The Ultimate Compilation!

Before creating my story, I browsed a number of the tools and was quite impressed with their capabilities and features. However, I decided to use Toondoo for my task. This was done for several reasons. First, I am familiar with the tool as I have used it in a previous MET course and was quite successful in telling my story. I was of the view that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. In addition, I saw it as a great way to tell my story. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I was upbeat about getting my story across with several pictures accompanied by text which would equate to several thousand words. Using this tool allowed me complete control as I was privy to choose my characters and decide on their respective roles; and therefore even a person who cannot read will have an idea of what is happening on each slide. The tool allowed me to tell the story in stages highlighting the transitions from the beginning to the end.

As it relates to using this tool in my classroom, the process has already began where I have introduced them to it in my blog several months ago. The fact that I work with teacher trainees who will work with kids who are fascinated by cartoons and comic strips, this tool will be ideal. By using such a tool, students will see the potential of redefining story telling. They will now have ownership of their stories and can bring the story to life with texts and graphics instead of the usual “text only”. From such activities, there’s no doubt that they will be motivated as even students who cannot write cannot tell a story through images as this activity is hands-on and flexible. Their creative juices will flow throughout as they come up with innovative ways to tell their stories.

This story reflects the views taken by some teachers in the current education systems as it relates to the use of gadgets and social media in the classrooms. Seeing personal gadgets as distraction within the classroom, some educators are willing to reprimand students instead of using their interests to foster learning. However, keeping abreast of the time and the new generation, some instructors are being converted for the betterment of students and the learning situation. As a result, they willing to use blogs and other channels to to teach a wide variety of concepts. In some cases writing is being enhanced as students show a liking to write via social media rather than the traditional paper and pen. I am a big fan of toondoo and thinks it will tell my story perfectly. I am also associated with social media on a daily basis and see it as a future learning space in the classroom; and therefore this story should resonate with all stakeholders in the education sector.

Wiki or Vista?

Having done a comparison with the wiki space and WebCT Vista, there are several difference. First, I feel a sense of community in the former as everyone is given more privilege to assist each other on a more personal basis through the editing feature. In this space, I have seen where others have edited my post and gave it a suitable heading to distinguish it from others. In addition, wiki is keeping in line with web 2.0 concept which entails a social aspect to the online experience; which is the future of the web and similar to the space I interact with out of class. The Internet technologies of the subsequent generation have been profoundly social, as listservs, Usenet groups, discussion software, groupware, and Web-based communities have linked people around the world (Alexander, 2006). Unlike Vista, wiki gives us the opportunity to create a community based project that can be used for future reference. Also, there is less distraction in this space as one is not confronted with a myriad of different threads on the page which sometimes trigger the panic button.

As it relates to advantage, there is more of an atmosphere that we are working for a common good; as the space offer more freedom for interaction. This space satisfies our appetites as it is an extension of what we are accustom to in our social circles. This space is more suited for real collaboration unlike the threaded discussions where I have to be clicking on separate links to comment. I was now able to see everyone’s contribution on the same page which makes commenting much easier.

A major challenge is that members are free to tweak your work and might even accidentally erase what you have posted. Also, I am not aware of the persons online so I can have direct chat. The platform is also overcrowded with information as there is no real sense of order. This pose a problem when one wants to view who commented on his/her post. The space is informal by nature so navigating to and fro to carry out activities hampers the process to some extent.

Alexander, B. (2006). Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teaching and learning? Educause Review, 33-43.

Case Study

Boris has been teaching Chemistry 11 at a regional high school in the Bulkley Valley of northern BC for over a decade. He uses his school district’s Moodle server to disseminate lecture notes, lab forms and to answer student questions outside of class time.
Over the years he’s found a distinct gap between some students’ performance in laboratory exercises and their exams. In particular they seem to have difficulty transferring what they learn about the Periodic Table in their labs (and readings) to their exam work. Some students do well, but they are those who find it manageable to memorize the entire table: students who cannot, who comprise about half his students in any given year, are the ones who struggle.
There isn’t a single hour of extra time for Boris to spend on Periodic Table review in class. He does have some extra handouts to give students who want more practice, but knows these only scratch the surface – substantive review would require a more detailed and systematic approach.
Boris is trying to find some way to create a stand-alone, self-directed review tool for students learning the Periodic Table. It should allow students to review material, then test their knowledge. In a perfect world it would give students instant feedback that not only tells them if they’re right or wrong: it would give them formative feedback that helps them move towards the right answers.

Boris seems to be in a state of confusion at the moment. Though his intentions are clear, he is being overwhelmed by the large percentage of his class that is struggling; and rightly so. Boris needs to adopt Moodle exclusively as his learning platform. Through this channel, he would be able to make up for lost time and have all his activities under one umbrella. He can upload youtube tutorial videos dealing with the issue. As a result, students can view these videos at their own convenience and provide comments. In addition, he could design his tests in Moodle where they can be done and marked instantly and feedback provided