WEEK 24 – POTCERT – SUMMARIZE, ASSESS AND CONTRIBUTE
What an amazing educational journey. I want to thank all the POTCERT instructors, mentors and contributors. I have learned so much in the last two years, yes two years. It took me longer to understand and grow with the material presented. I definitely had no knowledge of the body of information I would be introduced to and had no idea how exciting this new information would be. I cannot thank you enough for all you have taught – by readings, tutorials, presentations, assistance, and communal learning. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I completed the POT Certificate class self-assessment rubric. Of the eight areas of competence, I feel I have five marks in the very likely to achieve high learning objectives, and three marks in the moderately likely to achieve high learning objectives intended by Certificate program. I would suggest that if this were a graded course I would receive a grade of B. The assignments took me much more time than indicated and would think I will need more practice in online education. It know how it feels to have a small view of the big picture and see how much more there is to learn. Good thing I have more time and the help of our learning community.
Here are my postings for the POTCERT Course 2013/2014
INTRO
After reviewing my post I see how I stress behaviorism, and now after doing the research I did for my presentation on learning theories and online learning I see how I would want to incorporate more constructivism in my online class assignments. I want to incorporate the same positive reinforcement but allow students to create a learning platform.
WEEK 14 Creating Class Elements Part 1
Had a great time learning to use the snipping tool and it was extremely helpful for me to create a form for students to review with instructions. Youtube became my best friend. Certainly Google is god but Youtube sure has a wealth of easily used tutorials. I used the tutorials for help with this course, but also posted some great videos for my classes. This week’s assignment helped me to create some engaging work for my students.
WEEK 15 Creating Class Elements Part 2 Audio
Worked with Audacity making an audio presentation for my students. I usually use the mashup on Blackboard, so I needed the practice with Audacity. As I go throughout the semester my students are being provided with better information – bonus.
WEEK 16 Creating Class Elements Part 3 Sreeencasting
Used the Screencast-o-Matic tool for creating a video for my students about completing an insurance form. I have explained claim form completion semester after semester, and this video finally worked. I posted some Youtube videos but they were incomplete, so I made a complete tutorial. I had some difficulty with uploading my Screencast-o-Matic video and asked the POTCERT participants for help. Thanks to our learning community for answering my plea and providing me with the information I needed to compete the upload. Was about to go crazy until the answer was sent over our hotline.
I was able to practice again with Google doc survey. Since we learn new technology each week getting to practice with a tool was very beneficial. I was able to make a better survey the second time and will be using this tool as an introduction tool in my course Discussion Board.
WEEK 18 Classroom Management & Facilitation
We were introduced to students use of blogging to enable lifelong learning. I was motivated to add this to my course as part of their final project. The students were linked to Weebly as a free site to create a blog to use as their eportfolio. I then linked several Youtube tutorials to Blackboard to help them setup their blog. Really excited about the creating of a learning community with extension of their classroom learning.
WEEK 19 Introduction to Online Education Theory
Had a good start at adapting my learning style thinking after watching the learning theory video, and reading the articles attached for review. I have had very little exposure to the information presented about learning theory and was lucky to have had the privilege to create a presentation on the online education theory. I researched by reading the regular assignments and watching the video again, and reread the extra assignments. I then watched a multitude of Youtube tutorials on the subject. I spent a few days going over the information and then created a Prezi with some of the videos I found most engaging and informative. I also wanted to keep them short enough that someone would be more likely to watch. The more information I reviewed the more I saw how I need to adapt my learning style with more adult learning techniques and more constructivism. I am going to have fun this summer updating assignments with this new attitude. This constructivist assignment really hit the mark for me.
WEEK 20 Introduction to Educational Technology & Instructional Design
The information that explained how many distractions our students are faced with every day sure opened my eyes. I can see how we need to talk to them on their level and allow them to create within their technology environment. Allowing students to create presentations with their own research (sound familiar) gives them a deeper understanding of the subject and a feeling of ownership. This process engages and promotes lifelong learning.
WEEK 21 Web-Enhanced, Hybrid & Open Classes
Being able to add another dimension to the classroom with a hybrid allows web-enhanced learning with connectivism and creationism. My students are now being required to create eportfolios so they have a body of work to use throughout their career. Students are required to post internet information concerning their knowledge base on their blogs and improve their research abilities. The availability of open classes has added another aspect to learning, one in which the learning process is the goal with creationism. What an exciting time in the relay of information and I think we have been shown through this course how to take the learning to a deeper level.
WEEK 22 Personal Learning Networks
We certainly have been using our personal learning network with the POTCERT course. Educators want to educate not only the students within their walls but all students. The ability to create information to share with the “Big” classroom is a great opportunity and in the literature we read our “Ethical Responsibility.” The recent acceptance of scholarly blogs is an important step forward. I really have an expanded my understanding of open education with the presentations from Stephen Downs. His idea that education should be self-created makes adding blogs and other interaction between students more integral to lifelong learning and real understanding of subjects.
And now we come to our final – OUR PRESENTATION. I learned so much creating this Prezi about Learning Theories and Online Learning. I knew very little about Learning Theories and spent days researching the subject. After reviewing many Youtube videos I picked some that I felt were best at describing the different theories and principles. I then created the Prezi and then added background music and narration. I had trouble embedding the video and watched a few tutorials about the process. I finally figured it out and completed the work. A great learning experience in so many ways. I certainly will add a research project in the future with my students.
Well, here we are at the end and I am so much wiser after these two years. My eyes have been opened to all the possibilities with online education. I will continue to acquire more knowledge and certainly appreciate the opportunity to have a learning community to share information. As I continue to gain experience I would be happy to help other learners.