Week 12: Resources Online

• I read chapter 8, Ko and Rossen: Copyright, Intellectual Property, and Open Educational Resources and I found some good and new information about which sites are accessible to educators to retrieve information without asking for permission and for no fee as well. Having finished the book, I will look it up again for some useful information and references in regards to sites I will need to visit very soon. I have to say that I learned a lot by reading this book.
• I also explored online textbooks and e-books on the Project Gutenburg and open textbook. The open textbook lead me, among other things, to a site I have been using for quite some time (the university of Texas).
• I did the same with the open educational resources at the Project Gutenburg and the Internet Archive. I liked both of them and the fact that they carry foreign books that you can download. I saw some similarity from both sites for what I was looking for in regards to languages. These two sites do offer a nice variety of e-books. There were some titles I did not know about in the foreign section.
• I checked out MiraCosta’s library resources. I frankly say that I never had the opportunity to use it so far having all the books I need. But I do tell my students to explore the library at Miracosta. It is there to be “exploited” after all.
• I took the POT certification class mid-year class survey and the Mid-year Self-Assessment Check. After looking at my results, I can see that I need to make more  comments on other participants’ blogs. Will do to correct this.

• Statements about the quality of each post

• Week 1: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=14 = I just made an introduction for the most part for week 1 and I added a picture featuring an acquaintance of mine and myself.
• Week 2: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=29 = I talked about the online tools that I always use in my class to enhance the on-site class that I teach. The beginner’s questionnaire gave me some useful insight about what I should further look for an online class.
• Week 3: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=36 = Here I mentioned the types of work I require from my students, which is the focus on group work and communication with the outside world with foreign students. I also thought that I should add some auditory cues to enhance the written part when I give assignments to my students.
• Week 4: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=53 = I checked some teachers’ online classes and I again learned quite a few things on what to do when you want to build an online class. I also said that I should make some research on some online tools that I never used before. The overall idea here is to be practical (what is relevant and not relevant by taking away some information but leaving what is necessary, of course; some “interior cleaning,” I should say) in order to make the online class accessible to students.
• Week 5: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=72 = Kept reading my “weekly book:” Practical guide of online teaching. I understand the good use of hyperlinks and the audio cues for an online class and the idea of a map featuring the “geography” of the class: showing assignments, goals, result, etc. Graphics are useful not just text.
• Week 6: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=84 = I created some new accounts online (Google Reader, etc.) and I tried to pass the internet skills quiz…Almost made it but I did not get 100%. I also learned how to insert a video in my blog.
• Week 7: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=97 = I talked about Twitter: why I use it (not for education purposes yet) and mainly about Second Life, which I found hard to implement in my class as a new component. Also I gave an example (link) of an online exercise with a foreign language.
• Week 8: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=126 = Talked about Eluminate live! sessions within Blackboard, which I enjoyed  a lot with my students. It is work when several students participate at the same time but rewarding on both sides. Answered to Pilar Hernandez’s Voice Thread and I can see the advantage on using this tool for my students. Finally, I talked about the + of using Ning in my class and I made some comments to some interesting blogs from other participants.
• Week 9: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=133 = A new thing to me: registering on the Merlot website, which makes me think that I need to contact a teacher from Canada, who featured some very useful videos in foreign languages. This is a super site full of information.  Also talking about goanimate, I use for animation, Second Life again (pitfalls) and a new tool, Diigo, which allowed me to join Mccpot and see other participants’ comments. I agree that I did not use Diigo enough. Shame on me…
• Week 10: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=151 = This was an interesting and fun week for me as I discovered the tool Engrade (the format might be better than the grade center in Blackboard) and I created a mini website with Google sites. I will use this new mini-Website for next semester as I now have some exciting ideas using this tool. And talking about the advantages and disadvantages of blogging on an online class. I see blogging as a plus as long as the teacher is the moderator to avoid going  overboard with unpleasant comments from some students.
• Week 11: http://wordpress.miracosta.edu/darnaud/?p=201 = I learned to read the “true meaning” of copyright (what is allowed and what is not) and realized that some sites allow educators to use information written by different entities and therefore staying in the right boundaries within the law.

Conclusion

I can see some parts where I need to improve the “quality” of my posts and blogging as stated above: making more comments on the POTCERT participants’blogs and viewing more videos as well.I  like these assessments at the end of the first 12 weeks of POTCERT : it shows your weaknesses and strength.