CeD0550: Week Four - Assessments

Okay, more confessions from a marginal teacher...
This week we've been examining teacher-centered versus student-centered lessons and authentic assessments. I've quickly come to see that much of my classroom teaching time has been about me. Now normally that wouldn't surprise me since much of my life is about me and discovering ways that others can make me happy, lol. Actually, that's a big, fat lie - My life is centered around my kids with the goal of getting them places and involving them in activities that will ultimately have me praying to Jesus for peace. Anyway, that's a whole different blog. Back to the classroom. I used to assume that because my classroom was a classroom full of little bodies that logically everything I did was about them. My role in the classroom was to teach them. I've now come to realize that my thinking is faulty and a bit reversed. It's not so much my role to teach as it is their role to learn. It almost sounds like the same thing except by simply rewording my thinking, my focus shifts quickly as do my lessons. I remember when I used to teach high school english that my lesson writing consisted of pages of notes. My daily goal was to get as much stuff from my notes onto the students' papers. I really didn't give a rat's behind if they understood, nor did I necessarily provide them adequate means of sucking my information from my papers onto theirs. I simply spoke, and they wrote. Now, in all fairness, I didn't do this everyday. THAT would make me the worst possible teacher around. But when it came to disseminating information, that was my primary method.

After what we've done this week, however, I'm doing what I can to shift that focus. In some ways, a huge burden is lifted from my shoulders. It's okay if my students don't know EVERYTHING I do about computers. That's not my purpose. What is my purpose is to teach them skills so that their brains will know how to explore and fend for themselves. Does this make any sense??? How to put it? Rather than spend an entire school year teaching them how to use Word, for example, I want them to investigate for themselves and in doing so, become proficient in problem-solving. I also want them to be able to think creatively so that they will want to branch out and discover and play. Finally, I want them to be able to communicate and collaborate with each other. In order to do these things, obviously I cannot just stand in front of them and talk at them all day long. They have to do for themselves.

I have had so many parents comment and question how it is that I went from a high school english teacher to a computer teacher. After all, I went to college in the 80's, so, for me, technology was the dinner roll to my meat and potatoes education. What I tell people is that somewhere along the line I discovered that I was mechanical and enjoyed playing and problem-solving. I honestly can't remember how I evolved, but I know it had everything to do with exploring and satisfying my curiosity. No one taught me computers. I taught myself. I want that same experience for my students, so this is why I need to shift from my leading all discussions to guiding them to discover for themselves. This, however, is no easy task, and the time it will take to plan these lessons and assessments will be enormous. But for once, I think I'll feel completely satisfied that I've truly done my job as an educator.

Ced0550: Week Three - Facilitating

I'm starting to feel a bit like some of my students feel when I introduce new material. Sometimes I think I expect my students to catch on too quickly, or I forget that just because I have taught something for five years doesn't mean that my students have heard it for five years. To them, it's new. A version of this is happening to me in our class. The challenge these next few weeks is to use Elluminate to prepare a 15 minute lesson on a topic of choice. I like my topic and think it applies to many teachers. I want to share/explore policies that allow all students, regardless of age, to take advantaged of some of the great Web 2.0 tools. My topic stems from the challenges I've faced with some websites requiring an age limitation in order to register. The best example I've come across is Bibme.org, a free bibliography-creating website. It's perfect for my students - very useful and easy to learn. In order to register, however, students are supposed to be 13 years old. That's a problem for my 5th and 6th graders. So I want to discuss some ideas of getting around this dilemma. Thus, the choice and creation of a lesson won't be too difficult. Actually presenting it, however, could be the real challenge. I've messed around a bit with Elluminate, but I have to be honest in admitting that I'm not quite ready to take charge. I'm feeling a bit confused by the whole process. Perhaps once I watch someone's example, I'll be able to get mine together. I think it's just interesting how much of a hands on thing technology is. One really has to be willing to jump in and wade through the unknown. Thank goodness I've come a long way in this and now am not so frightened by things I haven't tried before. I'm also thankful that by now I've created enough connection with others to bounce ideas off off them and have some of my doubts and questions answered.

Ced0550: Week Two - Facilitating Format

This week's lesson had us focusing on the recommended tools for facilitating an online class, from prompting discussions to responding to students to following-up in a timely manner. I found the tools very straightforward and easy to understand. In many ways, they are the same tools we use in a traditional classroom setting, and all teachers could really benefit from incorporating them into whatever classroom environment they teach.

What I am discovering quickly, however, is that it is one thing to study the tools and another thing to actually get good at using them. Our class activity had each of us taking a turn at facilitating, participating, and recording a discussion. Now anyone can tell you that I have NO problem chattering away non-stop, but what I discovered is how much I rely on my students' non-verbals to teach. In my current classroom I watch for confused looks or flat out boredom to signal me to either explain more or toss in a funny joke or story to pull them back. Obviously online I have no idea how my audience is reacting. That's really tough. What I found is that I quickly became self-conscious when I suddenly felt myself talking for too long of a period. It felt like I was suddenly alone. I could just picture my students rolling their eyes or walking away from their computer to get a drink or playing a game while my droning voice humms in the background. Yikes! Another difficulty was multi-tasking. While talking, I had to keep my eyes constantly flying on the screen to watch for a hand up or a message in the chat area. I can only imagine how challenging it must be for our instructors when so many of us students use the chat feature for idle dribble and sarcasm. No wonder they have to take a minute to scroll back and look for real questions. Wow! I'm surprised we haven't been told to knock it off.

In this class, I can really see how the instructors are working hard to keep us tuned in and on task. Rather than sitting back and watching or listening, we are constantly asked to do something and participate. I like how a variety of communication tools are used. We write in the chat area; we speak using our mics; we post our thoughts using text tools directly on the whiteboard. I can honestly say that I am much more focused during class because of our active involvement. In fact, I'm afraid to walk away at all for fear of what I'll miss or be asked to do. That's probably a good thing!

Cedo550: Week One - Online Learning

Enrolling in this program is the first time that I've taken online classes, so my impressions have been formed from my experiences here. Overall, the experience has been wonderful, and although it took a bit of time to understand all the technical issues, once I got rolling, everything fell into place. So, with this in mind, I at first assumed that the articles and sites that we were asked to examine this first week would mimic what we've been doing in class as online learners. Little did I know how extensive the whole online learning environment is and how far it's going. Much of the classes we've been taking have been more or less a lecture type of format with some interactive activities taking place. Thus, I thought that this was the typical format for high school and middle school students when they take online classes. How surprised I was to discover just how interactive and how large the online learning community is. Classes offered take the form of games, discussions, group work, and so much more. In addition, I was impressed at how complex the course were in terms of objectives and design. Clearly a ton of planning has gone into many of the courses, and each one seemed to address everything from learning style to communication to instructor involvement. In addition, each class addresses skills aimed at getting students to develop their critical thinking. As I perused to wide variety of courses, I kept thinking how much my own kids, one of whom is a high schooler, would enjoy some of these classes. So many classes in the traditional setting, especially high school classes, spend much of their time lecturing with students taking notes. Even though many teachers work hard to include some variety, many are still unfamiliar with technology and/or afraid to do something different. Thus, the students are bored and not engaged.

The other thing that struck me from a teacher's standpoint is how available the instructors are and how much time they must put into their online curriculum. Not only does the instructor have to search to include all the technologies, but then he/she has to be available almost 24/7 to help students. It all makes me wonder what the salary is for online instructors and how proportional that is to the time they put in. And as someone stated in their discussion, I wonder how instructors will be effected as the enrollment continues to rise. Will class size become an issue?

Ced0540: Week Five

This week had us looking at various data resources as well as Google Trends. What I have discovered, more than anything, is that I need A LOT more time to explore these sites. Whereas some websites pull me in and have me playing immediately, data websites take an enormous amount of time to figure them out. I think it would have helped greatly to actually have a purpose in exploring these sites. For example, the National Archives site might have been more of an attraction to me if I was actually searching for data on my relatives. As it is, I know very little about my ancestors so didn't even know where to begin. The CDC websites, on the other hand, were more interesting in that I was able to find some topics that caught my attention. I've also come to the conclusion that many of these data sites don't do enough in designing a website that is visually appealing and more user friendly. Perhaps these institutions assume that those looking for data are all number geeks who don't need pretty visuals. Clearly, I'm not one of those. This is one reason I did actually like the DPI's website which used large pencils to link to the reports.

The next assignment had us looking at Google Trends. The more we play with Google and its apps, the more I fall in love with this amazing application. Google Trends is an interesting app, but I'm not sure how best to use it with my students. I think taking a look at what people are Googling is interesting, but how does this help me in education? While researching Google Trends I did discover some interesting blogs that talked about Google Trend's usage. A couple struck me. For those who are interested in getting their blogs read, Google Trends gives bloggers the topics to incorporate into their postings to raise the liklihood of their blogs being searched. Another blog described how the hot topics in Google Trends could be used to raise interesting questions about any culture around the world. I'd like to find out more practicle ways like these to make use of this application.

Ced0540: Week Four Reflection

This week's tasks had us researching Bill Tancer and his Hitwise company of collecting and analyzing data from Internet users. I am always amazed at the inventors of the world, and I would easily put Tancer in that category. I wish I had that thing in my brain that enabled me to think creatively and use my talents to create a niche for others. I have always considered myself more mechanical and so generating new ideas is difficult for me. I'm great at "borrowing" the ideas of others and then tweaking them to my needs. Perhaps that's one reason of many why I'll never make my millions in the world.

Bill Tancer's company provides an excellent service for those industries who rely heavily on the Internet to generate revenue. What a great population to monitor, and as I've mentioned in our Week Four assignments, the data is already there. It just needs to be organized. I never before thought about how the search habits of consumers tell so much about them and how predictable they are based on their search habits. It's also a bit scary that our search habits are being that closely followed and monitored. Perhaps we all have to just get used to this notion. For example, whenever I run to Pick n Save and purchase something, I'm automatically given coupons based upon my purchases. On the one hand it's convenient, but on the other, it makes me wonder what kind of data is being collected on my Pick n Save card. I have those same feelings when it comes to my Internet usage. If enough data on me is collected, how will that effect me down the road? It sounds rather paranoid, but if the government someday started watching as well, what decisions might it make based upon this data? I hate to even think about that without drawing obvious comparisons to Huxley's 1932 novel, Brave New World .

Ced0540: Week 3 - Creating the Survey

Although I had heard of Survey Monkey before, it was very interesting actually getting into it and creating a survey. I have really never thought about the thought process that goes into creating a good survey. Doing so reminds me of other tasks that from the outside look like no-brainers but when actually done prove to be enexpectedly laborious. Even when Ann and I started thinking about our "problem" for the group project, creating questions that accurately reflected the problem was difficult. I found I had to ask myself "Why are we asking this question? What do we want to know as a result of this question?" The questions themselves might be really good, but often times I thought they didn't really reflect what we were searching for. In addition, once people took our survey, I found that the things we discovered revealed more than what our objective was. I am interested in conducting more surveys at school, but I wonder what kind of training "professionals" go through to qualify. Seems to me you can't just slap down a bunch of stuff, and as I have stated in previous blogs, it's easy to tell when a group is trying to get you to answer a certain way. As with countless other softwares we have learned in this program, I took Survey Monkey back to my 5th graders, and they are completely loving it as well. I created a school account, and I like the fact that Survey Monkey allows for unlimited surveys. Now I'm trying to talk to them about creating surveys so that we can collect info and analyze the data. Again, I'm always so amazed at how their enthusiasm soars whenever something technical is introduced. They can't wait to start creating questions, not only because doing so is fun, but they really love the idea of creating something "real" and having real people respond to them. So suddenly an activity that started as just a little classroom experiment is blossoming into a much larger project. I hope to have them get their surveys out to the St. Ann public, students and parents. This means they'll have to think more carefully about their questions.