Sunday, October 28, 2012

Repurposing my Blog

This blog began back in 2008 as a reflective journal for an education technology class I was taking. Rather than create a new blog, I'm going to "repurpose" this one. This will become a means for me to share various education technology resources and ideas - not just for mobile devices but for a variety of technology tools.

Let's get started and see how it goes!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Journal Entry #5

What is going well.
Well, I think the best thing is that I have gotten all of my work for the Data Driven Decision Making assignment completed and turned in. It was a lot of work but the other girls on my team collaborated well and everyone contributed. I have already begun working on research for the learning theories and theorists for my webpage which makes me feel like I can stay on top of things.

What is not going so well.
I am feeling a little stressed about the webpage assignment. I actually have a school webpage but it was created from a template that was basically already set up. Having to create one from scratch seems a little overwhelming. But, I also know that I have some people resources through my district that I can call upon if I need help. :-)

My accomplishments.
I feel that I was an asset to my team. I came up with the idea and created the two wikis we used for our group report and unit plan. This made it easier for us to collaborate and each add our information. The information could be viewed by everyone and we could easily give each other suggestions as needed.

My life as an online learner.
My confidence has grown over the weeks that we have been in the course. I started out feeling hesitant regarding my abilities. Now I know that even though it may take me awhile to figure things out, I can do it!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Journal Entry #4

What is going well.
So far, I feel I am keeping up with the assignments and doing well on them. I seem to be relating well to the other group members.

What is not going so well.
There is a lot of work coming due and it seems a bit over whelming at times. Sometimes I am not sure that I completely understand the expectations. However, often my team members feel the same way and we are e-mailing the instructor to get clarification.

My accomplishments.
I think that I am being a strong team member. I come to our meeting times prepared and ready to share with others and help as needed. I came up with the idea to place our group report information on a wiki so that everyone could access it and add their own content or edit others if needed. I thought I was being rather innovative!

My life as an online learner.
There are many new concepts and ideas that are being presented in the readings and assignments. They are helping me to think about my current knowledge and skill level and ways that I can grow and increase my skills and knowledge.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Journal Entry #3

This is my third journal entry for ETC547.

What is going well?
There are a lot of things that I feel are going well in the class. I am feeling more and more comfortable with the new technologies we are using. My group did their first meeting in Elluminate last Sunday, I successfully uploaded my first assignment in TaskStream, and I just feel more fluent with Vista. My group seems to be working well together. Everyone seems flexible and supportive and willing to help each other out. I have noticed that we have fewer postings on our discussion board than other groups and I hope that is because we are getting along and working cooperatively.

What is not going so well or my frustrations?
I think that the one thing that is frustrating me right now is difficulty in locating peer reviewed journal articles for the scholarly paper. I have gone on the NAU library site and searched through Google, but just have not been successful. I think that I will talk with my team members and see if they have any suggestions.

I have also been working on the data analysis assignment. I thought I had completed it pretty well until I really looked at the rubric and saw that I had not completely approached it in the right way. So I will be going back and working on that some more before I meet with my group on Sunday.

My accomplishments
Two of my accomplishments are a successful Elluminate meeting where I was the one who set up our meeting time and called in prior to the meeting to be the moderator. Sometimes I am not good at taking the lead on something, but I did for this. And also successfully uploading that first TaskStream assignment.

My life as an online learner
As an online learner, I am making connections to prior learning and building new skills – both technology skills and content knowledge. I have also learned that I need to sometimes more carefully read assignments, especially rubrics or other grading criteria to ensure I am doing my best work or not repeating work. I continue to be motivated and am striving the learn all that I can to help improve the skills that I already have in place.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Journal Entry #2

What is going well.
I am feeling pretty good about things so far. I've kept up with the assignments and am looking forward to working with and getting to know some other students. I feel like I am learning how to maneuver through the course and find where to post assignments, check e-mail and grades, and so on. The readings have caused me to think and reflect on previous learning and recall prior knowledge.

What is not going so well in the course or frustrations.
As I go in and read the posting of other students, their responses seem very analytical and philosophical. I don't feel that my responses are but that perhaps is not my personality. I think that I worry that I will not appear to be as intelligent or on the same level with other students. I am just hoping that I can keep up with all of the work and show my potential. The Scholarly Paper assignment seems a little overwhelming!

My accomplishments
I have begun communicating with two other students who will be in my group. Often times I am not very outgoing and do not make the first move to communicate. So my initiating some conversations is a good thing. Outside of this class I have some accomplishments that I am proud of also. I am a "technology peer coach" and my primary job is to work with teachers on integrating technology into their teaching. One teacher that I have worked with over the past couple of weeks had never used video, PowerPoint, or other forms of technology with her students. We just did a project where the students created public service announcements. They did brochures, PowerPoints, and videos. The teacher learned how to use her digital projector to present the assignment through a PowerPoint and to present the student's work. She is very proud of her accomplishments and is ready to do more!

My life as an online learner
This is my first online course. I use technology all day long in my job and help teachers to do so also. I am excited about learning new technologies as I work through the course and look forward to being able to share some of those with the teachers and students I work with. I think that I will do well in the course since I am very organized and self motivated.


Saturday, January 26, 2008

Concept Map

I was a little nervous about creating a concept map about the constructivist theory of learning. I often look at concept maps and find them to be a little overwhelming with all of the information that can be included. However, as I started putting my notes from the reading together, a plan for my map started forming. I opened up a concept map template in Inspiration and got to work. It may not be the best map ever created, but it really helped me to see how all of the pieces of this learning theory work together and also how the pieces of a concept map work together also.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

First Post

This is my blog for ETC547, which is also my first online class! I am looking forward to learning a lot and sharing with others. I am hoping to develop new skills that I can share with the teachers I work with in my position as a Technology Peer Coach at my school.

I have enjoyed the readings we have done so far and found other student's comments helpful and enlightening. I have some ideas for my concept map and am anxious to get started on it.