Four Roles of an Online Instructor From Weakest to Strongest

Module 6 Reflection updated

Assessment…assessment…assessment…

That seems to be what I hear a lot about these days. In a traditional brick and mortar class, it seems like it would be no problem to do.  However, all of the current buzz these days is about the Common Core and how to assess these new standards.  

I am pleased to say that what I am seeing uses many of the ideas that were shown in the reading.  I was especially impressed with what I saw in the Washington State site.  I did get the feeling that California is behind though.  I say this because I just spent a couple of days doing training for the California Common Core, and how it was to be implemented in our school district.  I was pleased to see that the way testing was to be done was just like what I saw on many of the sites we visited in the readings.  At the time, it seemed really innovative.  The great thing was to see how technology could be used in formative assessment rather than traditional multiple choice.

There was a problem though.  We are expected to implement this new type of testing in the next couple of years, yet we don’t have the technology in our schoosl to do it correctly.  Once we are able to assess using iPads or tablets, that will help solve that problem.  Being able to assess with an online program will take care of that issue.  Obviously technology won’t be the issue.

The purpose of formative assessment is to allow students to have feedback quickly so they can reflect and make changes quickly. Many of the activities I looked at in this unit had many good check for understanding types of activities that I would like to use in the assessment I choose to do. What comes to mind for me was the Thomas Jefferson activity.  I enjoyed dragging the answers to the questions about Jefferson.  I loved being able to tell if I was correct immediately.  If I found value in that, I know students would as well.

I also enjoyed exploring some of the webquests from Questgarden.com. Again the built in formative assessment s were easy to follow, easy to complete, and gave immediate feedback. The drag and drop is certainly something I will try.

If I had older students, I would try some of the things we have been doing in this class such as Voicethread or a blog so students could get the feedback from their peers that is so valuable.

As for summative assessment, I think it is very important to show the students the rubric before they begin their assignment. This is perfect to do in an online class or blended class. The students will begin the assignment by knowing exactly what is expected of them, and promote self-evaluation.

My school is an open structure school, so project based learning is nothing new to us.  I think these types of activities are perfect to assess learning.  The phrase,” It’s the process not the product” is something we have been extolling for years.  I am delighted that this type of learning is again coming into vogue.

Me and Twitter

Reflection 4.3

Reflection 4.3

When I think how the internet has impacted my own personal learning, I can only shake my head and wonder…   The first computer class I took in college many years ago required that I learn DOS! A lot of good that did me! The first computers I had in my class were those old Apple Classics with their flashing green cursors and lack of other color. Now I checked my smart phone at the nursery today to see what the blossom looked like on a Camilla that I was purchasing.  I would say that technology has certainly changed my learning.

I have now taken several online classes and several classes about how to use technology.  I have enjoyed the online classes because they usually give me the ability to work at my own pace. That can be particularly helpful during the school year when I’m working hours that aren’t always predictable. This has been empowering.  When I was working on my Master’s degree, I had to go to class many times after a long day. Now, if I were to participate in the same program, much of it would be online. That would have been a nice option.  I’m not sure that the same feeling of community would be there though, as our group sent many months together working toward the same goal.

As for social and professional networks that I use regularly, that would be tricky. I belong to Linkedin …not sure why. I have used Twitter at conferences to get information, but I don’t Tweet. I have a Facebook account that is mostly to keep track of my 20 year old daughter while she is away at school. I do maintain a connection to fellow teachers and several of my parents.  I tend to ignore my friendship requests from students until they graduate from high school. I guess that can be thought of as amazing…the fact that I have former students that want to connect to their 3rdgrade teacher. I would say that would be because we are a K-8 school, and we foster the sense of family. I use YouTube videos in the classroom. I have done blogs in my class before. I maintain a website for my class.

The internet can be a distraction. For example, I was sitting here working on this class when my friend that lives in Canada came up on Skype.  As interesting as this class is, I spent 45 minutes catching up with her. That doesn’t mean that Skype wouldn’t be a useful tool in the classroom, however. On the other hand, I couldn’t remember the name of the model of Apple I had in 1992, so I quickly Googled it. That was a help…having that that instant access to information with a few quick strokes to the keys.

I think my students might agree that a computer and all that is available could be a distraction.  It is so easy to get sidetracked from what you are supposed to be doing. The younger student of today though, is so intuitive that anything that comes along in technology is so fast for them to learn. That could help to reduce the distractions. They are also so used to technology that they take the instant access to information for granted. The problem here is that they don’t question that information. If It’s on a wiki or other site, it must be true, right?

I would like to support my students’ learning using the internet my making lessons that require the use of many of the things we are learning to use in this class. The important thing to remember is to give purpose to the learning.  These are tools and not toys.

3 Web 2.0 Tools

Today’s reflection is going to be a bit trickier for me. As a 3^rd grade teacher, I find that many of my students are just starting to gain computer/technology skills. I am excited about the prospect of finding a way to creating some exciting lessons from what I am learning in this class.

I am going to continue to focus on using Google Earth for my lesson. First of all, I don’t know a great deal about this particular 2.0 tool, but I have been looking for an opportunity to use it. I also feel that this would be the perfect tool to excite my students. We have iPads in my room, and this would be something we could do in Centers. Google Earth would work with analyzing, evaluating, and creating according to the revised chart.

I was thinking that I would like to do sort of a virtual field trip with my students.  I teach Social Studies to all three of the third grades at my school.  This allows me time to plan more elaborate activities than I might do if were just in my class. One of my favorite subjects to teach about is The Westward Movement.

I was thinking that I could give my students various stops along some of the trails that were traveled. They could write a journal, collect pictures, check weather, calculate miles, and learn about some of the illnesses. These are just a few…
I think the most important first step would be to have the students “play” with Google Earth.  I would first show them some of the basic features using small groups and the Promethean Board. From there I would have them experiment with the features on the iPads . I think it would be helpful to have an example to show the students of a different “trip” such as Sacramento to Disneyland perhaps, and I would show them this before they get directions for their project.

From there, I would explain to them what I was asking them to do.  I would have directions written out for the Oregon Trail, The Santa Fe Trail, Mormon Trail, and The California Trail.  Students could choose the one they wanted. They rest of the activity would be the same.  I would try to use as many different sites as possible.

Of course this is just a rough outline of what I would like to attempt. My goal would be to create a project that was truly something special.

Reflection 2

2-1 Reflection

As I looked through the skills and strategies that a good online instructor should utilize, I realized that I do many of those things in my classroom now.  I work at an open structure school at present, and things such as working at a student’s own pace, and modifying assignment are things we do all of the time. Part of the philosophy of our school is to meet the needs of our students as individuals.  We also try to take into account each individuals learning style and meet those needs as well.

The area where I can see online learning as an improvement is with time management. It would be great if everyone worked at the same rate, but that isn’t the case. To allow students to work as long as they needed on assignment would be wonderful. They wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of worrying about how they compare to other students in the class.

An area where I would need to improve my skills would be with working with special needs students. By that I mean working with students that have visual or hearing impairments. I have had very little experience in working with those students.

1-2

Well, this is my very first attempt blogging so here I go…

I am to reflect on why I took this class.  After this VERY busy week of overnight field trips and last week of school activities, I’m wondering what could I have possibly been thinking!!

Actually, my interest in online education happened when I went to the CUE conference in Palm Springs last year. There were many classes dealing with this “new” idea of online education.  I found the same to be true when I attended the conference in Vallejo in the fall. I struck me that this was the inevitable way education was going to travel.  I knew I didn’t want to be left behind, so I started looking into online certification courses. My goal was to be in a group that was prepared to deal with the educational challenges of this century.

As for the specific tools and possible new strategies I might use, I’m not sure.  I have played around with a class blog where student do book reviews.  I have a web page that I do for my students. I use technology in the classroom; Promethean Board, computers, iPads, ELMO…, but I’m not really sure I use them to their best advantage in all cases.  I know the Promethean Board is something I could be using more, but it is soooooo time consuming to setup flip-charts, and I don’t really think it’s a big enough bang for the buck. I will be getting Acti-votes in the fall. Perhaps that will help. All of these things don’t make a better teacher.

The problem then becomes “How to use technology in the classroom AND made it meaningful and not just a toy.” I am hoping that this is what I can get out of this class. I want to integrate technology into my students’ lives and make the learning powerful. I know the future is going to bring more online and hybrid classes.  I want to be prepared.