool to keep everyone on the same page.
I also like using the concept mapping. As a teacher I use this tool alot. When student are able to see the connections between subjects this helps to bring them to an understanding that is deep. This goes along the line of "Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill." The process of students either creating a map of a concept or working in a group or completing one that is started by a teacher, will help bring all the ideas presented together into a cohesive thought.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Free Web Based Software
Phixr-
I was able to easily upload my pictures to this software. It was very impressive the many different functions that could be performed with phixr. The ability to change color, add a border, adjust color, add fun effects and geometric shapes were all very east to accomplish. This tool also had the ability to add text and reduce red eye from a picture. You could edit your picture to look exactly how you would like by increasing he sharpness and gradation. A fun tool that phixr had was the ability to decorate your photo. This would be a great free tool to use in the classroom, promoting the class itself, and at home.
Google Docs-
The great thing about google docs is the ability to share documents with many different people. Whoever you add can have total access to edit and view the document. This is a great when you are working with a team of people on different projects. The document tool has a nice selection of fonts and many similar feature that Microsoft Word possesses. Besides documents, docs also has the ability to create drawings, spreadsheets and presentations. You can also upload other documents into this format so everyone can see and edit them. This is a great tool to collaborate and share your information.
I was able to easily upload my pictures to this software. It was very impressive the many different functions that could be performed with phixr. The ability to change color, add a border, adjust color, add fun effects and geometric shapes were all very east to accomplish. This tool also had the ability to add text and reduce red eye from a picture. You could edit your picture to look exactly how you would like by increasing he sharpness and gradation. A fun tool that phixr had was the ability to decorate your photo. This would be a great free tool to use in the classroom, promoting the class itself, and at home.
Google Docs-
The great thing about google docs is the ability to share documents with many different people. Whoever you add can have total access to edit and view the document. This is a great when you are working with a team of people on different projects. The document tool has a nice selection of fonts and many similar feature that Microsoft Word possesses. Besides documents, docs also has the ability to create drawings, spreadsheets and presentations. You can also upload other documents into this format so everyone can see and edit them. This is a great tool to collaborate and share your information.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
http://www.screencast.com/users/shannontyler/folders/Jing/media/e51c8098-f60a-48bc-9d2d-6f304381cd7c
My computer would not allow me to embed the video on my blog. I needed to update my Java (which my computer would not allow).
The purpose of this screencast would be to give the students a visual as they are learning to identify atomic number and mass and what this translates to in an atom. This would complement a lesson I have taught previously and showed them the skill. They would be able to refer to this video for what they could not remember in class.
My computer would not allow me to embed the video on my blog. I needed to update my Java (which my computer would not allow).
The purpose of this screencast would be to give the students a visual as they are learning to identify atomic number and mass and what this translates to in an atom. This would complement a lesson I have taught previously and showed them the skill. They would be able to refer to this video for what they could not remember in class.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Week 6 Reflection
Instructional design can be implemented in many different areas. The three discussed in these chapters are in the business sector, in P-12 education and in higher education. Within all three the commonality is to teach. Within the business sector the focus is on employee training. The result of this training is to increase on-the-job performance and solving organizational problems. The end goal is to make the company more profitable.
The second area discussed is in P-12 education. There are three different types of developments discussed: system, product, and classroom. Within the system development the focus is on identifying student's needs. The system model within the business sector is to focus on for profit, large scale development. Product allows a student in a P-12 classroom to drill concepts independently through online tools and games. Within a business this type of development would encourage the self-paced learner to excel on the job. The classroom development is based on being a teacher led tool. The teacher will use instructional design to supplement the class.
Within higher education the use of instructional design is modeled by being the student completing their work on-line and obtaining feedback from a professor. The professor is key in developing an on-line curriculum. Their job is to help engage students with their learning process. The major theme with high education is student managed with a professor as a guide.
The area that could be applied to my school would be the business model. It would be great if ID could be used to benefit the entire school and help solve organization problems.
The first lesson that I would find most relevant to my professional career would be to have a broad range of skills. My degree is currently in science education. I would love to become proficient in ID or another area of education, this would make me more marketable in the workforce. The second area is keeping up with the literature in my interest area. This would give me a well rounded knowledge of my subject area which would therefore, benefit my students.
The second area discussed is in P-12 education. There are three different types of developments discussed: system, product, and classroom. Within the system development the focus is on identifying student's needs. The system model within the business sector is to focus on for profit, large scale development. Product allows a student in a P-12 classroom to drill concepts independently through online tools and games. Within a business this type of development would encourage the self-paced learner to excel on the job. The classroom development is based on being a teacher led tool. The teacher will use instructional design to supplement the class.
Within higher education the use of instructional design is modeled by being the student completing their work on-line and obtaining feedback from a professor. The professor is key in developing an on-line curriculum. Their job is to help engage students with their learning process. The major theme with high education is student managed with a professor as a guide.
The area that could be applied to my school would be the business model. It would be great if ID could be used to benefit the entire school and help solve organization problems.
The first lesson that I would find most relevant to my professional career would be to have a broad range of skills. My degree is currently in science education. I would love to become proficient in ID or another area of education, this would make me more marketable in the workforce. The second area is keeping up with the literature in my interest area. This would give me a well rounded knowledge of my subject area which would therefore, benefit my students.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
Week Five Reflection
The primary goal of instructional design within the workforce is to create a knowledgeable workforce. This has in recent years expanded to meet the needs of employers in many different avenues. Two of the ways that instructional design is changing and shaping the workforce that I could see very beneficial in an education setting are; analyzing human performance and solving performance problems. It would be great if we could develop a technology based curriculum which first and foremost would evaluate a student's learning style. Once this is established the entire curriculum would cater specifically to the student's learning style. This program would then track the student's progress and identify weak areas. Once these areas are identified a teacher/tutor would give special instruction in the weak area. This process would help solve the "performance" problem; i.e. lack of understanding.
In chapter 21 the issue of technology integration is discussed along with the challenges. I was not surprised to see that this is an area that requires much work. I have mentioned before that my son just completed a year with an on-line charter school. This was a first year start-up school with many problems! The curriculum choices were minimal and I was not impressed with what he was doing. The initial excitement was there when he received his tablet, but then soon lost the "newness". After the excitement wore off and the expectation of regular school work was before them it became a boring and tedious process. The school did decide to offer some "regular" classes to help with the monotony of being in front of the computer. This proved to be successful. Their vision for this coming year is to integrate two days of classroom instruction with the rest of the work being completed on your own. We are excited to see if this helps the year to be more productive. There appears to be a lack of excellent on-line curriculum. This would solve many issue with instructional design.
In chapter 21 the issue of technology integration is discussed along with the challenges. I was not surprised to see that this is an area that requires much work. I have mentioned before that my son just completed a year with an on-line charter school. This was a first year start-up school with many problems! The curriculum choices were minimal and I was not impressed with what he was doing. The initial excitement was there when he received his tablet, but then soon lost the "newness". After the excitement wore off and the expectation of regular school work was before them it became a boring and tedious process. The school did decide to offer some "regular" classes to help with the monotony of being in front of the computer. This proved to be successful. Their vision for this coming year is to integrate two days of classroom instruction with the rest of the work being completed on your own. We are excited to see if this helps the year to be more productive. There appears to be a lack of excellent on-line curriculum. This would solve many issue with instructional design.
Concept Mapping
This concept map gives the student a visual of the differences between the two basic cell types. If I upgraded my account I would embed images into the links with a thorough explanation. This is a basic Biological concept which is easier to understand broken into two separate groups. I would give this to students as a study aid that would assist them in preparation for the test.
I have used concept mapping in my classroom before and found it to be very helpful to students. This helps them make the connections between objects. Usually there are blanks on the map that the students will need to fill in to complete the map. This is a great group activity as it helps to generate conversation.
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