CEDO 550 Week 3

Week 3 Reflection:

1.

What is the greatest challenge that I have encountered as an online teacher/facilitator and how did I manage it? (If you have not yet taught online what do you think would be the greatest challenge for online teachers/facilitators?)

I think one of my greatest challenges will be managing the synchronous discussions while getting to know the tool I am using (such as Elluminate). Right now I'm struggling with making notes on the whiteboard while keeping the conversation moving.

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	2.	Some things that I feel are really important to consider about synchronous and asynchronous facilitation as I prepare to facilitate my threaded and web conference discussions are. . .
		I think it is really important to consider having my prompts and participation expectations clearly stated in my asynchronous discussion thread because if they are not clear, the conversation could get off track very quickly. Preparation for the synchronous facilitation is also really important. I think just having a plan on paper that will get the conversation rolling, as well as how to transition from one part of the discussion to the next, will allow me more freedom to work through unforseen challenges without losing focus on the overall objective.

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	3.	I chose my particular discussion topic because . . .
		This topic is a pretty natural fit for me in my line of work. Providing professional development for my staff of teachers is an ongoing process and I am always looking for ideas on how to improve in this area. I think in facilitation a discussion about effective vs. ineffective ongoing training and support, I can learn more about how people view training and what works best for them--I hope to gain a new perspective.

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	4.	One thing that I thought about when developing rubrics for the 2 different discussions was. . .
		I thought about how the rubric will help participants know the expectations ahead of time and how that will hopefully motivate them to bring their "A" game!

Week 2: CEDO 550 Reflection

Here is this week's reflection:

1.	Identify at least two synchronous and two asynchronous online learning tools that would be appropriate for your targeted online learners.
	I work with adults in more of a professional development setting. Some synchronous learning tools my targeted group of online learners could use include the Learn Central Elluminate rooms, and web conferencing tools such as skype, oovoo, or Live Minutes. As far as asynchronous tools go, my learners could use wikis, discussion boards, and email to name a few.

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	2.	List four different types of activities that you might use with your targeted online learners and identify an appropriate online tool to use in implementing that activity.
		1. Plan a project using a wiki. This could be done asynchronously, allowing for participants to add and edit on their own time. 2. Share ideas / effective lesson plans with the team using a shared Google Doc. Each month we select a HOTS Level and a 21st Century Learning Skill to integrate into the lesson plans. I've set up a Google Doc with a table for the teachers to share any lesson ideas using the skills of the month that they feel were especially effective or innovative. 3. Collaborate in developing an online presentation during training. I've done this with my staff at the beginning of the year when reviewing test administration. I share a Google Presentation Doc with the slides set up to include headings. The staff worked in teams to complete the assigned slides and then each team shared their contribution to the presentation. It was an engaging way to review somewhat dry subject matter. 4. Brainstorming. Use Wallwisher.com, provide a prompt and give participants a set amount of time to post their note/contribution. As a group the responses can be categorized and used as a way to facilitate the discussion.

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	3.	Is my initial contact warm and inviting? Are there things I did particularly well or could do better in the future?
		Yes, I think my initial contact is warm and inviting, as well as appropriate for my audience. I think I did a good job of providing information to describe our first steps in the training. I tried to be reassuring by extending myself for assistance both regarding the online session and in general as a resource within the organization. I hope that by asking participants to share a little about themselves, and by giving some insight to the objectives of the session, they will have less anxiety about starting a new job. I am sure it could be better, and I tend to edit and revise as I get feedback from those who are on the receiving end of the information.

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	4.	Is my initial contact clear and concise and yet user friendly? What are some strategies that help to format your contacts to make them as clear and concise as possible?
		Overall, I believe it is clear, concise and user friendly. I used bulleted lists to help break out the information visually for the reader and that helped take out some of the "wordiness." I shared objectives and gave the participants an opportunity to ask questions via email or phone. I provided a link to the online meeting space, made them aware of the headset / audio setup, and let them know I would be online early should they need any assistance.

CED550 week 1

This is my first week of Taming the world of online learning and so far I have been happily surprised by how much new we've been introduced to in a short time. We are using a lot of the same types of tools, but we are now learning about them from a teacher perspective, rather than the learner perspective.


Our first synchronous class allowed us to explore the Elluminate room with moderator permissions, which was pretty eye-opening. Features such as application and file sharing are a lot easier to use than I thought and just having the time to try it out in a supportive setting helped me to get over any hesitation I had about using those tools. I can see using Elluminate to communicate with my staff who are at multiple remote locations across the city. I could use it for training sessions, or simply to conduct a virtual meeting online. I would also like to try using some of the moderator features when meeting in future study groups in order to continue to feel more comfortable with the tool.

As far as our course management system goes, it is new and it takes some getting used to, but I am almost always up for a challenge and I like the opportunity to try new applications. I am curious if this is a free or paid application...

I am looking forward to gaining more experience and exposure to resources that will help me become an effective online teacher.

CEdO535 Week 6: course wrap up

What item do you believe you can incorporate form this class into your professional or personal life and how will you ensure that you achieve the goal of incorporating it. If you can discuss it in terms of being a SMART goal for incorporating.

S	Specific - what exactly will you do: I will incorporate Google Sites into the work I do as a Title I Director in a business setting. I will incorporate a Google Site to help close the communication gap that occurs between monthly staff meetings. The site will be a place to post announcements, maintain a calendar of events, facilitate discussions and provide resources related to HR as well as our program.
M	Measurable - how will you be able to prove it was done? I will be able to prove it was done by having the link available to my staff and monitoring their use of the site as well as collecting their feedback.
A	Attainable - Will you have the resources and time, what might you have to do to make it occur So far I have had the resources and the time, although it is sometimes difficult to maintain during our busiest times of the year. I need to be sure to set aside time each week to review resources and make sure the information is relevant (out with the old, in with the new). I have also set up notifications in my gmail in order to have real time notice when people have questions or needs regarding the site.
R	Realistic - Make sure it is doable, you certainly can add something to a lesson plan or work item, you cannot get to the moon It is most definitely doable and I'm determined to make it work. It is actually a tall task to fill, but one I think has already benefited our company and will continue to do so as it evolves.
T	Timely - Assign a timeline - when will this be done by? It is already a live site, but I don't know that it will ever be done. I see it as a tool that will continue to evolve as the needs of my company change.

CEdO535 Week 5: Web 2.0 apps, social networks in education

This week we took another look into social networking in the classroom environment and the difference between friend based and interest based social networking. As discussed in previous lessons, there is a struggle between the potential benefits and acceptable use within the classroom setting. Hopefully as educators become more aware of the benefits and the innovative ways social networks can be used in education, the more available these tools will be to students during school hours. I think the key to moving forward is keeping in communication with key stakeholders (parents, administrators, other classroom teachers) about objectives and outcomes when using online technology in a collaborative format. Knowledge regarding these areas could help demystify the use of social networking and assist in it becoming a more acceptable format for collaboration.

We were also charged with investigating web 2.0 applications/tools that we have not yet talked about in our cohort. There are a number of metasites that provide lists of the latest web tools out there including Web2go20, All Things Web 2.0, and listio to name a few. While checking out these sites I came across a web 2.0 web conferencing tool called Live Minutes. This application facilitates web conferencing with a simple click of a button that does not require users to sign up with a credit card or extensive information provided. The interface is easy to navigate and the features are excellent in terms of quality. Live Minutes also automatically records the content of a meeting and puts it into an HTML 5 document that can be saved and shared with participants or those who couldn't attend. This is an application I would highly recommend looking into for future study group meetings as an alternative to elluminate or skype.

I continue to learn new and exciting ways to integrate technology into my personal and professional worlds--this week was no exception! I look forward to learning more about the web 2.0 tools available and thinking of ways to leverage them to increase productivity and communication.

CEdO535 Week 4: Social Networking, Screen Casts

We investigated the uses and benefits of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as revisited social bookmarking sites (Diigo.com, Delicious, etc.). While I've used Facebook for some time now, I have only recently realized the potential benefits of using it outside of pure socializing. Businesses use social networking sites to promote their goods and services, people with common interests and activities are linked together and a simple search could lead to information about something new. I am more often seeing links to articles being posted by my Facebook friends that lead me to learning about things I might not have thought about otherwise. Yes, it is still highly social and not necessarily the best fit for everyone, but it certainly does allow for users to practice communication in an online venue where people have differing opinions and somehow learn to get along. I think that even though most schools don't allow for tools like Facebook or Twitter to be used within their networks, most students do participate in these forums outside of school. My question then is how do we teach our students to behave responsibly online if we aren't able to access the tools when we are with them during the day?
Social Bookmarking is something I've used since we first visited the topic in our first class of this cohort. I've been using Diigo and have found it to be extremely valuable for me on many levels. I like that I am able to access my bookmarks on any computer with an Internet connection--this is huge when traveling or having to switch over to a new computer. Gone are the days of loosing all of my favorites that I've saved when my computer crashes! I've attempted to set up some groups within Diigo for my team at work, but it has not taken off. Just like anything new, you need to have buy-in from those you want to participate and if they aren't ready to give it a shot it probably won't succeed. I will continue to revisit and re-introduce the ideas because I believe these tools are a better alternative to communicating by email alone.
Screen casts are something I've had some experience with through trial and error. We use Mimio at our company and within the mimio studio software there is a recorder tool that allows for screen casting. I've used this tool to create several training videos for my staff, but it took me some time to figure out how to post them effectively. The files were huge and since I was working it through on my own, it took some time to learn how to post the videos. I did eventually work it out, but I am excited about some of the other online tools available. I'd like to learn more about privacy using these tools and whether or not there are ways to create private screen casts. I imagine there are those options, but those may come with a pricetag. Some of the tools we looked at include Screenr, Screen Jelly, JiingProject and ScreenToaster.
All of these tools are relevant to the work I do at my level within my company and I want to continue to learn how to use them effectively to improve communication and productivity. As far as using them within the school environment, I think they could be extremely powerful tools, but I'm not sure when they will be readily accessible.

CEdO535 Week 3: RSS feeds

This week we took a look at online photosharing, such as flikr and Snapfish; continued our Twitter accounts and thought more about blogs and wikis. But, the predominant topic of this weeks' work had to do with RSS feeds.

RSS or Really Simple Syndication is an online tool used to streamline the process of collecting articles and resources online. As I learned about RSS, I set up my own Google Reader account to begin playing around with the tool in order to get a better sense of how it works. Right off the bat I could see how powerful this application could be for anyone who needs to eliminate time spent searching for information online. URL's can be entered into Reader as a way to subscribe to specific sites' feed. Also, keywords can be entered into Reader which then generates a list of related sites from which to choose.

Aside from the obvious perks of using RSS, I learned that educators can use it to monitor blogs used by their students which I think could convince more in the field to have their students create and maintain blogs in the classroom setting. I imagine that the idea of trying to monitor blogs for an entire class, or for 6 classes of individual students, could be a daunting task. Using RSS in this environment cuts down the amount of time necessary to go into each individual blog--the updates are sent directly to the subscriber.

Finally, I learned what a fantastic application RSS is for students to use in school. Not only does it provide students with the most up to date information on any topics they may be researching, but it also helps students develop the skills of being able to select the most relevant and credible information out of all that is sent through the RSS feed.

I can see using RSS both personallly and professionally. I think it is something the leadership of my company can use to stay on top of trends in education and educational technology. I also believe it is something we could introduce to our students; particularly at the middle and high school levels. The more we can expose our students to in terms of tools to help with productivity, the greater the edge they will have in their regular classrooms and beyond.