What I Learned from Your Blog Posts #6-10

Hi, everyone

Time flies! We are in Week 12 now. Just let you know, it's snow day where I live. It's code but nice. :)

It's time to summarize what I have learned from your blog posts #6-10. I have enjoyed reading your thought-provoking posts. I liked or commented on some of your posts.
As I did in my last post, I am about to mention you and your blog posts in different weeks. I hope you would read my post first, and then check the blog posts I am about to mention later.

Something about Post # 6

Thanks for sharing your school website or class page in your post # 6, I learned different kinds of information were shared publically on different school websites or class pages. I am glad to see most of you found Twitter a useful tool to build your personal learning network and communicate with your peers, future students, and parents.

• Haley shared her high school website, and one class page maintained by her Anatomy teacher. The teacher shared videos, worksheets, and powerpoint per chapter on the class page. You can check the website and interesting class page.
• Jordan shared the Warren Township school website, and one class page maintained by Miss Haydu. She provided the web link and two clear screenshots. Regarding the twitter assignment, she talked about how she used Twitter as a platform to ask questions which were ones that you would be able to relate to as well as questions geared towards me for me to answer.

My note:

• Two questions for you, have you checked Jordan's tweets and those questions geared towards me? Would you consider using Twitter as a platform to ask questions specifically in the future?

• Sheighlin shared Charlotte High School's website and provided a brief description of two old teachers' pages. She mentioned a short bio, class info, syllabus, all that good stuff on a class page.

Something about Post # 7

You all did a great job in explaining why (or why not) you would like to maintain a course website as a teacher and reflecting on your Web Evaluation assignment. Some of you would like to maintain one, while others would like not to do that. I am glad to know most of you learned something from the Web Evaluation assignment and found it beneficial.
You provided a list of interesting software tools, including, but not limited to:

• XMind was mentioned by Ben.
• Socrative was mentioned by Carly and Sheighlin. Carly stated, "Socrative is a system that allows teachers to create exercises or educational games which students can solve using devices ".
• Grammarly was mentioned by Hale.
• Edmodo was mentioned by Jordan. I have explored the tool before. It was one of the good class management platforms where teachers can publish assignments, polls, discussions, and other important things.
• Kahoot was mentioned by Morgan, which is a tool for creating game-like learning environments.
• ClassDojo was mentioned by Megan, which is widely used in elementary schools.
• Visme.com, one concept mapping too, was mentioned by Mycah.

My note:

• I encourage you to explore the above-mentioned tools. Here are two questions for you to think about: have you used some or all of the above tools? What do you think of these tools? 

Something about Post # 8

Most of you did a great job in talking about adaptive technologies and new skills you acquired from working on the WebQuest assignment! Some of you talked about your experience of using adaptive technologies, while some talked about your observations of how others use adaptive technologies. I am glad to know most of you enjoyed working on the WebQuest assignment by using Wix.com and developing a new skill in creating a website. I really like exploring those creative websites created by you.

• Megan's journal 8 talked about examples of adaptive technologies are audio players, seat cushions, phonetic spelling software, talking calculators, smartpens.
• Sheighlin shared how a little girl used Tablet to communicate with others since she could speak.
• Abraham talked about how to remedy one challenge when using adaptive technologies in class: learning curve that initially comes with it.
• Morgan, Jordan, and Sheridan talked about various types of adaptive technologies including braille printers, voice recognition help, magnifying screen, large print textbooks, computers with voice in or voice out outputs, and alternative types of mouses and keyboards, in the Canvas discussion forum: https://canvas.fsu.edu/courses/105609/discussion_topics/582038 

 My note

• One question for you, what do you think of the learning curve when it comes to using adaptive technologies? 

Something about Post # 9

You did a great job in discussing technology advancement that holds the biggest promise for education and Digital Divide! Most of you agreed that the Digital Divide affected student success in schools. To overcome the challenge, some of you would like to provide enough time for students to complete assignments in a computer lab at school, implement paper and pencil assignments, or choose not to heavily rely on technology.
You provided technology advancement that holds the biggest promise including, but not limited to:

• Most of you including Jessica, Jennifer, Katie, agreed that Cloud computing held the biggest promise. Jessica provided a good example of Google Doc. Katie talked about how students could access class information on the cloud anytime and anywhere. It is especially helpful during snow days. Megan mentioned an online virtual world known as Second Life used at FSU. This program allows students to interact with their classmates in a virtual world. I encourage you to explore Second Life.
• Abraham, Morgan, Taylor, and Carly agreed augmented reality has great potentials by integrating one's mobile device and computer-generated data to it. It could be used for creating an educational game for students and used for promoting mobile learning anytime and anywhere. Morgan shared her post # 9 via the Canvas discussion forum.
• Ben talked about makerspaces, where you could access technologies including 3D printers.
• Like Morgan, Sheridan and Jordan shared their post via the discussion forum https://canvas.fsu.edu/courses/105609/discussion_topics/582055. Both of them agreed on Gamification that holds great potentials. If you are interested, I encourage you to check this document about gamification elements to use for learning: achievements rewards, story, time, personalization, and microinteractions. https://trainingindustry.com/content/uploads/2017/07/enspire_cs_gamification_2016.pdf

My note: two questions for you to think about

• After reading your posts, do you agree with them on the potentials of the above-mentioned technology advancement? Do you agree with them on the causes of Digital Divide? 

Something about Post # 10

You did a great job in discussing "The Flipped Classroom" and sharing a link to a source of educational videos. I think most of developed a thorough understanding of this instructional design. It asks students to watch lecture videos outside of the class and come to the next class with the knowledge and lots of questions. Practices and activities are often facilltated in class to reinforce students' knowledge and skills.
I encourage you to check those links shared by your classmates.
I am glad to know that you learned a lot from your PowerPoint assignments. I am sorry to hear that some of you were struggling with action buttons. But you figured it out and created attractive and interesting slides.

• Katie considered the model an outgrowth of educational vodcasting, educational videocasts. She shared nice screenshots of her PowerPoint assignments.
• Carly, Jennifer, and Ben talked about why she had mixed thoughts of the instructional design model. I agree it might not be an effective way for some teachers and some students with different learning styles.
• Morgan, Megan, Jordan, submitted your post via the discussion forum: https://canvas.fsu.edu/courses/105609/discussion_topics/582057. Three of them and Katie engaged in inspiring and in-depth dialogue. I encourage you to check their posts and comments in the discussion forum. 

My note:

• A question for you, after reading the chapter and your peers' posts, would you consider using this instructional design in your future class? Why or why not?

This is the end! Thanks for reading it through!
Good luck with your blog post # 11. Please let me know if you have any questions.

What I Have Learned from Your Post #1-5

Hi, everyone

Time flies! We are in Week 9 now.

It's time to summarize what I have learned from your blog posts #1-5. I have enjoyed reading your thought-provoking posts. I liked or commented on some of your posts.

I would mention you and your blog posts in different weeks. I hope you would read my post first, and then check the blog posts I mentioned later.

Something about Post # 1
From your post # 1, I learned most of you had been around technology for a long time. Your expectations for this course and varied learning styles helped me know better about you.

• I learned Ben was a psychology major and our tech-wiz guy. He knew how to deal with issues with computers. You can read his post and know more about him. 
• I learned Sheighlin only needed that her phone turns on and her laptop works. Even though I have learned all kinds of stuff about technology in the past years, I agree with her. 

         A question for you, what technologies do you often need in your daily study and work?

• Now we are in Week 10, I encourage you to go back to read your own post # 1 and check how far you have achieved your course goals and how your learning styles influenced your online learning. 

Something about Post # 2
In post # 2, regarding factors influencing technology use in the class, most of you listed factors including school technology policy or national standards, students' needs, and students' extensive experience with technology. I learned most of you had grown up with all types of technology, and agreed with the label “digital native” for today’s youth. But I am surprised that some of you did not consider them as digital natives.

• Katie mentioned factors including widely applied standards like Common Core Standards, students' needs, students' prior experience with technology, and the educational applications of technologies. She then talked about differences between herself, a digital native and my teachers as digital immigrants.
• Mycah made a good point about the term "digital immigrant". He said he might be considered a “digital immigrant” to a certain extent from the perspectives of his future students. 
• If you have time, you could go back to read your own post # 2 and check whether you have changed your perceptions with regard to ISTE standards, "digital natives, and""digital immigrant".

Something about Post # 3
In post # 3, most of you talked about how to address implementation issues including cyberbullying, freedom of speech for all students while respecting other’s rights, right to privacy, academic dishonesty, and software piracy. To address cyberbullying, some of you suggested you would ask your future students to watch the final TV show episode from “13 Reasons Why”. To address academic dishonesty, some of you mentioned teacher could use Turnitin for assignment submission.

• Megan summarized different ways that she and her teachers have used MS word. In her future class, she talked about how to address the three important issues: Cyberbullying, the right to privacy, and academic dishonesty.
• Taylor mentioned all my students should have access to the technology required to succeed. She talked about how to address the issue: the freedom of speech for all students while respecting other’s rights. I agree this is an important thing teachers should let young kids know from the beginning. The issue is related to cyberbullying. 
• Jordan emphasized picture copyright. She then well explained how to address issues including students' privacy and software piracy. She proposed that assigning a computer to each student would avoid many more issues than just software piracy. 

      A question for you, what do you think of Jordan's proposition? I agreed with her about that. But funding might be an issue. What do you think? 

• If you have time, you could go back to read your own post # 3 and think about additional implementation issues you might want to address in your future class. 

Something about Post # 4
I am impressed by your critique of different lesson plans using the Dynamic Instructional Design model (DID). Most of you shared great resources related to open content or education. The term "open" was one of the hot topics in K-12 and higher education now. I recommend you should check your classmates' post # 4, and explore those resources. 

• Morgan critiqued a lesson plan for a 2nd-grade language arts class specifically for discovering adjectives.
• Jessica well explained how an English subject lesson plan fitted with the DID model. 
• Abraham well explained how one lesson plan about mythology succeed in following the model in some aspects and failed in other aspects. With regard to Step 4 about technology use for learning support, Abraham suggested the lesson plan should be changed since technology is a necessary tool to enhance learning nowadays. What do you think? 

Something about Post # 5
In post # 5, most of you mentioned you would teach students about protecting others and their own intellectual property and privacy.

• Carly shared two good applications named: eBackpack and Quizlet Live to be implemented in her future class.
• Sheridan shared two tools named: Quia.com and Kahoot.it to be implemented in her future class.
• Ben talked about the benefits of Google classroom 
• Jennifer also Kahoot.it o be implemented in her future class. She also noticed that ClassDojo is being widely used in classrooms. 
• Sheighlin thought about teaching her students about scholarly databases- JSTOR, EBSCO, Google Scholar. 
• Katie did a great job in reflectin on the Newsletter Design assignment. She shared a good idea of using Facetime or skype to allow students who are absent to participate in class meetings. 

This is the end! Thanks for reading it through! 

Good luck with your blog post # 10. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Look forward to reading your post # 9!

Hi, everyone 

Time flies! We are in Week 9 now. Hope you are enjoying doing blog writing. 

Your ninth post should contain:

• Which technology advancement in Chapter 10 (Part 1, pp. 316-331) do you believe holds the biggest promise for education? Why? How would this technology be utilized? "Or" propose another "future technology" not mentioned in the textbook with a link to the product's website. 
• How does the Digital Divide (podcast) affect student success in schools? What are some causes of the digital divide? Reflect on what you may experience as a classroom teacher and how this will affect your teaching strategies.

Look forward to reading your post # 8!

Your eighth post should contain:

• A paragraph on adaptive technologies and how they are used to support learners. Reference examples in the podcast and chapter 6. Have you or anyone you have known used such technologies? What challenges do you perceive using adaptive technologies in your classroom?
• A paragraph on new skills you acquired from working on the WebQuest assignment and reflect what you like about it/what you don’t like about it. How you can improve it next time and how what you learned from the assignment can be used in your future career? Post a screenshot and link to your website.

Please share screenshots of your Web Evaluation assignment at the ending of your post # 7!

Hi, all

I enjoy reading your blog post # 6. I am so glad we have gone this far. Applaud yourself! 

I know writing blog posts might be outdated for you. In our class, Blogs are provided as a  place for you to focus in detail on an interesting topic related to readings, make arguments that build on your own perspective, and possibly engage in conversations with your peers. So, I hope you could learn as much as possible from blog writing and enjoy the process. 

In your blog posts, you feel free to discuss personal experience and emotional reactions to course material and assignments. 

I am sharing some common traits of strong blog posts (source link) 

• Funny, interesting title 
• Common, typical experience as evidence, with some insightful, unusual twist 
• Credible evidence supporting your claims, with links to reading, journal articles, and other sources
• Your VOICE: a unique argument building upon your perspective
• Clear, well-edited writing

Your seventh post should contain:

• A paragraph about why (or why not) you would like to maintain a course website as a teacher. Do you think course websites are important? Useful? Are they worth the trouble/effort?
• A paragraph review of an interesting software tool that you might use for teacher tasks (Use Chapter 5 for ideas). Be sure to include a link to the tool or an example of the tool.
• A paragraph about how you envision yourself using technology to accomplish your professional responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. Refer to the podcast and chapter 5 for ideas.
• A paragraph on new skills you acquired from working on the last assignment (Web Evaluation) and reflect what you like about it/what you don't like about it, how you can improve it next time, and how what you learned from the assignment can be used in your future career.

Please make sure you share the screenshots of your Web Evaluation assignment at the bottom of your post. In post # 5, most of you did not attach the screenshot of your newsletter assignment. I hope you could share the screenshots this time so that your peers could see and learn from your work. Thanks!

Look Forward to Reading Your Blog Post # 6

Hi, everyone

I have enjoyed reading your blog posts. I am glad to see most of you have completed your blog post on time.

I look forward to reading your blog post # 6.

Your sixth post should contain:

• Most schools require teachers to maintain a set of class pages on the school website. Visit a school website and look at a few class pages. Write a paragraph about what kinds of information you see publically, (students and parents likely have access to information you will not see without log-in privileges). Include a screen shot and link to the site. Be sure to identify the school and grade of students.
• Reflect on your early course experiences in Twitter. With whom have you been interacting and how have you found it beneficial? How might Twitter be helpful in your future career?

Look Forward to Reading Your Blog Post # 5!

Hi, everyone

You all did a great job in spending hours in completing required assignments! Applaud yourself!

I have enjoyed reading your blog posts so far.

Look forward to reading your blog post # 5!

Your fifth post should contain:

• A paragraph on which ELA technology standards you feel most prepared to teach with your existing knowledge and which require more learning on your part.
• Based on Chapter 7, write a paragraph about the technology software/applications you like to use with your students and the digital citizenship concepts (end of chapter 7) will you need to address. Identify the age range of your students to situate the appropriateness of content and application.
• A paragraph on new skills you acquired from working on the Newsletter Design assignment and reflect what you like about it/what you don’t like about it, how you can improve it next time, and how what you learned from the assignment can be used in your future career. Display your assignment on your blog.

Look Forward to Reading Your Blog Post # 4

Hi, everyone

You all did a great job in spending hours in completing required assignments! Applaud yourself!

I have enjoyed reading your blog posts so far.

Look forward to reading your blog post # 4!

Your fourth post should contain:

• A paragraph in which you provide an evaluation/critique of a lesson plan using the Dynamic Instructional Design model presented in Chapter 3. Be sure to link to the lesson plan.
• Search online for the “open” terms mentioned in the podcast. Write a paragraph that extends the podcast information, including a specific site (linked).

Look Forward to Reading Your Blog Post #3!

Hello, EME 2040 Folks

I am glad to see most of you have already submitted your blog post #2. I have already checked some of them. Good job!

Your third post should contain:

• A paragraph on how you’ve used MS Word as a student and how you’ve seen your teachers use it.
• A paragraph about your experience with copyright and fair use of materials in an educational environment. How would you deal with these concepts as a teacher, developing your own instructional materials and having students create their own works (read CSMI’s best practices and listen to the podcast on this topic to find out more!).
• Reflect on the implementation issues from Chapter 9.  Propose solutions to 3 issues you could implement in your classroom.  Be specific.

Please let me know if you have any question or concern! 

Look Forward to Reading Your Blog Post #2

Hi, everyone

Your second post should contain:

• What influences teachers (chapter 1) and students (chapter 2) to use technology in the classroom?
• A paragraph in which you reflect on the ISTE standards. Specifically cite 1 standard that is meaningful to you and 1 that seems outside your current skill set.  (Include an explanation).
• A paragraph on whether or not you agree with the label “digital native” for today’s youth. What does it mean to be a digital native? Have you seen differences between how you (digital native) and most of your teachers (digital immigrants) use technology? If so, describe them and what their impact has been on your learning experience. What differences do you anticipate between you and your future students in terms of how you use technology?

Please let me know if you have any question or concern. :) 

Ray

Stay safe during the hurricane season and read your classmate's self-introduction post!

Hi, everyone

I am sorry to hear that the hurricane did harm to some areas where some students live. I hope everything will be OK for you. Stay safe!

At your convenience, I recommend you could read your classmate's first blog post and leave comments if you like. Even though most of you cannot see each other face-to-face, I would like you all to know each other better, learn from each other. You can leave a comment to ask questions and even engage in an in-depth dialogue with your classmates through the blog. Your posts to your classmates should engage with their commentary by relating your own perspectives, analysis, or asking questions.

This morning I had one interesting conversation with my friend. We noticed that adults more frequently use Facebook than young people. So, what social media tools do you often use? 

Happy Labor Day!

Ray

Adding the class blog link into your blog and accessing your classmates' blog

Hi, EME2040 students!

Are you working on your blog set-up assignment? Hope it goes well. :)
You might be confused that why our class blog is on Google Blogger, while you are asked to set up a blog on Wordpress. We would like you to experience how to blog on different platforms. I have posted on Google Blogger and Wordpress. Both of them are user-friendly.
To help you with your blog set-up assignment, I just created a new blog on Wordpress as you all did. Please let me know if you have a problem with completing the blog set-up assignment.

Did you all successfully set up a blogroll in your blog? Here is a quick tip about adding the class blog link into your blog and access your classmates' blog.

Step 1, after finishing signing up your blog, go to "Reader" View, find the "Search" button, copy and paste the class blog site https://eme2040-0007.blogspot.com/, and then follow the blog

Step 2, you will see your followed class blog on the page or find the "Followed Sites" button to manage the site.

Step 3, click "Visit" to visit the class blog on Google Blogger.

Step 4, you can access all your classmates' blog sites under "Class Blog Roll", and then feel free to follow all your classmates' blog sites and leave comments.
Now you can see only Taylor's blog that I added as soon as she shared her blog site to the discussion forum: Our Blogs.

That is it! Look forward to checking your blog site and reading your blog posts! :)

Welcome

Hello everyone,

Welcome to EME2040 Introduction to Educational Technology! 

I am very excited to work together with you this semester. I’m looking forward to reading your blog posts! 

This blog will be used as an additional learning space along with the Canvas course site. Please add this blog link  (https://eme2040-0007.blogspot.com) to your blog (when you set up!👍). 

Hope you will enjoy this course and learn a lot about educational technology! 

I will see you all online! 😀


Best Regards, 

Ray