Final Remarks...

It is hard to believe that this is my last blog for Instructional Apps of the Internet.  As I reflect on the past five weeks that have flown by, I know I have acquired new knowledge and skills that I will be able to use in my profession as an educator.  My favorite project and the most challenging for me was the CMS project.  Prior to this course I new nothing about Moodle.  Once I started learning Moodle and after asking Dr. Ingram questions about Moodle, I feel Moodle would be beneficial to me in that I can organize my class materials all online.  Although I do not have computers in my classroom for my students to use currently, I can still organize my computer-based projects in Moodle so that it is easier for my students to access the materials when it is time to complete the projects.  I am all about being organized!  It is just one less challenge and makes life a little easier.

I also enjoyed creating my instructional website.  Although I have created instructional website before, this assignment challenged me to create a website for a different unit within my curriculum.  I like having the opportunity to improve my current curriculum while working and learning towards achieving my Master's degree.  It certainly makes the Master's program worthwhile when you can apply the concepts and materials from the courses.


As far as the podcast and the webquest, I do see a place for both in education.  I do not feel I will use podcasts as much in my teaching unless I have students with learning disabilities that would benefit from them.  Also, the webquest I designed for the course was average.  I do not feel that my webquest would be better than some of the current hands-on exploratory activities I have in my unit.  Webquests do have their place in education.  As I look to improve other areas in my curriculum, I may see that a webquest would be provide the best learning opportunity for my students.

Although it has been a fast and busy month, I am grateful for the projects and the design of the course.  This course has been challenging and rewarding at the same time.  I can tell I have certainly learned from this course and I look forward to applying my knowledge and skills in my teaching.

In the Homestretch!

 As we enter this final week of Instructional Applications of the Internet, I am feeling much more at ease.  I still have a few things to tweak in my CMS project, another blog to complete after this one, post a few comments on others blogs, review the group wiki, and participate in the final discussions.  The list still seems long, but its all small tasks that need to be completed.

The one thing I have enjoyed most about this class is that it has challenged me to learn and use new types of technologies.  For instance, I have never done Blog, but have found it to be beneficial in reflecting on what I am learning in the course.  It is important to reflect and make connections of the materials in a course because that is when it becomes meaningful.  Additionally, I have never used Audacity and Moodle for my own instructional purposes.  I was familiar with Podcasts and CMS, but never had the opportunity or challenge to use it for my instructional purposes.  Furthermore, I realized I had developed my own misconception about webquests and perceived them as just another instructional website.

When we face challenges to change our current views and ideas or to dapple into new territory, we are provided opportunities to learn and grow.  If everything was easy, we would not have to improve or change.  We all know life is not always easy and we will have to learn how to overcome challenges.  I can honestly say that I feel I have learned a great deal from this course and am grateful for the opportunities to acquire more knowledge and skills.

Moodle - I Get It!

 Out of all the projects I have had to complete for the course Instructional Applications of the Internet, the CMS project has been by far the most challenging.  I do realize that we learn more and grow more when we are challenged verses doing things that are easy.  Yes, completing things that are easy certainly help with our self-efficacy.  However, when we face challenging tasks and are able to work through and learn, the internal reward of accomplishing the task is far greater than the boost of self-efficacy from completing easy tasks.

Moodle is new to me.  And I am grateful for the opportunity to learn Moodle despite the frustration and stress that it might have caused me.  Moodle is a free server that enables people to design and create course management systems.  Blackboard Learn is another server for CMS.  All of my online graduate courses are through Blackboard and are examples of using CMS.  The biggest struggle for me initially with the Moodle project was simply seeing the purpose of using it in my current curriculum.  After playing around with the tools, I learned how to set-up tasks, folders, assignments, upload files and links, crate pages, quizzes, forums, chats, wikis, and include tools for RSS feeds, glossary of science terms, assignment calendar, viewing online participants, and creating the grade book.  The most positive aspect of Moodle is that it enables an educator or person to organize a variety of materials to be accessed and provides opportunities for people to interact and communicate.  Although I focused my Moodle for 5th grade science, CMS can certainly be used in the business realm as well.

In the future, I can see using Moodle in my teaching.  It would be great to be able to incorporate Moodle as part of stations in science.  If I had a  few computers, laptops, tablets, or iPads available for my students to use, I could include weekly assignments at a computer station on Moodle.  Although I do not have that current set-up, I have considered using Moodle to upload the internet resources, assignments, and projects I currently have my students complete throughout their 5th grade year in science.  I could design it specifically for topics and then have students access the materials through Moodle as we begin and work on a task.  This would be a great place for  me to organize my entire curriculum rather than having files saved individually on my school's server.  As with any new technology or tool, I must learn it first before I see the benefits of using it in my teaching.  I certainly see a purpose for Moodle and am excited to begin using it this next school year.

Good Instructional Websites Take Time

All planning of units and lessons take time to create.  The first part is identifying the audience and standards that the unit will aim to meet.  Then it is important to establish specific learning goals and targets that the students will achieve at the end of the unit.  Afterwards comes the designing of assessments (formative and summative) along with the instructions and activities to which student will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to meet the learning goals and targets. 

I have done a couple instructional websites prior to the assignment in the course instructional applications of the internet.  Although each instructional website is unique in structure and learning experience, one thing remains constant for all: it takes time to create a good instructional website.  The planning and designing phase certainly takes time as with any good unit and lesson.  However, instructional websites have an additional element that units and lessons with out technology do not have.  Instructional websites require time to create the actual website as well as all of the resources and materials to be used and uploaded onto the website.  It takes time to create the materials to be uploaded and then to organize the website so it is easy to navigate and access the materials.  If students struggle to navigate and access materials, then there is a greater risk of students not learning the information defeating the purpose of the instructional website.

I strongly feel that instructional websites have their place in education at all grade levels.  For younger students, the website could focus on developing reading skills and learning math concepts.  Then, as students get older the instructional website would provide opportunities to acquire more depth of knowledge pertaining to the learning goals and targets.  Additionally, instructional websites promote growth in 21st century knowledge and skills.  Of course the instructional website has to be designed and implemented in a means to achieve certain 21st century skills.  From my experience of using instructional websites in my classrooms, the results are worth it!  My students showed tremendous growth especially in 21st century knowledge and skills that I believe otherwise they would not have gained.  Although instructional websites take time, I am all in favor of using them.

Wikis - Keeping an Open Mind

I have to admit out of all the technologies I have learned and used thus far in my Master's program, Wikis are my least favorite.  Although Wikis are not my favorite, they do have a place and purpose in education.  For this reason, I try to keep an open mind about Wikis. 

The reasons I do not care for Wikis is partially due to the design of the project correlated to using the Wikis.  Both experiences have been for collaboration purposes, which means group projects.  Group projects are important because they promote experience to develop 21st century skills in communicating, working with others, and producing a product.  Working in groups presents challenges of their own.  Typically one person dominates and several others do not participate much.  Additionally, everyone in the group has their own schedules and pace at which they work to complete a project.  In the end the work does get done, but not without some good stress and frustration.

So far, my Wiki experience for Instructional Applications of the Internet has not been too overwhelming.  The most challenging aspect is finding good research for my section of the Wiki.  The topic is on Instructional Websites and I am to focus on the "purpose of instructional websites."  Although there is research on using technologies in education, we are still on the cutting edge of implementing and using these technologies.  This has made it difficult to find good resources that discuss purposes of instructional websites.  Thankfully, I have a good, hard working small group, so I know we will complete are section of the Wiki and meet the goals of the group project.

Podcasts

Podcasts do have a place in education.  Podcasts can be used as archives for teacher instructions or information for lessons, projects, or a form of assistive technology for special needs.  For my podcast project I focused on giving directions for a lab.  To relate the podcast to my overall topic of safety and the scientific method, I focused on guiding students through the Show Classification Lab.  The lab focuses on making good observations and the reason for a classification system in science.

I used the program Audacity to create my podcast.  Last semester I had to download the program for a graduate course, so I was already familiar with the editing software.  In recording my podcast, I found I stumbled on my words while giving directions.  For this reason I found it easier to record in sections, which also created smaller sections for when I edited the voice recordings later.  The first time I recorded my voice, the microphone volume was too loud.  The second time I made sure to lower the microphone volume, but then later normalized the sound level when editing.  The music I selected for the introduction, transition, and conclusion had to be mp3 format.   I was not able to use any music I purchased through i-tunes.  For the music I found I had to lower the sound level by using the Auto Duck effect.  Additionally, I used the Fade In and Fade Out effects to make the transitions better.  

The podcast was fun to produce.  I was able to use creativity while constructing an educational resource.  Being able to be creative while designing units and lessons is an aspect of my profession I enjoy.

WebQuest vs. Instructional Website

As this week progressed, I learned my initial idea of a WebQuest was not entirely accurate.  My impression of a WebQuest was more along the lines of an instructional website.  A WebQuest poses a problem or purposes which informs the audience of their role.  For example, students are finding waste polluting the environment around them, such as lakes, water, and streams as well as parks and playgrounds.  The students could be challenged to write a letter to the towns mayor addressing the environmental issue and posing a possible solution in order to improve the current issues as well as prevent further environmental damage.  The WebQuest would then have students work through a process of researching environmental issues, learning how to write a formal letter, and then having the students complete the assignment.  

An instructional website focuses more on developing a certain concept or idea through connections and interactions of information and materials.  The instructional website should apply more of Bloom's taxonomy in developing a deeper understanding of a specific concept.  Like the WebQuest, it is appropriate to engage the students by challenging them to take on a specific role.  My confusion between the WebQuest and the instructional website was that the WebQuest has a defined role or purpose, where as the instructional website focuses more on developing the knowledge and skills through step by step information and interaction.  The instructional website should introduce a concept, have the students practice a concept, and then apply the concept in an interactive assignment.  Instructional websites can take on many forms and purposes depending on the learning goal where as a WebQuest should always have a purpose or problem to be solved or completed.

  As the class continue to progress I know that I will continue to learn and better understand the use and purpose of each tool in the classroom.  That is the point and purpose of the courses in my Master's program.   The more we are challenged, the better we learn and retain the information and skills taught.  I am grateful  for those opportunities because it helps me grow as a professional educator and I am better able to provide my students with an adequate education that provides them with the necessary knowledge and tools to be successful in the 21st century.