Well, I finally finished my rough draft of my final project. I still have work to do on the project, but it always feels good to get the first draft out there. I used googledocs presenter for my final project. I also downloaded the project to slideshare, but I found the window to be too small for viewing. The link to my googledocs presentation is

http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dcx98mfh_21gk54dvck

It is now week six. Two more weeks to go. I was out of town for several days, so I am playing catch-up this weekend. I am posting my discussion response in the right column, as well as posting a link below to my pre-course and post-course survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=j4EV1pIN41SWS0Ebu8wrOA_3d_3d

Post survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=shiVR3Bt50NB_2bCWt2Nju4A_3d_3d

Week Four-Whew

Well, what a week. Cooperative learning online is a very challenging concept. I think it can be made easier by setting up the environment that the students will be working in. After experiencing some major problems, this would be my suggestions for teachers considering this activity in the future. First, define roles for the students or create a list and have them each select a role. Secondly, I would establish a chat-room (or discussion room if time was an issue) for students to use strictly for their group. Finally, I would orient them towards several group venues, such as blogs or googledocs, in order that they have a place to start. Anyways, there are a lot of different tools out there and it was interesting to see what they had to offer for the online teacher.

Here is a link to our group toolbox:
http://docs.google.com/View?docID=dcx98mfh_2cpq5c5hp&revision=_latest

Week Three Thoughts (and Reflections)

Well, we are almost through with week three of E-Assessment. I am having so much fun in this course, testing out the various softwares to use in creating an online course. I am also into my second week of curriculum for my first attempt at an online course, called Career Seminar. I am creating it to use in my alternative school and will also give my course to the online highschool that I am volunteering at this summer.

I am finding Moodle easier to navigate, which is making my life easier. I am also finding the various softwares easier to navigate, as I don't have the fear (or hesitation) I did when I started out. I felt so lost. It doesn't scare me to dive in and just play with the software. This is a huge achievement for me.

I posted my reflections for Concept Mapping and E-storm to the right. Take care everyone and Happy 4th of July.

Reflections: Wang and Fang Study

This study investigated using technology in the foreign language classrooms in a cooperative learning model. Johnson and Johnson have advocated cooperative learning for many years, which the defined as "forming small groups to accomplish a common learning goals". I studied under an instructor (during my undergraduate years), who had studied under the Johnsons in the late 80’s. I was so enthralled with this type of learning model, that I have used it for many years. I like the idea of using it with technology, as we have done in our courses for e-learning. The authors used the blogs as a way to combine technology with cooperative learning activities. It appeared (from survey results) that students enjoyed this type of learning and became more competent in self-directed learning as time went on. However, the study still found that face to face interaction was very important for promoting students’ learning. The authors felt that the teacher’s role for providing face to face interaction was very important. One of the difficulties I had with this study was that it was done with a traditional classroom. I wondered if students would still desire more face to face contact if it was online course? But the study did get me thinking about how one could provide face to face interaction in an online course. If times were synchronized (say one hour per week) in which students interacted in discussion/project via video cam, would the students see this as face to face interaction? I suggest this, as I think I would like to try this for my online course in the fall. I think the advantages of blogs first and foremost, are student ownership. I think in courses that require writing assignments, the blog can be used in many ways. Other areas as well could use them for displaying photos, audios,and links. I believe that this could be a great venue for peer assesment as well.

Welcome

Hi. When in doubt, take a dive. So here I am, up to my neck in water, but still breathing. I wanted to just write my first blog today and learn how to navigate this site. I am hoping to put several links in, as well. I am very happy to have this week to figure this all out. I really am hoping to incorporate student blogs into my online Career Seminar course. This will prove to be an exciting assignment, I am sure. Have a great day and happy bloggin.