Rachele DeMeo ~ Teaching Blog & Site

I’ve been enjoying exploring different tools and trying to figure out what I should use for my own course. I didn’t know so many tools existed and am trying to narrow down which ones would be good for me.

Reading other blogs and POT posts has certainly been interesting. I have learned a lot from others! Thanks to everyone for posting and commenting! I added a comment to Pilar’s Voicethread which I found to be a very interesting tool in itself. Being a kinesthetic learner, I gain a lot of from “doing” (versus just reading/hearing…).

The Collaborate video was very interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=orcs8rtgTuc#!

I just started using Google Drive and and discovering how to synchronize/hyperlink docs I can use for my class… I’m still trying to figure how it works.

Anyway, I’m thrilled about what I’m learning so far and hope to play around more with these many tools.

This week we had quite a few things to do and much to reflect on/work on.

One of them was to try Twitter. I do have a Twitter account/page but I haven’t used it in teaching yet. The textbook mentioned an instructor could send out text messages and/or short posts (under 140 characters). But I’d love to know how other instructors have used Twitter in their online classes (particularly language teachers). I understand its’ uses in terms of posts and chatting with others but don’t understand what advantages this might have in comparison to other tools such as a Facebook page, a blog or a pen pal website (in which students would be paired up to native speakers/writers)? Also, is text messaging students (even in a mass text messaging format such as Twitter) “too personal”? I don’t know the answer to that question yet…

I enjoyed Pilar’s workshop video: Building Community in Your Online Class which was very informative. I couldn’t agree more about the importance of keeping the format “clean” looking and easily accessible/readable. Nowadays, students want things easy and accessible right away so when something is hard to find or a page is difficult to navigate through, it can be very confusing and time-consuming. I think it’s important to keep in mind that students’ ages, marital status, ethnicity, background, hobbies and location will vary. Hence, it is important to make the online course appealing but I also believe it is important to stay open-minded. I liked what Pilar said about being personable and giving students a glimpse of your own family life. Students (even in an on-campus class) like to know the teacher isn’t just some “brainiac” with no life outside of education itself. I have found that when I say a thing here or there about my children and/or husband and/or hobbies, students enjoy knowing that I too have a life outside of school. Being an organized “freak” I definitely am pro-organization. How many times have I had a student ask me weeks ahead of time what was on the schedule for a specific date/class because of an appointment of some sort… It’s vital to have the semester planned out ahead of time, yet keep some room for flexibility. 🙂

As I progress into the “creating” and not just “thinking” of an online classroom Curriculum, I  have encountered various dilemmas. I have been asking my fabulous mentor (Pilar) as well as the POT Facebook group page what the difference (in uses) are between Dropbox and Google Docs? I have been using Dropbox and was thinking of recreating my Curriculum to include hyperlinks to each of the handouts/videos I want to include in my lesson. However, as I was updating some handouts, the old hyperlinks (in my Curriculum) didn’t work (for me–for students, the hyperlinks didn’t work at all since they perceived the document as a PDF even if I originally created it as a Word Document). I have been toying with the idea of using Google Docs so my students can view handouts simply by clicking on link. In the past I have had to upload each individual document on Blackboard. By using hyperlinks this will certainly make things easier for me.

Finally, I’d like to start making more videos but am still unsure of what software I should use for these videos. I like the suggestions from the textbook (and from Pilar’s workshop video) but still need to figure out what would work from me.

I’m looking forward to reading your suggestions. 🙂

Here we are in Week 6 of the Program for Online Teaching. I have so many ideas of things I’d like to incorporate in an online class as well as on-campus class. I almost don’t know where to start. One thing I’d like to change is my Curriculum Format. I’d simplify my life if I’d add Hyperlinks to any document/video I’d like to show my class. I’m considering changing my Lesson Planning to reflect that for next semester. Though tedious, this will save a lot of time in the long run–for my students and myself!

I scored an 83% on the Internet Skills Quiz. I clearly need to learn more Internet “lingo” and tools. ;( (I’m not quite sure how to add emoticons into my blog yet).

Dave Raggett’s Introduction to HTML had a lot of valuable information and I sure feel like I could use all of what he taught in time–yet for my current level of expertise (or lack thereof), I feel that I will need to reread the information over and over again. This Week, I’m discovering that teaching online is truly a different kind of teaching–it requires a lot of organization (which I have) but also a lot of knowledge in formatting documents, etc.–which I need to acquire.

Learning about RSS the Oprah Way was also interesting. I almost forgot I was “subscribed” to Google Reader. I did NOT however, figure out how to add the Pegagogy First! blog to my reader (help!?!). Does it matter since I barely use Google Reader?

I knew how to embed videos from YouTube since there is an “embed” button below each YouTube video. I actually use it in my class all the time. I didn’t know though, that any link containing a video could be embedded simply by adding the correct “lingo” (as I call it). I’ll test it out below and see if I got it right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTLsLKBwJq0&list=UUfPphdKi30kYeHMTLhN3GRg&index=1&feature=plcp

Looks like it worked! I just learned something very useful. By the way, that cute little boy in the video pointing out different body parts in French is one of my two sons (Noah–almost 2!).

I am still getting used to “blogging” (I love to write but seldomly find time to journal about my life). I haven’t figured out how to add a picture (or avatar) on my WordPress blog. Can someone help me?

Finally, here’s a video I had my students watch after learning about family in class yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xINk6C-DE8k&feature=fvwrel

This week I was able to really brainstorm ideas for my online class. Many ideas have crossed my mind but the “Where the Hell do I Start?” questionnaires really helped me narrow what I’d like to use for my online class.

The Pedagogical Design reflects my Student Learning Outcomes which are Speaking, Learning, Writing and Listening/Understanding (the language). Those are important components in learning a language. It incorporates Vocabulary, Grammar, Culture, History-Geography and even some French Philosophy. Writing can be achieved through Writing Compositions (every Chapter/Unit), Pen Pals (either required or for extra-credit) and practice exercises (on an online website linked to the textbook). Reading, again in an online class setting would include reading the textbooks as well as various handouts I would post on Blackboard. The Speaking SLO is the most difficult to achieve, in my opinion, as this is designed for an online course. I was thinking if students could record themselves using tools like Wimba or practice with other students (also using Wimba). As for my fourth SLO, Listening and Understanding, I believe lectures, videos/clips and other students would be some of the best “tools” to help them achieve this objective. Also, if I had “guest speakers” post a video of themselves, it would be a great way for students to listen; and, knowing it’s a video, they could watch it over and over again in order to best understand it.

I would like to experiment with various tools for each component of my course. I have various Design Elements for my course. My Lessons could use Blackboard, Wimba, Powerpoint, YouTube, iMovie, Edustream and Word docs. My students’ Writing Compositions could be submitted via Blackboard and the use of Edublog could eventually come in handy. The Projects I require my students to work on and submit (via Blackboard) would use tools such as Google Search and possibly Camtasia. For practice, students could connect via Skype and Wimba and the recordings for each Quiz would be made possible via Wimba and/or Camtasia. Their Mid-Term which could still be a presentation would most definitely use Powerpoint and hopefully Slideshare. The use of Wimba is also a possibility. Their final exam could be completed via Blackboard and a recording device such as Wimba. I could create office hours via Elluminate and/or Skype.

I am pretty excited about all of these new options I could use. I’m still getting use to embedding links and videos and the whole HTML language as a whole, but I’m hoping this practice will help me get better.

Some other thoughts now… I, (and many of my students for various projects) frequently use the Google Search tool to find information we are looking for. Recently I watched a video that was pretty eye-opening regarding what our Google search (and other websites) “show” us. See video below:

http://youtu.be/B8ofWFx525s

Finally, I thought I’d post something more “personal”–a video of one of my sons (Noah – 1 1/2) imitating animal sounds although he knows quite a few more now. (I speak to my children only in French so they will be bilingual.)

http://youtu.be/z97UM5cBUQg

I have so many thoughts and questions floating in my head pertaining to online teaching. I have an analytical mind and am still processing some of the information I read from the textbook, saw on the PDF/graphic files and videos I watched.

There is so much information, so many tools are available and yet I still find it difficult to narrow what I need to use for my class. Currently, my (on-campus) class is held twice a week. In an online format, I’d imagine I’d have it set up per week instead of per class. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the videos of other professors’ snapshots of their online classes. It seems like a lot of work to set up at first (as was the class I currently teach which isn’t online but uses blackboard) but if it can be used for other semesters, it seems like a great way to be organized and have many resources available for students. For my own classes, I put many tools on Blackboard–from handouts to videos to “additional resources”. A recurring problem has been finding out that my students do not view/read/use the multiple resources/tools I make available for them. I believe that possibly formatting my class differently might encourage students to check out the various options/resources available to them.

I feel like I put a lot more into my class than I am “required” to. But I really want my students to “get it” so to speak. I hate when students are confused or can’t understand something no matter how many times I teach it or explain it. I think finding the tools that best suits my class will help me best help students learn. I’m still trying to figure what tools, resources, etc I want to use for my class. I’m excited to continue discovering various ways to teach my students online.

In the first week of POTCERT, I discovered that it’s not simply about learning about methods/tools that can be used in the classroom but about finding out which methods/tools are right for MY course(s).

In this second week of POTCERT, I was able to reflect more on my own pedagogy. The “Beginner’s Questionnaire” revealed that I am quite a “mix” (I scored a 13). I believe Lectures are important for my teaching of languages yet it is vital for students to practice to really “get it”.  I focus a lot of my teaching on a student’s individual learning style. At the beginning of each semester, I ask students to take an online quiz to determine what kind of learner they are. Once they know and I know, I gear their learning experience based on their learning style. I could go into details about various ways that I do this but one way would be pairing up students according to the learning style and assigning an activity that helps them learn the same topic in a different way. My instruction isn’t therefore based on a student’s self-instruction but on a combination of my lectures and student activities that help them practice, reinforce learning and review.

The “Getting Started Chart” reinforced my belief in using Blackboard for my course. Much information I post on Blackboard is effective in student teaching and learning. I don’t find Blogs effective in learning French (the subject I predominately teach) at least for now–if I taught a French Literature or French Philosophy class, I might find Blogs useful for students to describe their thoughts on what was studied. I am very curious about using Moodle and hope to learn more about how to use it. I currently organize my classes on Blackboard via “Leçons” (Lessons). Each lessons contains videos, handouts and other useful information for learning the content of each individual class.