Monthly Archives: March 2014

When I began teaching I was very in love with technology and used it frequently in class, creating PowerPoint presentations, using Youtube videos and music, but I slowly began to thrift away from it. After a while I divorced from technology.  My main focus and energy was mainly directed toward improving my  pedagogy and especially my Instructional Design.   My main goal was to learn and then help students make meaningful, long-lasting connections with the class content. Some of the learning theories that interested me were Cognitivism and Behaviorism.

Recently my fire and passion for technology ignited once again, but sadly I often overdose on technology and I wonder if the students overdose too. When do we stop? How do we know? Sometimes nostalgia hits me and I long for those remote time where students were not easily distracted by buzzing, flashy or vibrating sounds. I do believe in having a well-balanced class, taking advantage of the great resources and tools EdTech (E-learning) can provide for the instructor and for the students. I strongly believe technology can provide that long-lasting connections and learning I so eagerly search for. I loved when Jordan Molina on her post asked how much harder does an online teacher has to work to inspire her/his students. In my opinion, not much because personally I have been inspired by cyber-friends whom I have never met.  It is a mysterious connection I cannot describe well. Do you have a online friend, teacher or instructor who has inspired you?

As an instructor I find myself going back and forth from Instructivism to Constructivism to Connectivism.  I love to teach, just like Jaime Escalante did.  Sometimes I feel like a parent trying to show their children the correct way. I often get too passionate and involved.  Sooner or later I do need to let go and have them try new things on their own. :'(

In my classes, group work is of upmost importance and we also experiment with new things in class and out. I strongly encourage students to take advantage of what the Hispanic cultures offers us here or close to us. I ask them to make connections:  see la bufadora, taste a creamy chirimoyo, touch a bull by it horns :), make chorizo con huevos and smell a fresh cup of Colombian coffee outside of class.

However as we begin to move toward a more connected world, I am beginning to enable my students to connect with it and since we have the ability to do that more and more via Internet, students can benefit instantly. In my field making authentic connections is important. Now with new technology it has become easier to experience authentic moments. For example we can talk to someone in Argentina or Spain via Skype, learn about Rigoberta Menchú or go to Youtube and see how chicharrones are prepared.

This week there were many things to consider. From our reading, Teaching Online, I was mostly intrigued by these points: Keeping clear and frequent announcements, encouraging participation by graded activities and group work, having synchronous communication and also providing feedback.  I have been using Blackboard as my CMS, but I have been exploring other CMSs and LMSs to enhance learning.  I see myself moving forward, maybe that at a rapid pace, but indeed moving forward with great tools for the new generation of students.

In the article Rebuilding the LMS for the 21st Century there is great point made about having students come out of their higher education having skills beyond their own academic learning. Frequently I ponder how I can enable my students to leave my class with great knowledge and skills they can used in real-life settings.  We do need to move toward a student-centered, collaborative and across campuses framework and provide a better 21st century education for our students.  We need to keep up with our ever-changing world.

In Lisa’s article Insidious pedagogy we are reminds that the pedagogical goals need to be considered above all and complement it with a CMS or LMS.

This week I was very happy and pleased to read all the magnificent posts; I learned a great deal.

Last week I attended a conference where I was introduced to Google Drive. I have been playing with it since and so far it has been very interesting. This week’s work was a great way for me to put Google docs into action.

Here is my FAQ doc that I created in Google Drive. I do have something similar in Blackboard for my hybrid class. I am sure that in the future I will have refined questions and answers to better help my students.

From the reading I realized that I should not make assumptions about how savvy or knowledgeable my students are about technology or online classes in general. It is my responsibility to have a clear and straightforward course. It was also enlightening to read about the myths.

The survey was fun to create. I see myself using surveys to get feedback from students about my courses at the end of the semester or even earlier. I might even consider given extra credit if students complete a survey.

I again had a blast creating my work this week. I used for the first time Screencast-O-Matic and I loved it. I also used Powerpoint to create my slides and Prezi for the final project. I unfortunately did not add subtitles or images. 🙁 I did not want to overload my creation with images. Any comments are welcomed.

Please click on Start Prezi and then on the slide to listen to the audio.