I really enjoyed looking at the multimedia presentations this week. Each one I viewed was so well prepared and included not only a wealth of information, but a lot of audio, video, and interactive buttons. I was so impressed. After seeing these presentations, I want to redo mine. I used my wiki space to present my presentation, but it is not attractive to look at and does not include much audio or video. In fact, I was so tired when I recorded my voice for the PowerPoint on Sharepoint that it (my voice) sounded cracky and too deep so I did not use it.
The webliography and Doc Sharing tabs located in our course forum made it easy to access multimedia presentations. I initially emailed everyone the url to my presentation, then read the email Dr. Green sent about posting it to the webliography. This should have been made clear from the beginning. I put the Sharepoint PP in the doc sharing folder just because I saw that others had placed their PPts there. I could not get my entire wiki presentation there so I just listed my url.
I was awed by the many ways wireless technologies have been used, according to the online article, Campus Technology at http://www.campus-technology.com/article.asp?id=17563. I am from Georgia and I just learned from another student in another course that Georgia is at the top of the list in regard to technology in K-12 classrooms. The web site with this information was provided to show me evidence, but I would have to go back to my other course to get the url. I did check the informatin out and was astounded to learn that Georgia (my state) is among the top in terms of technology inclusion. I reside in Augusta and don't see much of this (at least not in my particular school). I would love it if our district designed an infrastructure for the use of wireless technologies. Students would love this too as many of them have iPods, cell phones, and other handheld devices. At this point, students are not even allowed to bring any electronic devices to school--not even electronic dictionaries. And because many mp3 players look like memory sticks (thumb drives), students are not even allowed to bring these (memory sticks) to middle school. Although they are allowed in high school. The idea of having wireless technologies, such as wi-fi, available for students to use for wireless devices would optimize teaching and learning. I don't believe that having wireless technologies would mean that schools are focusing on technology as opposed to the curriculum. These wireless technologies would just make teaching and learning so much more engaging, as well as accessible.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Week 7 Reflections
I am exhausted from this week's assignments. I am nearly done with my multimedia presentation and would have been done already, but I was indecisive in determining how to present my presentation. I started out with google page creator (but it does not allow a lot of flexibility), then started a PowerPoint presentation and was not interested b/c I have done so many powerpoints before. I wanted to explore something different so I put my presentation on my Wiki Space at http://deniseogden.wikispaces.com I am not completely finished yet, but will be before midnight tonight. There are so many cool gadgets to use with wiki (although I realize this is not a collaboration project, I just wanted to try it out. It is very simple to use and insert images and pictures. I am not good on the audio yet. I did try recording my voice, but it sounded so gragly and tired that I deleted the audio files. I was able to get some audio and video tutorials on wiki features, so I hope this counts.
Learning about asynchronous and synchronous learning environments was interesting. As I responded to one person's question as to which I prefer, I must admit that I prefer asynchronous learning environments b/c I am shy by nature and traditional classroom settings have always been nerve wracking for me. I enjoy learning at my own pace in the comfort of my own home. I am self-motivated and I tend to work better alone than in groups. When I work with people I am familiar with, I end up being less productive b/c we usually converse about unrelated information rather than the topic at hand. When I collaborate with someone I am not familiar with, there is always the feeling that I am not doing my part; there have been cases in which I was left with all the work.
Have a great week.
P.S. I experimented with the whiteboard on MSN Live Messenger, but did not understand how it can benefit learning. If anyone knows, please give me some insight on how the whiteboard can be a useful tool.
Denise
Learning about asynchronous and synchronous learning environments was interesting. As I responded to one person's question as to which I prefer, I must admit that I prefer asynchronous learning environments b/c I am shy by nature and traditional classroom settings have always been nerve wracking for me. I enjoy learning at my own pace in the comfort of my own home. I am self-motivated and I tend to work better alone than in groups. When I work with people I am familiar with, I end up being less productive b/c we usually converse about unrelated information rather than the topic at hand. When I collaborate with someone I am not familiar with, there is always the feeling that I am not doing my part; there have been cases in which I was left with all the work.
Have a great week.
P.S. I experimented with the whiteboard on MSN Live Messenger, but did not understand how it can benefit learning. If anyone knows, please give me some insight on how the whiteboard can be a useful tool.
Denise
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Week 6 Reflections
Wow! Learning about ITV and Podcasts was enlightening. I have heard of podcast but never saw how they can be used in an educational environment. I was so curious about how podcasting works that I actually took the advice from Richardson (2006) and downloaded the free software called Audacity. It is very simple to set up, but I had a difficult time trying to save my casts to the accompanying software used for storing your podcasts. I loved playing with it. My son read a story and loved hearing his voice; we later tried adding sound affects to it, which made it even more interesting. I see a lot of potential educational use in podcasting.
Interactive Television is definately a new phenomenon to me. I read several articles on ITV and the one most interesting made a few points in which I can relate to. One being that most often TV is a medium in which one relaxes and enjoys the comfort and simplicity of not having to do anything other than watch or listen. I don't watch much TV--only a few episodes of Seinfield or Martin when I need a good laugh. The TV must be already turned to these shows because I find our remote control too complex to use. I can imagine how complicated a remote control would be to an ITV. Sometimes all the blows and whistles that iare supposed to make technology easy and more interactive is simply a turn-off!
Interactive Television is definately a new phenomenon to me. I read several articles on ITV and the one most interesting made a few points in which I can relate to. One being that most often TV is a medium in which one relaxes and enjoys the comfort and simplicity of not having to do anything other than watch or listen. I don't watch much TV--only a few episodes of Seinfield or Martin when I need a good laugh. The TV must be already turned to these shows because I find our remote control too complex to use. I can imagine how complicated a remote control would be to an ITV. Sometimes all the blows and whistles that iare supposed to make technology easy and more interactive is simply a turn-off!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Week 5 Reflections
This week has really been enlightening. I learned a lot about open-ended learning environments. It is unfortunate that I have been surrounded by this type of equipment for awhile and did not know the value in them and did not know how they could be used in the classroom. The Mapmaker's Toolkit mentioned by Alessi and Trollip (2001) is one of many types of software in which I aquired when I moved into another classroom. When I first saw the software, I thought of it only to be used to reward students; I saw it more as a game and nothing to be taken seriously. I realize that I have this type of software at home for my own kids. One of my sons like the Truck Driver USA CD-ROM. It allows him to decide what he wants to deliver to different companies around the USA; he must decide the best route to take and must determine what time (zone) he will arrive at his designations. The game allows him to interact with a GPS and other tools. He gets penalized and have to pay fines for accidents, speeding, and having his truck over the required weight limit. He can even connect to the Internet to get research information on the things he may be interested in delivering. I think it is neat because he has to use critical thinking skills, trial-and-error, math, reading, history, and science.
It seems as though interactive games, which can be on CD-ROM or Playstation, such as The Sims fall into this OLE. It comes with no direction, but offers many options. We have an entire classroom set of OLEs, such as GeoSafari and a history one (I forget its name) that enable students to construct their own knowledge or apply what they have learned. I know the history CD-ROM presents different events in history and requires the learner to make decisions. They are able to see the outcomes and later read how their decision compares to similar ones made in that particular setting. The only drawback is that I can't really use this type of OLE as a teaching tool because there are not enough computers in the classroom for everyone and I cannot track what the learner has gained. For now it seems as though OLEs are unstructured and meaningless because they are so open. My goal is to find ways in which I can make OLEs meaningful teaching and learning tools; to do this I must read and interact with these tools first.
The OLE scavengerhunt was fun. There were so many of them that I got off track a few times. The one I put in my post is very useful to me because it allows students and teachers to interact internationally. The projects included on the online OLE has many projects dealing with social and environmental issues and it taps into many subject areas.
It seems as though interactive games, which can be on CD-ROM or Playstation, such as The Sims fall into this OLE. It comes with no direction, but offers many options. We have an entire classroom set of OLEs, such as GeoSafari and a history one (I forget its name) that enable students to construct their own knowledge or apply what they have learned. I know the history CD-ROM presents different events in history and requires the learner to make decisions. They are able to see the outcomes and later read how their decision compares to similar ones made in that particular setting. The only drawback is that I can't really use this type of OLE as a teaching tool because there are not enough computers in the classroom for everyone and I cannot track what the learner has gained. For now it seems as though OLEs are unstructured and meaningless because they are so open. My goal is to find ways in which I can make OLEs meaningful teaching and learning tools; to do this I must read and interact with these tools first.
The OLE scavengerhunt was fun. There were so many of them that I got off track a few times. The one I put in my post is very useful to me because it allows students and teachers to interact internationally. The projects included on the online OLE has many projects dealing with social and environmental issues and it taps into many subject areas.
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