Hello! This is my final project video… Final POT Video
I have enjoyed everyones input and also I have enjoyed reading your creative writing 🙂 Wish you all the best and thank you all for this great experience 🙂
POT_Conclusion
In retrospective, my first blog was quite an accomplishment at the time considering I had never blogged before in my life. The whole process of creating a blog, posting, getting familiar with tools and concepts was innovative and exciting. I am proud to say I have come a long way from week 1. Being able to compare myself from week 1 and week 14 is definitely astonishing on a personal level.
Week two, like every progressing week, added more to the homework and posts. Taking a quiz and posting results and analysis of these results was definitely the right amount of progress at the right pace. In the beginning I was a little hesitant to take this class because I did not fully know how I would personally feel with the pace of the class. At this point I felt “baby steps” were just the right amount of progress needed with the right amount of substance. I was glad to read and watch YouTube videos about concepts/issues, us, educators’ experience. This assignment gave me the sense of belonging to the Online Teaching class 🙂 <– (emoticons and communication were also part of the week’s lesson).
Week three was definitely breaking grounds. I learned how to integrate hyperlinks as media components in blogs rather than just copy and pasting the entire URL address on the post. As instructors’, we already know the importance of setting class guidelines and objectives, but sometimes we can get caught up in information and lose some sense of the objective. This week reinstated the importance of this fundamental base for any class, not just online classes: course objectives and outline. It allowed me to step back and take a look at the broader perspective and regain these important elements.
This week highlighted the importance of the written form. Creating and writing a syllabus/ assignment or any document, is one issue. However, formatting such text is a completely different matter. As mentioned, some students quickly scan through information, and can potentially miss important content. An important lesson for this week was how to capture students’ attention by re-formatting text. There were several online tools and ideas suggested to successfully focus special attention on certain sections of the syllabus/document. I also learned how to upload a YouTube video into blog posting without having to post the actual web link and instead being able to play video right from the blog. This was quite the accomplishment for me 🙂
Creating an academic community can be interesting and fun, however, to create an online community when you are new to the online environment can be quite the challenge. Some tools (e.g.: videos, friendly reminders, etc..) were demonstrated in order to motivate students and remind them they are part of class and also give them a sense of, not only belonging, but also it can exemplify where they stand and how far they want to go in class.
Statistically speaking, students are more productive in relaxed and familiar environments. Getting to such environment takes time and effort. Some of the initial activities in any class are the famous “ice-breakers” which try to do exactly that: break down barriers in order to create a more prosperous and productive setting. How to create these “ice-breakers” in an online class? I was glad to learn, not only from readings but also from colleagues, about online tools that help integrate students into class and set an academic and yet personal and familiar environment. Avatars were somewhat of a new concept to me, definitely sparked my interest in order to have a personal touch in this virtual world.
Copyrights issue and sharing are a very slippery slope and must be extra careful how such material is employed. I loved to read about PDF formatting because it was something I was already familiar with. One of the golden rules in my book is (in regards to copyright issues): when in doubt ask or, as Lisa pointed out in the week’s conclusion, don’t proceed until 100% sure. I was also introduced to LucidCharts. It was exciting to learn about tools that can be utilized in online classes.
This week we also learned about online tools, but it was a little more hands-on for me. I had already been familiar with Prezi presentations, but this time it was my turn to switch from being the observer of the presentation to being the creator of one. I also experimented with Voki, where I created an avatar and personalized it with accessories and other tools. Loved getting hands-on experience and adding to my technology knowledge.
Multi-tasking can be oh so ever productive if successfully employed. Nonetheless, multi-tasking can easily be a double edge sword. Attention span, we’ve all got it, but how much do we have? We are living in an era of instant gratification where if we are not immediately rewarded we move on to other things. Such is the case of internet and its constituents, such as uploading and downloading information. As soon as we feel it’s taking a long time to view/ download/ upload something, we open up another tab hence dividing our attention. Is this really productive? What can we do to facilitate internet navigation and increase productivity and keep focus on the task? Guidance, workshops and tutorials are often time the answers to avoid troubleshoots and stay focus on task in hand. One useful tool was SurveyMonkey which I loved and will definitely use in f2f class and online classes. This survey is an indirect guide for students to find information when in need of guidance. It establishes work ground from Day 1.
A few of the CMS I was familiar with were Blackboard (which every school I’ve worked with has), Moodle, Gradekeeper and other book publisher cites. It was great to read my colleagues takes on this topic and also learn from them and get new ideas as to what can be used and what issues can arise. An interesting point that arose in this topic was saving your work due to unpredictable malfunctions. As an online educator, certain points have to be taken into consideration. One of them is this issue I hadn’t really considered: backing up online work. With technology evolving at the speed of light, anything can happen and it is always a good idea to prepare for an upcoming problems. Definitely raised awareness for me 🙂
This week was another trending topic was presented. Very interesting and also very slippery slope. How much is too much and how much should we memorize/obtain etc..? I learned the importance of how to effectively employ these 2.0 tools and promote didactic activities. Many pedagogical issues were brought up with this topic and it definitely helped to read colleagues posts and also receive feedback from them. I love that colleagues did not only commented but also suggested new tools. Sharing: priceless.
“The more you share, the more you have”. I have been very lucky to have been able to share and activities with colleagues and also students. It is how this world runs. Had inventors never shared their ideas we would still be living as cave people. Through the act of sharing is how we have also evolved and progressed. It is no different in the academic setting. It is always a great feeling to find out about a new method to use in your class or share experiences and material with others. Point in case, is what we have been doing all semester long. We have all been posting about our experiences and reflections on topics and also we have been sharing new techniques or any idea that can make us create successful learners, class environments, etc.. 🙂
POT_Week 13 and Week 14
In conclusion, it was a semester characterized by progress and an accumulation of technological knowledge for pedagogical purposes and beyond. I personally enjoyed this final project because it forced me to look back to my cumulative work and compare and contrast older posts to newer, most recent post. Progress can be clearly seen in posts and personally, I have become more familiar with certain online programs. I can look back, recognize some of the online tools we used and actually say, “I did that!”. It feels good to have actually experimented and become familiar with all these forms of teaching. I know there’s a lot more to learn, however, I feel the first step has been taken in the right direction. This class gave much more insight into a dimension I had somewhat experimented with, but never really got as involved as I did in this class. It was immensely helpful and valuable to read other colleagues posts and comments. This class was an open forum where we all shared ideas and learned from each other. 🙂
Week_13
Luckily, in my (very short) professional career I have worked with colleagues who have been very generous, kind and very sharing. I started working at San Diego State University and fortunately (for me (: ) our program coordinator was very interested in technology and integrating this technology into the language classroom. Our coordinator always held workshops and trained instructors with innovative programs. Up to this date I still use some of these activities and programs in class and of course some of them have been modified as it needs. Nonetheless, thanks to his knowledge and sharing of this knowledge is that we (instructors) started building our teaching foundation. Up to this date, working in MiraCosta College, I have been very lucky to work with colleagues who are not only willing to share their ideas, but also walk you through it and allow you to modify these ideas as you see fit.
Coming to an end truly has inspired to seek further information and to keep on exploring new horizons as suggested by Ko & Rossen. In the past I had attended some workshops and CLTA conferences which I’ve gained so much from, however, as in the book mentions I will strive to get enrolled into online based programs to help me prepare hands-on. And I can say I have taken the first step by enrolling in this course 🙂
Week_12
As they say: “if the shoe fits…” This particular chapter spoke to me as I have always taught f2f classes, but still try to integrate web tools to enhance the material and integrate it to class. As noted in Chapter 13, I have always uploaded “estructura” points (grammar points) onto blackboard and divide them by chapter. I always let students know these are available for them as an addition to book material. Yes, it takes time to do this uploading, subdivisions, availability and general web organization. However, it is totally worth it and once you’ve done it that first time you can simply transfer from course to course, yes it still takes time, but not as much. I also upload links to for pronunciation purposes, there’s always students who have not even heard “hola” in Spanish and I find it helpful to reinforce this pronunciation factor and give them access from their homes or wherever they access this material.
As noted in this chapter, another issue is whether students access and take advantage of this information or not. The ones who do take their time to view and process this information will definitely be prepared for in class activities and interaction. And hopefully as Ko & Rossen write on Chapter 13, students who do not take their time to review such information prior to class will learn to come prepare by next class meeting as they will be somewhat lost and will not gain as much as a student who did.
A point that chapter 13 touches on is how some professors may be hesitant to post lectures online fearing students will not show up for class (f2f) being that all the information is accessible online. It can be an expansion to this information. I personally find it very helpful as a language instructor to post information online and expand on these topics in class and use time with other helpful and didactic activities. I try to take advantage of these unlimited resources, and I know I still have A LOT to learn. Another subdivision I liked was “Enlisting Technology in Your Favor”. I coincidently attended a workshop where we talked about this topic. Instead of making laptops and other gadgets our enemies integrate them to class. We learned about Web 2.0 tools and how to manage them through tablets, smart phones, etc.
I could go on and on, but I think this post is getting too long. I have included a video I watched in MiraCosta/ Palomar and CSUSM symposium and it fits perfectly with online lecture posts etc.. Thanks for reading 🙂
Week_11
Knowing the “theory” and knowing how to employ and put to use this “theory”, are two completely different factors. In language classes specifically, it is one thing to memorize conjugations and it is quite a different thing knowing how to use language for communication purposes. Many students can be excellent in retrieving and memorizing grammar points, but cannot use the language in speaking activities and consequently fail to use language in a meaningful manner. And there’s also the other extreme where students cannot retrieve any grammar points, but manage to get by with their oral communication skills. However, both memorization of concepts and utilization of such concepts can go hand-in-hand.
In f2f classes, as mentioned in MOOCs video constructivism, students create and use their content and professors serve as guides. In online courses the principles may remain the same, however, the tools or means used to achieve class goals are different. Knowing how to purposely and effectively use web 2.0 tools is definitely the ongoing challenge. I, myself, use the internet and its resources for personal and academic purposes, however, integrating such tools to the education platform is quite a different story. In this class, I have learned new technology terminology and am becoming familiar with programs I had only heard of in the past, but had never experimented with.
Conclusively, as noted by MOOCs video, the goal is to create “self-regulated motivated, autonomous learners”.
I’ve included a picture I had come across a while ago and thought it went well with Larry Sanger’s article 🙂
Week_10
It was interesting to read and learn about Course Management Systems/ Learning Management Systems. An interesting point that was mentioned in Lisa’s article was the fact that instructors and professors are not considered novice when teaching their area of expertise, yet when it comes to pedagogy integrating technology another tune plays. I as well consider myself as a “novice faculty” when it comes to online teaching. Through out this course I have been learning and experimenting with different programs and learning systems that can be integrated into the online “classroom”. Another important point was how far away do we expand our knowledge or are we willing to experiment. As noted by another participant, I would definitely like to begin with whatever learning systems our own school recommends or requires. I am already comfortable using Blackboard as it has been a system every school I’ve worked in requires and/ or uses. However, I am more than willing to, little by little, experiment and integrate new (or at least new to me) LMS.
On the other hand, how will students approach or be introduced to these ever-evolving systems? An important element mentioned in Chapter 10 (Ko & Rossen, 2010) was the creation of student orientation. Getting students familiar with programs and providing an outline of expectations, requirements (both class requirements and required computer skills-to be acquired), etc… (Ko & Rossen, 2010). Also setting the initial tone for the class is crucial to establish the class environment as indicated by Ko and Rossen. So many great points to consider and implement.
Week_9
I find this chapter to be very very interesting (not that other chapters weren’t, in fact they have been oh so ever helpful, but we are touching basis with the student body). Reading the articles and chapter and watching the youtube links was very interesting and fascinating because it is something we are in constant contact with: our student population. I, myself, have to admit I am “guilty” of multi-tasking. Just the other day I was commenting with my friend how ADAHD we are becoming in the sense that if whatever it is we are downloading/uploading we expect it to process in a nano second. Otherwise, we jump to another task and therefore divide our attention at risk of becoming less (or perhaps more) productive. It was interesting to read the article and note there was no continental/cultural difference in the students surveyed. They all admitted to multi-task and move on to “faster” things. As noted in the research findings written by Jakob Nielsen, students (and sometimes ourselves) “are enraptured by social media but reserve it for private conversations”.
In the beginning of this semester a student came up to me and wanted to comment on one of her observations. She told me she grew up in a generation where technology was the way of communicating, creating and learning and that it was weird to her that one of the students in class asked her a technology questions in regards to the class. She was thrown off by this question. She said she assumes everyone of her and younger generations are familiar with computer softwares and programs. It raised an important issue, we cannot assume students are familiar with programs. Hence we have orientations in the beginning of the semester to get students familiar with the programs we will be utilizing in class. I have created my SurveyMonkey. Thank you 🙂
Week_8
I usually have students present a historical figure presentation to tie in culture and language in class. They have to either use PowerPoint or any other online resource which they are familiar with. Over 2 years ago, one student asked me if she could use Prezi which, in her words, was a more interactive version of PowerPoint. I said of course as long as the presentation requirements were met. Every so often I have students do their presentations with Prezi if they so desire. I recently enjoyed a Prezi presentation a student used and asked her to show me what template she used and she showed me after class. This template is the one I ended up using for this assignment 🙂 Here is my Prezi Presentation.
Coursework in relation to online classes, as defined by Ko & Rossen 2010, are “all the software tools, digital materials, and resources used as course materials to deliver an online class”. A few resources that grabbed my attention was Voki, from YouTube video. I love that you can integrate audio with images and avatars. It also mentions there’s multiple options to integrate video/images/audios allowing even shy students to share their ideas and voice, or other formats of oral communications. Voki was also mentioned in Chapter 9, as well as others such as DoInk.com and Fuzzwich amongst others. I plan to integrate these in my regular class (Computer Lab Trip :p ) to start experimenting with them 🙂
Week_7
An interesting topic yet very slippery slope. As a language teacher, I try to use realia by obtaining information/images etc. from multiple sources and multiple (Spanish-speaking) countries in order to introduce student’s a bit of real language use. How much can we share? How much is appropriate? With the world wide web we have an infinite amount of resources, but we also have the responsibility to appropriately credit authors for their hard work. How much do we want to make public of our own creations? And the questions continue…
A wonderful format which I often use myself is saving in PDF formatting, as mentioned in Chapter 8. I love this format because students can’t change information nor formats (unless they are hackers) and regardless of what program they use to operate they will all have the same information appear in the same order unlike using other formats which may appear differently depending what program is used to open document.
My LucidChart illustrates/ taps a bit into some material used in language class.
Week_6
Come Together: Student Activities
Ice breakers have always been a good idea to do that precisely, break the ice in a new atmosphere. As mentioned in Chapter 7 (Ko & Rossen, 2010), this activity “allows student to begin to form some sense of community”. An interesting factor within the Ice Breaker activity is the “icebreaking team-building activity”. I liked the idea about encouraging students as well as instructors to upload their picture to give it a personal touch. Even if students don’t feel comfortable with personal pictures, as it has happened in class activities, some students upload pictures of their favorite artist, hobby etc… and still it gives us, the viewer, a sense of this person. Taking advantage of technology, I like the idea that now students have the option of creating an avatar to represent them in such activities.
I have already done role playing and simulations in class activities and they have been a very fun learning activity. However, online simulations and role plays open a whole new dimension of possibilities. Luckily, the book we use for our class has many great activities that can also be facilitated online. In an online activity of this kind there are important factors to take into consideration such as providing technical support and “time out” periods as mentioned in chapter seven. Another point I agree with is that simplicity sometimes does it and especially when it comes to instructions. Students need to be able to understand the activity procedure in order to be able to concentrate on developing the activity. I will definitely integrate and experiment with these activities modifying and editing and improving every step of the way.