Reflective Blog #8 - Week 8

"Aha!" Moments

Where do I begin with the “Aha!” moments? I will start with Alan November’s article, Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning assigned in the first week. I actually wrote the words, “Aha! Article” on the top of the article printout. Although, Mr. November’s article mirrored some of my current beliefs such as the importance of teaching critical thinking skills and not everything on the Internet is true, I did not consider the fact that many students believe, if it is on the Internet it is true and what the impact of that assumption may mean.

November’s discussion on how to deconstruct and map relationships of Web sites was extremely enlightening. So, week five’s critical analysis activities were full of “Aha!” moments. Being informed researchers builds a foundation of informative teaching and learning. I learned something during every activity of the Mapping exercises, from examining Web site’s authors, history, purposes, to the number and types of search engines. I can say the activities for this particular week will forever change how I conduct research and how I educate future students.

Mr. November’s automating vs. informating analysis was another point of clarity in this course. Although I knew just because a course is online did not mean learning was taking place, his definition of the difference between automation and actually informing and creating learning gave a clear picture of what typically happens when the discussion of technology occurs. What should be happening is information communication and building capacities that translate to the home.

His thoughts on connecting people and building learning communities spoke to a major tenet of my educational technology philosophy and that did not change. Connecting students, particularly those without unlimited access to technology is an important part of my philosophy. Educational institutions are given a great opportunity to create information community environments that not only informs but also to build communities to connect students of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

However, through completion of this course I am able to visualize and incorporate technology in the goal of connecting students to resources in informative and impactful ways inside and outside the classroom. Being equipped with the tools to help students learn in creative, collaborative ways, and empowering them to construct and be active participants in their learning, that translates into uses in other parts of their lives, is the greatest reward of all.

I must say thank you to each of you. I learned a great deal from each of you. I must also give a great big thank you to Dr. Wickersham for a great course! This course is an example of creating the type of learning environment touted in the research. 

Hattie



Reflective Blog #7 - Week 7

In pondering the instructional design and plan for this week’s project, I focused on developing a learning environment for the employees of the hospital where I am employed. I am the Compliance/Privacy Officer and an area often misunderstood is patient privacy and security. The learning objective I chose for the technology plan was, “To provide a learning community that shares knowledge, and reinforces and/or reshapes employee decision making and actions concerning HIPAA Privacy and Security standards.” The learning objective had to incorporate a dynamic that actually provided concrete, factual information for educational purposes and to change decision-making and actions, when needed. In addition, provide employees with an opportunity to interact with each other and engage in the learning process.

Because our mandatory training modules come from the corporate office, I wanted to think of a way to introduce additional opportunities for learning with technology in which employees would actually participate. Some technology such as cell phones is prohibited in the hospital, therefore, the ability to incorporate other  forms of technology into one space and provide a place for fun interactive activities for employees led to my decision to utilize a wiki space. http://patientprivacyourresponsibility.wikispaces.com/

Although not all employees have a computer, there are kiosks in the hospital and employees could access this particular space away from the hospital. The wiki space would have a link to a decision-making survey (such as Quandry). This is particularly important because employees often do not think through their actions concerning patient privacy, particularly when it involves other employees as patients and family or friends. A product such as Quandry would allow me to reframe scenarios and questions to either reinforce correct decisions or guide employees to correct behavior. The wiki space would also have short weekly surveys, incorporate slideshows on privacy and security facts, podcasts, and provide links to government websites. There is also the possibility of incorporating instant messaging/chat feature for the space.

The learning outcomes in use of the wiki space would be to increase employee knowledge of the privacy and security standards but also provide an impetus for change in employee behavior concerning privacy and security. Employees become more cognizant of how their actions and decisions may violate the privacy and security standards and understand the ramifications of their actions. The employees would have a chance to pose questions and scenarios in the discussion area that allows them to participate in the learning community and interact with other employees. The incorporation of the decision-making survey, short weekly surveys/quizzes, and information from the discussion areas all provide a way to assess learning outcomes and areas for future education and training.

I would have to say I view my instruction in a much more interactive and dynamic fashion. I would love to incorporate many of the technologies I have learned about in this course, however, my current enthusiasm must be tempered based on what will be allowed with my employer. In spite of this, the ability to incorporate a podcast presentation and the accessibility to many open source tools will allow me to make a stronger case for change. I will also be able utilize the skills and tools I have learned in this class in any future educational instruction, training or presentations in order to engage learners. I have already set up a wiki space for a devotional prayer group with my church, shared the use of concept maps, and Jing with other friends and colleagues. This course will have a lasting impact on how I view learning.  

Making Online Learning Accessible Article

Colleagues, I apologize for the link in the previous post for this article being inaccessible. The citation is listed below if you would like to reference the article in the library database.

Brunvand, S., & Abadeh, H.. (2010). Making online learning accessible :Using technology to declutter the Web. Intervention in School and Clinic, 45(5), 304-311.  Retrieved February 22, 2011, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2029601821).

Podcast - Creating a Custom Search Engine

Please check out my Podcast on creating a custom search engine with Google. I created the Educational Technology Journals Search Engine adding the informative links from the course syllabus as the journals for searches on educational technology.
Creating a Custom Educational Technology Journals Search Engine

Reflective Blog #6 - Week 6

I sound like a broken record; however, I learned so many great things this week! Although I have listened to Podcasts, this week’s project was my first experience producing a Podcast. I recorded it many, many times! It is hard to listen to my own voice in recorded format, in spite of this, scratching the surface of the uses of Jing and Camtasia were great fun.  One of our fellow colleagues in this class, Kathrine (Betty) Garza, mentioned the use of Camtasia to me and I utilized it to visually improve my Podcast in order to display the full screen of my Jing Podcast on one page.

The possibilities for the uses of Podcasts and other audio/visual technology abound in the educational environment. The opportunities to engage learners with various learning styles and abilities can enhance the learning experience for the student and instructor through the incorporation of technology. This course is an excellent example in how to design an online course and of the interaction, critical thinking skills, and active learning taking place using technology. We witness and learn from our colleagues and see great examples of how they are utilizing these tools to create rich learning communities for our students each week. The articles for the week and those presented in the journal article critiques were very informative. My journal article, Making Online Learning Accessible: Using Technology to Declutter the Web, provided examples of resources available to educators to aide in course design. Google’s product for creating a custom search engine, Awesome Highlighter, TrackStar, Readability, and TidyRead are all free resources. This is a great article; I encourage you to read it.

https://proxy.tamu-commerce.edu:2048/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=2029601821&Fmt=6&clientId=3613&RQT=309&VName=PQD

What is preventing us from fully embracing the potential of these tools is lack of knowledge on several levels. A lack of knowledge of what is available is one. When reading the posts in our discussion groups, frequently the phrase, “this is new information,” or “I can’t wait to try these out” are used. There are so many resources available it can become overwhelming. Another form of lack of knowledge is the talent to effectively designing a course incorporating technological tools. Educators must continually develop their own skills in order to create environments for learning.

If I could change anything it would be, what I have discussed in previous posts, the “all or nothing mentality” in the discussions surrounding educational technology. Instead of focusing on the benefits of incorporating varying teaching methods and forms into course delivery, conversations often resemble opposing boxers in the ring. In one corner the face-to-face traditionalists, who give a slight nod to technology incorporation and in the other corner the technology gladiator fighting to make all things techie. The real issue is how well the methods are deployed in the learning environment in order to do what we as educators are called to do, to educate. I would require some form of continuing education element in new teaching methods, course design and instruction for current educators and administrators in order to stay abreast of the rapidly changing world of education. Each method provides tremendous opportunities for inspiring students to be active participants in learning and instill lifelong learning.  

Reflective Blog #5 - Week 5

“If I had known then, what I know now.” This phrase kept running through my head this week as I completed the MAPping information activities and the technology project. The answer – more informed and organized researcher! Although I can be quite skeptical concerning data on the Internet because of the very opinionated and sometimes-misguided information discovered in previous searches, the tools learned this week will be extremely valuable in future research. I learned the meanings of new and not so new terms such as "crawlers," "crawler-based results," "directories,” "human-powered results," “cached results,” and “Web 2.0.” Learning how search engines return results gives me a different perspective on the results.

I researched the bigredhair.com domain. I did not recognize the name and if one just examines the domain name one would probably not connect it to Victorian-era robots. It is registered under Network Solutions, LLC, a company that helps small businesses market their site. In researching the archive history of the site it started out as a very personal web site similar to a blog, with personal histories of the site owners, strong comic book themes with comic books they created and sold , Halloween pictures, etc. The original site names were bigred@teleport.com and guinan@teleport.com but ultimately developed into a site focused on Victorian-era robots.

Web sites linked to this domain ranged from other personal sites, businesses, sites on science, recycling, steam – metal companies, and inventors/inventions. Some of the comments included on external sites rated it as an exceptional site concerning Victorian-era robots to all the information being fictional. Based on the research and links I would question some of the information on the site and would cross-reference information for confirmation if I were researching robots.

When I searched this site on other search engines, I discovered depending on the site, advertisements were the first entries on the page, which included toy retailers. The results will depend on how the search engine processes and returns data and how I enter my search terms. I will utilize other search engines in addition to “Google” in any future extensive research endeavors. Based on the information I learned this week I will be doing a presentation with our Education department at the hospital where I am employed on conducting more informed research.

The technology project on Social Bookmarking will be extremely useful for me in my educational and current professional career. I did not use social bookmarking previously. The ability to organize and save important web sites and links are an educational, personal, and professional benefit. It also saves a tremendous amount of time. I added a bundled tag in Del.icio.us entitled “Informed Researcher” so that I will not lose some of the helpful information learned this week. Bundling the information in one spot puts this information in one location.

Oh, how I wish I would have know about this when I started the doctoral program! I would have organized and stored articles of interest and those used in the completion of research papers in a more efficient and effective format. I would have a leg up on my dissertation articles. I will probably switch to Diigo. I believe this site will lend itself to my dissertation work. I will definitely use this for my literature review organization and archives. The ability to highlight, attach notes, and saving on paper and ink costs are particularly appealing. I also like the ability to link to Del.icio.us from this site. I was not drawn to Blink. I did not find it as user friendly as Del.icio.us. I would probably consider using Stumble Upon and Toobla for more personal interests. I liked the visual aspects for these interests. I will also use the social bookmarking in my current employment. I spend a tremendous amount of time researching and a site like Diigo will be beneficial.

In closing, the information learned this week would allow me to incorporate the techniques into future work as an educator in the classroom or in administration. Social bookmarking is another example of incorporating technology into the learning platform that allows the learner to create and participate in the learning process. The ability to connect with other learners, educators, or administrators creates an environment of social learning. Completion of the research activities from the November Learning site should be a part of all educational institutions’ web sites. What better way to show a commitment to responsible education and research.

Reflective Blog #4 - Week 4

This week has been another great learning experience. In reflecting on the many uses and examples of portfolios, I found myself wishing I would have known about and began the building of a portfolio since the beginning of my doctoral program. Beginning a portfolio upon first entry into college would have provided me with an opportunity to see my own growth academically and personally. In particular, when I reflect on my writing skills, I can see great improvement since the beginning the program in 2009. As a result, I gravitated to the assessment for learning tenet of the learner’s capacity for self-assessment, reflection, and self-management. Why, because it makes me an active participant in my learning and provides me, the learner, the ability to view assessment as more than a grade. It provides an opportunity to be creative, insightful, and the opportunity to display learning with more than words. It allows the learner to see the power of his or her potential. It is assessment for learning that utilizes all the senses and provides evidence of application of knowledge and a picture of the individual learner and how he or she is learning.

In the future, I can see portfolio programs becoming a major part of an institution’s evidence of accountability, assessment for learning, and career planning. I see the potential of portfolios being used in some form from K-12 to document learning outcomes. I can also see portfolios being used in place of written comprehensive examinations. A portfolio program is a comprehensive picture of what has been learned, its application, a learner’s growth in critical thinking, and writing skills and not just one’s ability to regurgitate a list of facts, names, and figures for an exam. As supported in the many demonstrations of its uses, portfolios can follow the individual beyond the academic walls. I will definitely work to develop the portfolio I start in this class for future courses, my career, and for other personal endeavors. True learning motivates an individual to apply skills learned in other situations and continue lifelong learning.