Angela Novoa
My experience through MET has shown me that blogs can be effective learning environments that support or integrate other learning spaces. I have experienced blogs as tools that support other settings of instruction (e.g. face-to-face and LMS). I would not consider blogs as an entire LMS, because from my expperience, LMS platforms such as Moodle […]
Continue reading Coclusion Posted in: Week 07: Blogs Currently I do not use blogging in my classroom. As I am new at my work, I am in conversations with the principal in order to build more specific policies about IT integration in instruction. But I had used bolgs in other school with students of grade 11. We held a space to support the […]
Continue reading My blogging experience Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
Hi Angela,
Thank you for sharing your experiences! You touch on some of the implementation issues people have to think about when starting a blog. Your application is unique in that you are creating a course in a blog. Any reasons why you are choosing to use a blog for this instead of an open source LMS such as Moodle? Also do you find that there are any limitations with Edublog?
Looking forward to your response!
Juliana.
Hi Juliana, we will use Moodle and a wiki as part of the course. The course is about Web 2.0 tools for learning. I chose those three because they facilitate the creation of communities of learning.
Hi Angela,
I too used to use Edublogs – I appreciated that it was designed for educators, but then I became frustrated with the advertisements that suddenly appeared across the top of my blog – only by paying for the premium version would that stop. Maybe that has changed since then, but I switched to WordPress after that. One thing that I do appreciate about Edublogs though is the “awards” granted to the best blogs by educators – just like the awards that books win, ( I am attracted to the award-winners and assume they are good reads?) this is a good filtering system to help me wade through the thousands of teacher blogs out there!
I too am anxious to hear if you have tried Moodle as an open source LMS.
Hi Brenda,
I have been designing the course for a month now and it haven’t appeared yet any advertisement. Hope not experience this, but thanks for the tip. I will be aware about that.
Thanks for the tip about awards. I did not know that we could do this.
Angela.
Angela,
Just to let you know that your post should go into the Week 7 category:)
Deb
Thanks Deb! Things like this happens when we are working a lot of hours 🙂
Hi Angela (again),
I’m currently using WordPress for three of my courses and two of them are Tech Immersion courses. I haven’t used Edublogs yet but I’d like to try it next year as you said functions and features are very similar.
Have you noticed any differences in terms of creating a blog? What are some of thr features in Edublogs that you think are cool?
Deb
I have seen some posts about Silent Reading and eBooks during this week. This remind me that this was good activity that is not so popular these days (at least in my context). Today I see my students every day less engaged with activities related to reading and writing. When I am revising assignments and […]
Continue reading eBooks for silent reading Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
Hey Angela,
I really enjoyed reading through your post. I agree that students writing and reading skills may be a reflection on the lack of reading. Even for myself, I have found that I read way more now on my eReader, than I did with any normal book. I also agree that it stimulates my attention and motivates me to want to read more!
Jenaca
Thanks for your comments Jenaca! I really think that reading and writing skills are related.
Angela.
Recently I invested on iPad 2. One of the most common uses that I have been giving to the iPad is reading and making annotations about the articles and resources I need for MET courses. I synchronize my docs from my computer to the iPad through DocsToGo. I read and make annotations about these articles through […]
Continue reading My experience with eBooks Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
I’ve been reading MET documents on my IPad since last year and it’s been great except I couldn’t do the annotations. I had heard that there was ‘an app for that’ as they say but hadn’t been able to find it. Thanks Angela! I also didn’t know that you could classify the PDFs in iBook so mine are a big mess. These were my two biggest obstacles to going fully to the Ipad from previously working on my laptop. Thanks for sharing.
– Julie
Hey Angela and Julie,
You are both making me want to buy an Ipad. I recently bought a Kobo but am wishing it had more uses than just reading. I am an apple fanatic and live for my Macbook…Maybe my next purchase will have to be the Ipad:)
Thanks,
Jenaca
Things like synchronizing docs between one device and the next is an incredible ability. Doing this and things like making highlights, underlines, notes, etc., was something I never thought of eReaders being able to do until recently. They’ve suddenly started to sound much more useful.
Its funny – when I started the MET (in 2008) I printed off my whole courses, all readings, sat with a highlighter, and took notes. I have a few full binders from those courses. Now, I print off almost nothing. I organize everything online. I don’t even use Word anymore. The ipad makes everything so much more user friendly. I love enlarging and reducing font with finger swipes.
Emily
When I started playing 3rd World Farmer I was a little lost about what I should do. I thought that this was not a good educational game. But I decided to continue playing in order to figure out what are players supposed to do. While playing I was discovering the things that I had to […]
Continue reading When I started playing 3rd World Farmer … Posted in: Week 05: Game-Based Learning
Hey Angela,
I encountered the same experience as you while playing 3rd World Farmer. I wasn’t sure what to do, but after sticking with it soon found that it is a great way to exercise decision making and problem solving!
Good point Angela, I think this game could really benefit from a multiplayer version. It would be more interesting and I think more meaningful because you would have a more authentic community experience.
Angella,
I agree with you that it would be more attractive for users that the game could foster a collaborative learning. Doing this promotes higher level thinking skills, increases student retention, builds self-esteem in students, enhances student satisfaction with the learning experience, promotes a positive attitude toward the subject matter and develops social interaction skills.
Keisha
Hi Angela,
I like the listed benefits of playing games. I agree with you that the playing of games fosters creativity and critical thinking and create a friendly-user platform. I also think that the playing of games allows one to see the true character of a person. For example, the playing of a game will observe if a person gets angry easily or is competitive. Some ladies they used the playing of games to identify the characteristics of their partners.
ALL In Learning is a company that intends to set up M-learning environments through the implementation of a Mobile Teaching and Assessment Platform on the iPod Touch and iPad. Through this platform teachers are able to capture formative assessment data and they get the results immediately through All In Learning’s web-based reporting system. This venture is innovative as […]
Continue reading All Learning. Cloud-based instruction Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp SalaDeMaestros.com is a venture that seeks to facilitate a more fluid communication among all the members of the educational community of Baja California (Mexico). The venture pitch provides the professional profile of all its members, demonstrating a high qualification for working in this project (e.g. by mentioning their degree of expertise in the field). This […]
Continue reading Venture Pitch Critique Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Hi Angela,
Your point regarding the fact that this product is unclear on how it will “capture revenues” has been something I’ve been thinking about too. Is this a product that involves a customer paying for the service? I have been thinking about ed tech products in general, and trying to figure out how a customer evaluates whether or not they are getting their money’s worth. If you invest in a tool that is supposed to improve communication in your school, how do you know if it is happening? I guess some planning would have to take place beforehand to decide what the benchmarks would be. I’m often wondering when it comes to educational products, how do we know when it is working? How can we attribute a positive change to a particular product in a complex environment?
Emily
Hi Emily,
I get your point. I have seen how sometimes schools invest on technologies that later turn out to be underutilized because teachers do not learn how to use it, because teachers are not clear about the purposes for using it, or because these technologies weren’t tested before.
Nice work providing balance in the critique. Noting dependencies on other services and barriers to uptake by the intended clients are great points!
Thanks for your comments David 🙂
7 Things you should know about…  is a report published every year by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). This report provides useful information about emerging technologies and is based on the following criteria: What is it? How does it Work? Who’s Doing it? Why is it significant? What are the downsides? Where is it going? […]
Continue reading ELI’s 7 Things you should know about… Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
Hi Angela,
After quickly perusing the Emerging Markets library, this was the site that caught my attention, and the one I thought I would be most likely to come back to because of its clear organization. I don’t think I cottoned on to its emphasis on higher education, however, and appreciate your mention of that emphasis. I also find it interesting to see how this site, supported by EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) alone, relates to the NMC Horizon report, which is a result of collaboration of the ELI and the New Media Consortium. Are the predictions of these reports different, and if so, by how much?!
Great analysis,
KJ
This article is also now saved to my Delicious account for future reference..my teachers will really appreciate the information provided in such a concise manner.
Hi Angela, I really enjoyed reading through your post. I do agree that this report is more useful for higher education areas however, it is still a wonderful site to learn about new emerging technologies!!
Jenaca
Hi all, thanks for your comments. even though I highlighted that this report is more useful for higher education, I still think it is a wonderful report for learning about emerging technologies. So, I would definitely revise future publications. Cheers!
As an educator I think ‘7 Things you should know about…’ is very useful for me. I am going to make apart of my “Favorites” and I am planning to introduce the site to my colleagues.
I am in agreement with you Emily that in the future this report should include a description of the implications for learning and teaching in a more detailed format, which includes both higher and k-12 education. Great points, I enjoyed the content of your posting.
As a newbie in the tech world, particularily edtech, I found this report very informative and easy to navigate. It stays clear of technical words and provides simple descriptions in plain language making it very accessible to a variety of readers.
I too noticed that much of the information is geared toward higher ed. and adult learners. I am wondering if this is because some of these edtechs are more prevalent in these settings and a matter of accessibility. Post-secondary institutions may have access to more money as well as individual students are more likely to use these technologies in their day-day lives as they may pruchase them themselves as opposed to an k-6 student who may only have access through school or at home. It would however be more beneficial to child educators to provide more discussion around how younger students may use these tools to enhance their learning experience.
Hi Everyone! I am writing from Chile and I am really excited to start my two last courses of the MET program. I am a Social Studies teacher, and I currently work at a school (teaching two courses in grade 7 and one course in grade 9) and a University (coordinating a graduate program about Digital […]
Continue reading Hello From Chile Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Hi Angela! I believe we were in 531 together just last term! This blog is a very useful way to introduce ourselves as we are more able to include photos as you have. Thanks for sharing them with us – and I am impressed with your guitar skills – missing out on learning a musical instrument is one of my deepest regrets. Great to be with you in another course!
oops meant 565 together, not 531
Thanks Brenda! Nice seeing you again. Yes! We were together at ETEC 565. No worries ,we all get confused about our membership in different courses, for me, it is very difficult to remember names and faces when I am not “seeing” them every day. Cheers!
Hello Angela, Nice to *meet* you and hear about your interests. The program you’re coordinating sounds really interesting – will it be online or face-to-face delivery? Good luck with the enrollment!
Andrea
Thanks Andrea! Nice meeting you too. Here in Chile Universities are not so familiar with distance learning. I tried to convince the University Academic Council to create a program based on blended learning environments, because we could include participants from isolated regions of Chile, but they insisted that participants would not feel so comfortable, and because it is our first attempt to run it we should do it entirely face-to-face. I had no choice but to agree. But they assured me that if it is successful we will try to deliver it online in a second attempt. So we are doing our bets for this to have great results.
Hi! Nice to be able to see that our passions, not only for education but music still moves us in our journeys! Even though I’m a music teacher and play most instruments, I never learned the guitar! Congrats on being at the end of the MET journey!
Michelle
Thanks Michelle! Hope to get to know you better and share our passion for music. Cheers,
Angela.
Hi, Angela. Glad to see a familiar name in the course. While my musicianship (percussion mostly) is quite rusty, I’m still a big fan. I’ll share a link of one of my friend’s acoustic performances as well as a performance from another fellow I got to meet and hang around a few times years ago. I share your interest in the creation of new knowledge, or unique ways of showing and sharing existing knowledge. I also am always keen to push my junior high kids to think critically… I like pushing their thoughts and values. The collaborative part isn’t always smooth, but I try all the same. I plan on using Glogster again (and more) this year, especially its social / sharing features.
Cheers,
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsc16Di1MGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikHI7_PMFNc
Hi Steve, nice “seeing” you again. Thanks for sharing the videos. The musicians of the videos are great! I would like to have the skills to play like them. Amazing. Next month, I will use Glogster for collaborative presentations with students of grade 9. Later we can share our experiences. Cheers,
Angela.
Sounds like a plan! Glogster’s had some sales on of late, too, for us education-types… $69 for the teacher license, and, I think, $19 for a basic teacher license.
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Deb Kim 6:07 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Angela,
Thank you for the conclusion.
You made a good point that blogs cannot be considered as LMS as they deliver contents which are different from WebCT/Vista. Throughout many of the Week 7 posts, I realize that many people preferred Vista over a blog for ETEC courses. I like the opportunity of being able to use a blog as one of my ETEC courses. This way, I can compare and experience differences rather than read what people have written about the comparison of the use of blogging to WebCT/Vista.
Once again, thank you for participating in the discussion.
Deb