Monthly Archives: April 2014

Week XIII: Introduction: I was very excited to get started because the first semester was great and I learned more than I expected.

Week XIV: Creating Class Elements, Part 1: I love taking pictures as most people do. I always wanted to create content with images that I take in a daily basis and make them part of my classes. This is a valuable tool. I also explored other tools such as QuickTime Player.

Week XV: Creating Class Elements, Part 2: Wow, this week was great because I began to explore new and neat tools. Thinglink is a great tool because it allows to link different multimedia and it is fun.

Week XVI: Creating Class Elements, Part 3: Another great week. This week I discovered a new tool: Prezi. What I liked about this new tool is that you presented your information is a very creative way. Instead of a linear and a traditional timeline, I was able to break from it. Adding sound was very easy too.

Week XVII: Online Students : This week was all about my students and how I would best help them clear up any questions that would prevent them from accessing all the course material. It gave me that opportunity to think deeply on how my course information and material was reaching them and if it was clear. I also began using Google Drive and Dropbox.

Week XIII: Classroom Management: This week was enlightening because I realized what students did outside of class was as important or even more important than what we accomplished inside the classroom.

Week XIX: Online Education Theory: This week I shared how I encourage my students to make connections outside of class, participating in cultural events. Throughout the year fortunately there are many cultural events that allow my students to live and experience authentic Hispanic customs. Every year we explore Día de Muertos, attend concerts, visit restaurants, see plays, etc.

Week XX: Educational Technology and Instructional Design: This week I explored the importance of tech and instructional design and how I for a while went without technology.  Our department and some colleagues have encouraged us to explore and incorporate more technology in our classes. I am very happy I listened and now I am a new and reinvented professor because of it. There is a lot more I would like to learn. I think I am in the right track though.

Week XXI: Web-Enhanced, Hybrid and Open Classes: Wow, I used free online resources and I have a few favorites. However, I was unaware about the abundance of free courses and resource available on the Internet. This week I explored MOOC.

Week XXII: Personal Learning Networks: I was in the recent past a very quiet professor. This program allowed to rediscover myself and my voice. I love technology and I can put this passion into good use. I am very happy because I am making new learning networks.

Week XXIII: Presentation: This week I wanted to explore other tools: reflector, QuickTime Player, 4 Apps (soundcloud, Audioboo, Tellagami and Educreations).  In my area it is important to find different multimedia by which our students can share and practice what they are learning in class.

Here are the names of the four apps that were mentioned in my presentation: Audioboo, Soundcloud, Tellagami and Educreations. All the apps are free on the App Store. I linked them. Good luck and thank you for watching.

This week I was particularly intrigued by the video “Sharing: The Moral Imperative.” Shareski’s point of view on sharing is phenomenal.  In the past months, I have been actively sharing ideas and resources with my colleagues and thus creating a community and a network that is allowing me to grow.  Sharing in a large scale is a scary, new concept for me, but I do believe sharing has many benefits not only for the students but for yourself. It has allowed me to create learning networks on different campuses and on the Internet.

In the past I was not a big sharing type. I was actually very shy around my colleagues and limited my participation in our discussions in meeting and workshops, and I would find myself listening from the more experienced educators rather than sharing my own experiences as equal educators. I know for a fact that I have many great ideas to offer.  This program has created a safe space for me to express my ideas and share them with all of you.

In the future I do want to share more. I was also inspired by Dan Meyer from Santa Cruz, California, who shared his work that took countless hours to complete. I want to become part of the big chain of resources online and perhaps inspire one person and in return inspire me to do more.

I agree with the primary philosophy of open courses, which is to change the lives of many people in the world as stated in George Siemen’s post on Theory and MOOCS (massive open online course). These open courses are literally changing how information and learning is distributed and shared with people all around the world.  I tried some of the open classes offered at Udemy.  Even though most of the courses were not open or free, I managed to sign up to a few courses, and their content was very good.  The plethora of free courses is immense. I came across a broad range of videos lessons in Spanish from señor Jordan, a teacher from Missouri and a complete Spanish 101, 102 and 201 videos absolutely free.

Connectivism has become a great theory that I like and hope to learn more about. I enjoyed how it was introduced in  What the unique idea in connectivism. The following video was so enlightening that I decided to post it on my Blog for future reference. The video hits the nail straight on the head, and it illustrates how connectivism works and how professors empower their students to explore, discover and  connect thus creating an active and autonomous student. This semester my students from my f2f and hybrid courses have made real connections with the Hispanic culture in our beautiful San Diego. I am also flipping my class using the web and other free resources.