Author Archives: D. Arnaud

Week 14, Creating Class Elements Part 2, Audio and video

 

  • I read: Ko & Rossen, Chapter 9: Creating Courseware and Using Web 2.0 Tools, pp. 252-269 . There are some new software I never heard of very “tempting” in this chapter for creating audio files. So far, I created a YouTube video for one of my classes. A bit “funny” because it was not edited and you can see and hear two things: when I fix my hair and the voice of the owner of the boutique. We are both true amateurs here!:
  • http://youtu.be/0OSQ0WaogkY  
  • logo_audacityRecording with Audacity: after several attempts, it finally worked (excellent sound!) : 0_Pedagogy_first__Week_14
  • I used a PowerPoint presentation I used in class and I uploaded it to Slideshare and I added an audio file.
  • With Mac, I had some problem so I did it with a PC after viewing a tutorial on the Slideshare Website: I did a Voice podcast in Blackboard and saved it on my desktop and then I inserted in as a MP3 file (zip file; I extracted the files thereafter).
  • With my MacBookAir, if I export the slides made with Keynote and I save them as a Power Point after, I could not hear my voice once uploaded in Slideshare (after saving the Keynote slides in a Power Point presentation). I could only hear my recording with Keynote . It took me a little while to figure this on my own but I finally did with a PC.
  • bg_social_media_logo_slideshare_300Embedded  audio file Slideshare: the sound has a few ups and downs but it is working.
  • http://www.slideshare.net/DAArnaud/pedagogy-first-week-14
  • Recording on eyejot: I did like this feature a lot. Hopefully, it will come through to anyone who wants to watch and hear it:
    logo_eyejot

Frustrated with week 14 having some problems navigating between PC and Mac while trying to embed Audacity on either one but I finally made it work thanks to Anthony Ginger who added a file extension (wav) on WordPress…..:

frustration

Week 13: Creating Class Elements Part 1: Images and screenshots

  • I read the entire book before the Winter 2012 break: Ko & Rossen.
  • I took a screenshot from my MacBookAir: here it is below above the Flickr logo

Mac screen shot

flickr_logo

  • I created a new account on Flickr.
  • I added a picture with annotation:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/92891392@N06/
  • Unfortunately, I was not able to use Mbedr to embed my image with its annotation in my blog post using WordPress.com so I just linked the image (link above).

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 3http://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 4http://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 5http://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 6http://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 7http://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 8http://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 9http://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 10http://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 11http://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.

Week 11

Video, Lawrence Lessig, How creativity is being strangled by the law: I really enjoyed watching and listening to this. Very informative and even funny at times when two topics were shown to the audience featuring politics and religion in a more “controversial” fashion. I appreciated the fact that the emphasis was also on children and creativity, on how it is important to let children use their imagination.

Learning about web accessibility via the sites given on Pedagogy First!: I never gave a thought about the Web and people with disabilities. It obviously makes sense to give access to anyone, regardless of disability or not.

As far as copyright, I have in the past used some information from others from the Web to show some interesting facts (mainly pictures and some passages from articles; always quote on quote and citing the person’s name; I never say “I” if it does not come from me ) to my students in my on site class. It has always been temporary  for the duration of an assignment (sometimes just for one day) and that’s about it. The aim is education, not to sell an idea to the world as far as I am concerned. And some copyright information online is for sale after asking permission to use it so I don’t “touch” that and I go elsewhere to find free information so I won’t get in trouble by using it.

I actually had a similar “copyright” problem several years ago when one person used my ideas to write a book and the latter never mentioned my name. I saw the book quite by accident in a bookstore in Boulder, CO. On top of that I met shortly after, by accident too, the student who wrote the book. She said to me that I was a true inspiration to her when she wrote it.  Without my ideas, she would have never been able to write it so she said….

Ah, I would say “yes!!!” Because when I browse the book everything came from me…I was somewhat shocked and disappointed not to see my name in the preface for acknowledgment.

Week 10

  • I viewed Lisa’s slidecast on blogging  and Jim Sullivan’s  Elluminate session: it all makes sense to me. I started blogging with my students about 1 year and half ago only via my cultural blog but I do need more involvement from my students. Next semester, I will make it mandatory by asking to make a certain number of comments and the rest can be an option for extra credit. Right now, it is only an extra credit but few students are willing to participate. They might be too busy to participate?! I don’t know but some semesters the participation was fantastic. All the posts are very relevant to the class I teach but the interest is not “100%” yet.

Grade center, assignments, etc.

  • Engrade, an online gradebook: I liked it for what I have seen so far but I did not registered as I don’t need to do this yet. I already use Blackboard but it looked very enticing to me when I saw the format and what it had to offer.  I will have to check their grade center to compare it with Blackboard. Especially in regards to weight and straight pts. How they handle that compared to Blackboard (running total).

I like it!

  • I had much fun creating my own mini-website last night at Google Sites. I put some basic course information and other things and, in fact, I wanted to keep going by adding more and more but I had to stop at some point… Addicting! I first watched Pilar’s tutorial to make sure I knew how to start on the right path. Basic template. Nothing fancy yet and I still need to make some revisions but at least it is okay for the time being. Here it is. Any types of comments are welcomed, of course. I don’t mind receiving advice at all because I don’t know everything:

https://sites.google.com/site/francais101miracosta2013/

This week’s topics

  • What might be the advantages and disadvantages of using a class blog or student blogs for your class? : I could see some disadvantages if the students get carried away with making negative comments about someone else’s opinion if they disagree…?! Other than that, it is definitely a good community sharing of thoughts to enrich the class. It gives a better idea of whom the students are by talking about different subjects pertaining to the class. Just like we can see on Yahoo chat (I am not sure if it called chat or not, sorry…), which is basically like a blog where people share their opinion (but here it can be anonymous). The teacher as the moderator has the power to leave or take away the comments if not appropriate. Nothing wrong with online debates as stated in Teaching online a practical guide.

  • Could a Google Site or web page make a good welcome for students?: Definitely!!!!!!! It goes without saying and it is even better. Students want to know whom their teacher is. I had students in the past who would go on the Internet to see who I was besides being a teacher. In a way, nothing is private anymore but it can be used in a positive way by sharing what can only be shared so I prefer making the first step to tell them about my interests and other types of things while not saying everything….. Just the best about me, ah, ah!

Week 9

  • I am impressed by Ko and Rossen, Teaching online a practical guide. The more I read this book, the more pertinent I find it . The information on general and specific subjects is very well explained with a simple and easy approach.
  • I registered on  MERLOT and I like it very much. I checked some very useful information, namely the animation part. I now need to get hold of a Canadian instructor, who came up with some very good animations in foreign languages. But I , so far and for the time being, have used for 2 semesters the website goanimate.com for short 2 minute animations for 1 month free trial. Very basic for languages but still a lot of fun for beginners in foreign languages. My students like it very much.
  • I also registered on Diigo, and I joined  “mccpot“.
  • Bookmarked Terry Anderson and Jon Dron’s Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy using Diigo, and made a couple of  notes  onto the mccpot group.
  • I already tried Second Life in the past and I already made some comments about it in previous posts.
  • Second Life / Diigo: How could either be used for education? What are the pitfalls?: Yes, Second Life can be used for education but just like “Teaching online  a practical guide” says, it does require lots of planning and training on behalf of the teacher and the student also (mainly training for the latter). There is so much to do already with blogging, preparing an online class, corrections and so on. This is really a question of  training but planning as well and I mean by that hours to set aside in front of the computer just to be proficient at one thing. I am not sure yet how to use it for education purposes unless I can find a special subject to implement within Second Life: imagining an avatar student writing on a board and making a teacher avatar explaining how to find the answer to a set of questions ? Something like that….I just don’t know yet.
  • On that note, there was an interesting program several weeks ago on KPBS t.v. channel about Second Life showing someone who became a millionaire by using Second Life. This gentleman invented a fantasy game via Second Life for adults only. Very consuming: He basically spends about 12 hours a day on Second Life and he has clients all over the world. Just to let you: he is not teaching foreign languages, maths and other disciplines but selling you fantasy about something else….
  • Diigo: I posted a couple of comments and there is the advantage of seeing other people’comments. It is a plus, of course but I am not proficient at it yet. It does remind me a little bit of Evernote, which I use.

Week 8: creating community forever….

I like week 8: different pace and interesting as usual. Some good interactions.

  • I read the chapter 6 last week from S. Ko and S. Rossen already.
  • I also read the article from Jonathan Mott suggested by week 8 syllabus but I will have to read it more in depth. I am still not too proficient with some terminology. I need to do more homework on that..

✍Blackboard collaborate / Elluminate session !:

I used this tool several times for my class and not all students participated (6 at a time is the maximum who can participate, I believe) and this is a very good tool especially for review sessions before a test. I usually offer these sessions the day before a test day in the evening as an option. The most dedicated ones would participate so overall I never had more than 5 at a time.

✍ Pilar Hernandez’s Voice Thread:

I did go back a few times after recording my initial comment the very first time: it always seemed that I forgot to make an extra comment!

I talked about Blackboard Collaborate / Elluminate! + NING. The latter I use almost every day for cultural posts and comments. NING has been very good for all of us (the students and myself) to create a rewarding community feeling to my class in order to bring forward some useful participation between foreing students and my students at Miracosta College.

My NING network for my class: nothing to complain about!

The purpose of this blog is the comparison between French culture and other cultures, such as Mexican, American and Asian cultures. I could use the blog within Blackboard but via NING, I find it more “special” in the sense that I can insert pictures and the layout is not as “boring” as in BlackboardNING ( for free) is good and it does not have to be a cultural blog like mine but it could be about any subject in the world as far as I know.

Besides these obvious facts (to me), you can participate being an outsider so you don’t have to be a student: all you need is to be interested in building on online community and it ‘s been working very well.

Replied to comments for weeks past too.

Week 9 on the way…

 

Week 7: online classroom and post on a virtual world

Some news:

    • I read and  I again learned quite a lot. Everyday I learn something new! Some sites I was aware of but not everything from Ko and Rossen, Chapter 6: Building an Online Classroom.
    • Try Twitter: I already have an account. I mainly use (and so far) it in reference to worldwide news and to post some “controversial” political events.
  • I viewed Pilar Hernandez’ video on Building Community in Your Online Class . Pilar is such a good speaker: very informative video with plenty of good advice to improve. Always and always.
  • Post: ➸ Is Second Life truly useful for an online community? I took a workshop on this subject a few semesters ago. Lots of work to implement this online tool. I heard of an Italian teacher in the US who is doing all of her office hours via Second Life but teaches on site. Not teaching an online class yet, could this be an excellent or good or o.k. option for students as an interactive way to communicate with teachers?  Second Life does require a good understanding of “technological / digital” work to be able to navigate easily. I tried it by creating an example of an online communication tool with my students but the problem for me was that there was a multitude of chats on my screen coming from Second Life members from literally all over the world. I could never delete these comments for more than 5 minutes at a time. There must be a trick to get rid of that.
  • Comments on other blog posts via Pedagogy First! All done this week of Oct. 22nd, 2012.
  • Bonne chance / Good luck ! ➼ Teaching an online concept for my discipline level 102 to Anglophone students: dictation for an intermediate level (foreign language); not graded, just a test on grammar and vocabulary. *Note: I assume that the students already have some basic concepts on grammar + vocabulary. First, they listen to the dictation. Second, they write. Good concept to teach what a dictation is for students who never wrote any dictations in the past in their own language. Dictation for students in New York as a preliminary test:
  • http://org-www.tv5.org/TV5Site/dictee/dictee.phpredirection=classement&id_dictee.
  • Completely lost or just for checking answers, go to: http://org-www.tv5.org/TV5Site/dictee/dictee_3.pdf

Week 6 is behind me….

I think I did my homework for last week this week. Running late:
  • I took the Internet Skills quiz and I scored almost 88% because I was not thinking clearly…
  •  I also explored (and that was not so obvious to me with all these “strange codes”) Dave Raggett’s Introduction to HTML
  • I learned about RSS feeds (the RSS the Oprah Way): I did like it but I need to review it in  a minute or so.
  • I setup my own newsreader account with Google Reader and I added the Pedagogy First! blog feed to my reader: done!
  • I did learn this also: how to embed a video to a WordPress.com.
  • I found a video on YouTube that teaches some vocabulary in a fun way for my class but especially that teaches some basic concepts for foreign languages (vocabulary again; very, very basic but not boring ) for an online course.
  • A bit of html also: <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/0SUPeXLQsxY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SUPeXLQsxY&feature=related

 

 

Week 5

The Online Syllabus

I read Chapter 5  from Creating an Effective Online Syllabus

➨  The most likely recommendation to implement in my class is:

I found this chapter very detailed but the entire book is so detailed and precise already. Here are some options I like and I think that I already implement most of them in my actual Blackboard. There are several points I favor as being the most important to me:

1- The contract / 2- The map / 3- The schedule

For the contract, it is more or less already established with the general template that we receive from our dept. at Miracosta. It covers the general rubrics of class participation and grading criteria. I use this every semester and I basically don’t bring any changes to that.

For the map, I do like this idea. I did use at some point in the past some type of a map for the grading to show in a more illustrative way (circles and arrows) which assignments receive a certain grade based on weight. But the map mentioned in chapter 5 refers to it as the “geography” of the course so it does go beyond the grading. I like this analogy.

I use two components: the face to face and the online components for a variety of assignments. The face to face goes over the assignments and the online components are simply about how to get there to do the assignments from the student’s computer.

The most important point in this chapter in reference to the map is about building a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation to guide students and point out what is to be expected from them in the course. Presenting a video capture would be an excellent tool to use as an introduction to the course.

The students would find it more captivating somewhat and not as boring by simply reading a syllabus without an audio tool with the teacher’s voice. It might be more work at first from the teacher but certainly more stimulating both for the teacher and the student. And also much more clarity with a video so you know where to go from the very beginning of the online course.

Finally the schedule part is about the layout of the assignments on a weekly basis. I agree with this but I also reinforce some important assignments by reinserting a specific homework a couple of days or a few more before the due date. I did mention that in a previous post too, I believe.

➨The least likely recommendation to implement in my class is:

On page 125, there is a topic about redundancy saying that it “is often better than elegant succinctness.”

However, I think that instead of repeating the same each week or every two weeks, a paragraph should always be on top of the syllabus stating that certain rules /directions will always be applied for the entire course. Typed in bigger characters to draw the attention so it can never be missed. A hyperlink within the course in all sections can always direct the students back to what he/she is supposed to refer himself/herself to.

Elluminate Recording: Lisa M Lane and Jim Sullivan, The Interactive Syllabus

 ➨How does what you read contrast with the method presented in the workshop?

I don’t really see too many contrasts between the Elluminate session and what I read in regards to contents. They are both very detailed and with Lisa I think the emphasis is more on the content section from Blackboard. The old Blackboard 8. The aspect of the Elluminate session I like was about the syllabus that you can always see . I myself insert the syllabus as a PDF attachment. I will change that.

Perhaps one might see a contrast between the chapter 5 and the workshop in regards to hyperlinks that Lisa focused on. That is a good tool to use to avoid the students to look for sections somewhere on the syllabus and perhaps get lost on the way until you are fully familiar with the online course. The hyperlinks save time and puts you “face to face” with the document.