The synchronous communication tools that were covered in the E-Toolkit were ones I have already used.  It was nice to see something familiar.  The tools that I have used so far in my MET career were Wimba, WebCT Chat, and Elluminate Live.  The other tools that I have used, but not in a classroom environment, are Skype, iChat, iMessage, and Chat Moodle.

The challenge in using these tools is due to available technology.  The tools I used for my MET classes, varied in effectiveness depending on if I was using my old Dell or my new MacBook.  Needless to say they worked much easier and the set up was far quicker with my MacBook.  The only problem with the MacBook was using Safari, once I realized some tools worked better on both Google Chrome and Mozilla those problems were gone.

I have found all these tools to work well and easy to navigate.  I think the question is which tool is right for the user.  Wimba and Elluminate were very similar in their ability to use text chat, audio chat, or video chat.  Of the tools mentioned in the E-Toolkit these two would be the most comprehensive and all-inclusive.  Students can participate with text chat only if they lack a microphone and/or camera.  Choosing to use these tools would allow all students to participate if they access to a computer.

The “chat” options are also effective when using the WebCT or Moodle.  It allows the students to connect, do group work, and pose questions to the teacher.  Having these “chat” tools also gives the students some security that only those in the class will participate where as the use of iChat or other instant messaging options can bring people in to the discussion that are not in that class.  The other problem would be the flow of information with the instant messaging options.  They are not as organized and visible to all participants as the “chat” options in WebCt and Moodle.

Skype and Facetime, for Macs, are great options if you are working with a small group.  I feel these tools would limit participation in a classroom discussion.

Choosing the correct tool is the big challenge.  Using an LMS is going to give the teacher and the students more privacy for their discussions and control on the participation for these synchronous communication tools.

I wasn’t sure about this part of the E-Toolkit because there was no active link in the title but I went through it.  The section about images that were supposed to use did not work for me.  The links did not work on Mozilla or Safari so I couldn’t follow the cropping and resizing practice.  I do have iPhoto so I simply used that for this section.  iPhoto is extremely easy to use as I am sure Picassa is to use.  In iPhoto cropping the pictures and resizing them makes the pictures that my wife and I take look very professional.  We have a few pictures framed from our Cross Canada trip this summer that we doctored with iPhoto and people always compliment us on out photography skills.  We take the compliment gracefully them tell them it was iPhoto.  When using audio I have had some problems.  I have a Bose headset that I use fo my iPod , iPhone and MacBook.  It works perfect and the sound is amazing no matter which device I use.  I also like that I can play my music loud and not bother those around me because the sound does not escape as easily.  That being said the headset I use was completely useless on my PC at school and my old Dell laptop.  I had to use a headset a friend of mine had before I got my MacBook.  I looked like I was working at a Cal Centre and the sound and microphone were low so I had to have all levels high to hear anything.  Having the correct accessories for the task at hand is essential and I would have to explain that to my students if I chose to use any audio with my class site. The DVD section was really nothing new to me.  I still burn CD’s for my Mom so she can play them on her CD player (she is 78 but uses an iPad) because she doesn’t like “things in her ears” and won’t use the iPod I bought her.  As our children have gotten older we have stopped using a video camera and we prefer to take pictures.  I survived a childhood without any videos of me being taken.  I had to use my phone because our video camera is embarrassing in its age and capabilities.  The iPhone and even the iPad are extremely handy for capturing short pieces of video.  I can actually use iMovie or iPhoto to put my pictures in a slide show format with test and music.  Most of the pictures we have are backed up on CD’s as well as an external hard drive for safe keeping and viewing.

This section was the one that scared the crap out of me.  I saw web design and HTML and thought I can’t do this very well.  This was the first part of the E-Toolkit that I opened.  It was also the first part I ran from screaming and panicking.  That was my first taste of the E-Toolkit and I have to say it was overwhelming.  As the course went on I would go back to this section and try again, only to be totally frustrated by my lack of knowledge and experience with the technology.  I think I may be a chartered member of the “Websites that Suck” club.  This was very labour intensive and by no means enjoyable.  As the course went on there were some parts of this section that did help with my Moodle site.  I have to be honest, of all the things I did in this course, this section was my least enjoyable and most humbling.  I never considered myself to be a technology genius but I also never thought I should be in the “slow class”.

I used my iPhone to complete this part of the E-Toolkit.  I began by going to UBC WebCT through Google.  It was very easy to find and very quick to load.  The problem I had was the constant reducing of the screen size.  The site was not adapted to a mobile format, which made it a little slow in navigation.  The other problem was that the pop-ups did not always appear in view because the screen was too large but that was fixed be reducing the screen size.   I could not find an app for UBC WebCT or WebCT.  The fact that it works with Safari was fine with me despite the constant screen size fixing.  I could use the phone if I had to, probably would have helped when the power is out!!

Moodle definitely has their target audiences covered.  My Moodle page was easily accessible using Safari and it worked quite well.  Although when I did attempt to load a picture it became slow and again the constant reducing of screen size made it increasingly annoying.  I think that it is handy to edit and check in on Forums but to create a site using a mobile device would be even more labour intensive than it already is.  Moodle did have a number of apps (My Moodle, mTouch, mPage, and iMoodle) with some for teachers, for students, and for quizzes.  It looked like MyMoodle was the official app of Moodle because it was free and Moodle is all about sharing and being an open source program.  The problem I had with the free Moodle app, MyMoodle, was that it stated, “Moodle 2.1 or later is REQUIRED to run this app”.  Since my school district uses 1.9 and UBC is using 2.0, I was out of luck.   I think Moodle, with its apps, is a far more accessible and user friendly when it comes to m-Learning.

Upon checking the quick tips with WAI and WCAG2, I found that my Moodle site is not as accessible as they would like.  When I was building the Moodle site, I was aiming it at the students in my class right now.  I was not thinking about future students and their possible unique needs.  The process of putting a small amount of my course was labour intensive, adding all the recommendations for accessibility would be overwhelming.  I think it would be less labour intensive if the Moodle site was tweaked for a particular student but it would still require a great deal of work.

The positive points to my site included the use of video with sound, the use of Forums for communication, consistent pages with headings and links that work correctly.  These were all suggestions that were found when searching WAI and WCA2.  On the down side, my lack of sound or voice communication options was something I never thought of including.  My videos do not have captioning but there is some labeling of the parts included in digestion and enzyme activity.  I have included tables in my modules, which is not recommended.  For quizzes they recommend allowing adequate time for all students to complete, something that is easily added with very little effort.

I think the most challenging aspect would be making a perfectly accessible site.  I think that no matter how “all-inclusive” you try to make your site, there is a chance you missed someone.  What surprised me the most was how hard it is to meet all learners’ needs on a course site.  I know how hard it is in a classroom setting to do this but for some reason I didn’t connect the same difficulty to my site.  I was surprised that I thought having a site would be better for all students when I have just learned it is not.  It brings me back to the S in SECTIONS, students and making sure their needs are met.

There is very little “labour” involved in setting up a Wiki.  The reason I say this is because all you have to do is set up an account and then begin the Wiki.  A number of these web2.0 tools are set up to NOT be labour intensive.  If the tool is easy to use then more people will use them.  It makes people feel like they are more computer literate then they actually are (present company included).

I feel the main benefit of the Wiki is to allow for group work and discussion without being in a group.  It allows students to participate in the activity on their own time and at their own pace.  The ability for all students to add their views and edit the Wiki gives all those in a group a feeling of contribution to the final project.  In that sense, Wikis are excellent for creating an almost classroom environment so discussions can occur.

What I found challenging with the Wikis was how the Wiki appeared.  The Wikis I have used are just not aesthetically pleasing.  The fonts are the same for each participant which gives the appearance of one document but makes it difficult to know where one person’s contribution ends and the next person begins.  What did surprise me was how well they work.  I prefer Google docs, but since they are basically the same format it was easy to use.  You really do feel like you are an active participant in the group work.  Even if you are participating at your own pace, you are an active participant in the learning process.  I am not sure how I could use a Wiki in my science classes but it has definitely started the wheels turning.  I think this might be a good forum to do a project in my Science 10 class next year.

Of the Weblogs that were listed I am most familiar with WordPress, Blogger, and  UBC weblog.  I really enjoy the format of a blog, I find they are user friendly and easy to set up.  Now I have not used a weblog in a classroom setting but I have decided to implement one for next year for my classes.

Weblogs are not labour intensive.  I think that is the main attraction for teachers to use them in their class.  They are easily set up and there is really little need for tech support.  Okay some teachers will need a lot of support but the majority of us are confident in using them.

What I find that works well is how easy it is to edit and add information to the blog.  It is very easy to upload pictures, text, and links.  When my family kept a blog for our cross Canada trip last summer we liked that we could type the text and choose the pictures while driving.  When we got to the hotel we could simply upload everything to our blog.  The amount of time it took us to maintain this blog was minimal, which is a definite advantage.  I like the ability to receive comments and reply (forum).  This is a great idea in a classroom because the students can feel free to ask questions and know they will get a reply. The blog also keeps the students connected when they are away or sick.

I really did not find anything challenging about using a weblog.  I know that some people complain that the newest entry is always at the top and the blog flows “backward”.  From an education setting, I think this is a benefit because the students do not have to scroll through the whole blog to find the newest information.

I chose to search Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and Delicious to search their Privacy and Terms of Service information.  This information was easily accessible and easy to find.  Even though these are four different types of Social Media, there terms were very similar.  Only Fickr sent me to their parent company, Yahoo, for their information. I found this a little questionable because it was hard to find answers that were pertinent to Flickr.

What surprised me was that all the sites said that the content posted by the user was the users property but the sites state that  “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with” the site.  I was also surprised that all the sites stated they would give your information to “trusted third party” groups.  The fact that they use your personal information to direct advertising, or related sites, to your “content” was something that was acknowledged by all Terms Of Service.  Delicious was a site that I only recently found.  I liked that the site collect sand share bookmarks that interest you.

I use Facebook regularly and I know that Facebook can use anything I post, until I delete me account.  I really don’t think my attitude with Facebook and Twitter has changed after reading the Terms.  I am an adult and I am responsible for my comments and actions.  I would not and do not put anything on Facebook that I wouldn’t want anyone to read.  Granted I have the super Privacy settings to maintain my privacy.  Even though you have privacy settings there really is no privacy.  You can control the privacy to a point.

In education I can see many implications.  The most obvious one is the age of the students.  I teach high school and many of my students use Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr.  If we are going to use these tools in education we have to set strict policies of usage.  These are all useful tools but as always it is how they are used that is the problem.  It is not the technology that is the problem it is how the technology is used.  I personally think that a teacher should not share their personal accounts with their students.  I do not see a problem with having a school or course account set up and using it as a way to connect with your students or share important information about your course or class.

When I decided to pursue my MET, I did so because it was offered online, would improve my use of technology, and challenge me academically.  What I did not think about was how I was under the control of the E.  This past January was the perfect storm, both figuratively and literally, to show me how much I relied on E.

The weather here in Chilliwack, BC in January was colder and snowier than normal.  Now, I understand the rest of Canada would not find this a problem but Chilliwack has about 4 plows and I think one might be a Bobcat.  So with this deluge of snow, I’m kidding, came another problem: power outages.  When there is no power there is no E-Learning.  This caused a little stress because assignments were due and posts needed to be made.  During the four snow days we had, our power was out three times.  You would think that four days with no school would allow a lot of time to work on my MET, but there were the power outages.  Because of all the power outages, our Internet connection was also out for about two days.

Now if the snow wasn’t bad enough we had week two.  A fire at a Wood Mill caused some damage to a fibre optic cable for the same Internet provider.  So my Internet at work and home was out for almost two days. With that corrected, a BC Hydo station blew up here and knocked out the power for 12 hours and yes the Internet was down for that day and some of the following.  This all occurred during our Rubric project.  I was in the middle of an Elluminate session when the power went out and I was just finishing the second meeting when the power went out again.  Now there was some luck.  On the day our Rubric project was due I sent my final draft to the group, not ten minutes later the Hydro Station blew up!  I tried frantically to see if the email was received but I had no power, Internet or cell phone capabilities.

All of these bumps in the road taught me that my life is very dependent on the E.  I was getting a little stressed about due dates when my wife asked what I do as a teacher if a student told me this story?  I got the point; I am a student and a teacher.  During the four snow days I returned emails from stressed kids telling them not to worry, I will give extensions.  I figured I might as well tell m Profs the story and see what happens.  So I headed to a Starbucks to use their Internet and sent an email to my two Profs.  There was no need for the stress because they said the same thing to me that I had told all my students, don’t worry and hand it in as soon as possible.

So even though we rely heavily on the E in this MET program, there are still humans that we can connect with and chat with.  This was something I never thought about when I applied, but I really do enjoy the human aspect of E-Learning

After reading the article by Bates and Poole (2003), it made me realize that how we choose technology for our schools is not always the best method.   I think the way technology is introduced in a classroom is because it is the technology that the teacher wants not the technology the teacher needs.  Bates and Poole’s use of the SECTIONS model as a framework for selecting and using technology is so simple yet effective.  It is one of those things you read and say to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  The first point in the  Bates and Poole model is Students.  This , I think, is the most important of the model.  They say that when choosing technology we should think of the students first and how this technology will affect them.  So often technology is acquired by a teacher or school that has very little impact on the students’s learning.  Technology is purchased because t is new, cool, and helpful to the teacher.  But if we step back and look at how this technology is to be used and can help the students, we may think twice in our purchase.  At our school, a teacher purchased a tablet and used the tablet to write on the notes that were projected on a screen.  The teacher thought this would be really cool and the students would find it interesting to watch him solve a Physics problem on the notes they were copying down.  Other teachers in our school got on the bandwagon and purchased them for their class.  They soon realized that the students were not impressed after the initial showing.  Probably because they did not get to use the technology. The teachers then realized that it did not give them as much freedom to move around the class as they thought and they had to face the screen and not the students.  To say there was some buyer’s remorse would be an understatement.  I think if they had gone through the SECTIONS model they may have made a more informed choice.  I know that I will definitely follow this model when looking for new technology in my classroom