Using Technology in F2F is possible too

So here I am playing with the tools POTCERT introduced this week. First I tried to hangout in Google + with a group of colleagues from this class. I found Pilar, Lisa, Todd, Daniele, Helen, Jean and Jo but nobody was there to hangout with me 🙁

While I was waiting, I started playing with all the gadgets I could find. As you see in this picture, I did not waist my time waiting! What I loved here was the apps you can share while you are hanging out. You can share documents with Google Drive; you can play a video or make a list of favorites together in YouTube and even keep talking over the video that is playing. Another great thing is that you can record the entire session. This is AMAZING and super easy to use!

With no luck in Google Plus I decided to explore Voicethread. I have used this tool before with no success. My students did not like it. The truth is that we cannot expect too much when we are not an online class. Some students like to do extra online, some hate to do it. This was years ago. I think Voicethread is now more accessible and easy (maybe it is just me getting more comfy with technology). I took a screen picture of me recording a comment. Please, do not think I have nothing to do…

Since I do not teach online yet, I am going to talk (or write) about what I do to create a nice learning environment for my classes. I made a list of tasks I like to do in my face-to-face classes and I created a column with what I think one would be able to do in the online environment  Some of the items have a question mark with the hope of getting some answers from my POTCERT classmates 🙂

I have to admit that although I do not teach online yet, I am a tech “addict” and I have learned all this goodies just for my face-to-face classes and for my own delight. I am constantly looking for fun stuff to learn.

First I took the test and I got one incorrect answer (the open source one). Then, I read and saved Dave’s page. Html is not something  you learn from reading one time! I took many classes on html and I still need help because, like piano, if you do not practice it frequently you forget it all 🙁  When I need html I use Kompozer;  Notepad, or if I am at a Miracosta campus I use Dreamweaver, and time to time you find out that knowing a little of html saves you a lot of time.

I use Google Reader and I added Pedagogy First ‘s Blog feed now. I am a fanatic of Google. I use: Google Drive, voice, reader, sites, blogger, chat, plus, picasa… and anything else you propose!

And for the video, I learned a new way to embed it. It is simple and easy. I chose this video that talks about teachers using WordPress Blog for their classes. I like WordPress and since Miracosta Provides it, I think I will consider start blogging soon for my F2F classes, at least.

Here it is, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INpaScF5mvo

Laura

Creating an Effective Online Syllabus

A good syllabus was always for me an essential part of planning my classes. My department gives us a well-designed syllabus that we must follow. There is little room for changes; however, I add my own projects and grading criteria and calendar. Looking at Ko & Rossen’s checklist looks like the department got it all! For an online class all it needs is to have more links and technical support and explanations. I really like Pilar’s idea of posting Wimba Voice Authoring giving them a little explanation of every project. That is something that I will definitely have.

With my 25 years of experience I can say that writing the syllabus is not the most important part of the course. The most important part is for them to read it and understand it! Every semester I get over and over emails asking questions which answers are very clear in the syllabus. This semester, I decided to try something different, it looks like it worked! (I did not receive any questions yet). I published my syllabus and calendar in two public Google Docs (or Drive now). I posted the PDFs in Blackboard but I did not print 70 copies of the 5 pages documents. Instead, I printed a few documents with the link (shorted by tiny.cc) and the QR code. I passed the pages around and I made students with smart phone to save the website in their phones. That way, that did not have the excuse that they could not get to Bb. The rest of the students had to write the tiny url on their agendas or notebooks. Less than half of the class had smart phones or new how to scan a QR code. Nevertheless, they appreciated and liked this format. I also made a required test on blackboard with 10 questions about the syllabus.

I feel like every week I am more and more enthusiastic about the idea of teaching online!