Reflections on PBWorks

        A wiki is an online (web) application that allows multiple users to collaborate on any given subject matter.  Most wiki’s are usually open for anyone to view.  Contributors are usually required to set up an account to identify themselves as contributors.  One of the issues with Wiki’s has always been the openness for contributions to Wiki’s, that leave them vulnerable to false information.  In my experiences with the Wiki’s I have come across, there have been a few discussions between differing contributors about who’s information was correct.  When a Wiki’s is open to any contributor, information can be posted that is based on opinion and not researched, verifiable facts. The main Wiki that I have experience with as a user and not as a teacher is the online encyclopedia project, Wikipedia.  One of the issues that I quickly learned about using Wikipedia is, that it can be a good tool, as long as you can verify the information.  You must be sure to verify any information you choose to use from a Wiki.  Over the years that I have been a Wikipedia user, Wikipedia has become better at listing the references at the bottom of the page.  If you don’t see references, be skeptical of the information.  However, one of the great affordances of Wiki’s is the world-wide sharing of information. The world-wide web, affords contributors of open Wikis to be anyone from a high school student to some of the greatest minds of our time.  Therefore, although you may find false information, the amount of valid, rich information can be extremely valuable.  As a (future) instructor/instructional designer, I would advocate for the use of Wiki’s with the stipulation that any information that my students use from a Wiki is verifiable and factual information.  

       The content that is available on Wikis such as Wikipedia can serve many learning outcomes.  Wikis affordance to be open to many world-wide, knowledgeable contributors of many professions, allows for the content to be vast and varied.  For example, although I am not a legal professional, I have found and used research on terms and law precedence that was valid and useful.  As I researched and setup an account in PB Works (David Tyler's PBWorks Play Test) I pondered on what learners would find useful about a Wiki that I would setup.   In the considering that a wiki tends to be a conglomeration of knowledge from many world-wide contributors, I would think that a cognitive theory would be applicable to the use of wikis.  Some of us as learners generate knowledge by taking what we know and applying knowledge from other advanced sources to gain a more in depth understanding of a given subject.  As I stated earlier, Wiki contributors can be some of the most advanced minds in a given field.  Therefore, using a Wiki to gain more advanced, verifiable knowledge allows for a more cognitive understanding of that given field.  Consequently, as I begin to add content to my wiki (although the free version is limited), I would publish content that would be useful, verifiable and factual on subjects of which I am knowledgeable. I would publish information that would be useful to not only my student and parents, but anyone who I allowed access to my Wiki.

Reflections on Kahn Academy, MIT OpenCourseware, & YouTube

This week’s blog post is on exploring content that is available to help educators develop an online or flipped course.  I explored the 3 recommended sources, Kahn Academy, MIT Open Courseware, & YouTube.  I explored the possibility of using content and material from these 3 sources to develop a class on Information Technology to be taught to working adults who would be taking the class as part of an undergraduate degree in Information Technology.  According to a paper written by Dr. Peter J. Stokes titled, Hidden in Plain Sight: Adult Learners Forge a New Tradition in Higher Education, only 16 % of undergraduate students are considered traditional students.  The other 84% comprise what is considered non-traditional students.  These are the students who balance jobs, families, and education.  My class would be aimed at that student population.

Upon exploring Kahn Academy, I found a lot of relevant material that I can use to develop my course in Information Technology.  Many working adults are moving from one career to start another.  In this career transition into Information Technology, some of the students in my class may need some basic education in Information Theory.  Therefore, in developing my course I would use some of the basic information theory materials that are available on Kahn Academy’s website such as this YouTube video on Information Theory.  I would use this and other links on Kahn Academy website in a flipped classroom manner, so that those students who had little or no knowledge of basic information theory, could do use these videos to become familiar with Information theories prior to class.   

I also explored what is available at MIT Open Courseware and found a complete course on Information Technology.  The materials on this website are an excellent source of materials, especially for someone like me who is new to developing a classroom course.  The course on Information Technology included a syllabus, recommended optional textbooks, a calendar, readings, lecture notes, assignments and exams.  I would not use the contents of the course in the exact, word for word format that can be downloaded.  However, The Creative Commons License that both, Kahn Academy and MIT Open Courseware have on their websites state that you are free to Share and Adapt materials from their websites.  I would however give credit to Kahn Academy, MIT and the instructors for the use of the materials where appropriate.  

My pedagogy for the Information Technology class would be learner-centered.    When instructing adult-learners in Information Technology, I would build my class with an open-ended type of instruction.  Information Technology is logical, but at the same time there can be multiple paths when trying to develop a solution or solving an issue.  We sometimes refer to it as the “If this, then that” way of thinking.  Students in the Information Technology career must learn to develop multiple answers for complex projects and issues.  I believe adult-learners bring a wealth of experience in this area by being able to build their learning experience around their unique, ever-changing life schedules.  Therefore as an Information Technology instructional designer, I would build my class so that learners would construct their knowledge from their life experiences, and build on to it with the knowledge obtained in my course. 

David

Reflections on Edmodo

                                                                 Edmodo

          Edmodo is an online learning platform where teachers can connect with their students using a course management system.  Course Management Systems (CMS) are online tools that allow teachers/instructors to create and management online class content.  Edmodo will allow teachers to setup an online classroom, have their students join the class online, and develop activities and lessons including group activities for the class.  Teachers can also use Edmodo to develop and administer quizzes for the class, track who has taken the quiz, score the quizzes, and track student progress.  In addition Edmodo has a snapshot feature that assist teachers/instructors in accessing what the students know before class and what they have learned after class.

I actually used Edmodo in a previous TAMUC ETEC class for a project.  I was able to setup a 5^th grade, three week lesson that was titled, The Water Cycle.  In this online classwork, the student would author a book on how the earth’s water cycle goes from falling rain, in to lakes and reservoir, in to drinking water and all points in between.  The learning outcomes for the class were:

 Students will learn about the water cycle.

Students will learn to incorporate science and language arts concepts.

Students will become authors of a children's book about the water cycle.

Students will learn to consider the concept of perspective as they write their story.

            As someone who is not presently teaching at an academic level (I occasionally teach a software class on a corporate level), I found Edmodo to be very easy tool to use.  Some of the affordances that I found with Edmodo were prewritten rubrics, a teacher’s guide, a children’s project guide, and the ability to imbed videos from YouTube for instructional purposes. There were also prewritten student guides for different phases of the project, such as a guide that explained the character element, the plot, and the theme.   There were prewritten student guides for brainstorming, how to write a rough draft, and other prewritten student guides.  I found these affordances to be very useful, especially for a novice teacher such as I would be.

          As far as comparing Edmodo to other class management systems, I can only compare the other systems from a student stand point.  I have experienced how my instructors from Texas A&M University-Commerce and Dallas County Community College District have been able to use similar affordances with Learning Studio and Blackboard.  However, I believe Edmodo is a K-12 CMS which makes it’s affordances to be a great tool for K-12 teachers.  Overall, considering my lack of K-12 teaching experience, I think Edmodo is a very good CMS and teaching tool.

David

 

Reflections on Google Apps

                                             Google Apps

                This week’s assignment was an exploration into the world of Google classroom and some of the many applications available from Google that can be used for education.  I must start out this blog by saying that I am an Apple iOS person.  I have an iMac desktop computer that I love to use (although I use a Windows PC at work and for most of my school work).  I have an iPad mini that has a Bluetooth keyboard that I use heavily for taking notes at meetings and for scheduling.  My phone is an iPhone 6 Plus (I no longer have a home landline) that I use for just about everything from banking, to web-surfing, email, gaming (sometimes), dictionary, photography (I actually own a Nikon camera, but use the iPhone for taking most pictures), home control (I can control my houses temperature, lighting and other functions remotely), travel (reservations, boarding passes) and many other functions.  I have an Apple Watch (great piece of technology).  I even have an Apple TV component for my television.  So as you can see, I am an Apple technology person.  Now that we have established my belief in Apple technology, I can discuss Google’s applications that can be used for education.
 

                Although I am an Apple technology person, I have used many of Googles application in my daily life and for my educational work.  I have used Google Drive many times for my TAMUC classwork.  I have used Google Earth for classwork in other educational endeavors before starting the TAMUC program.  I have used Google Docs in a TAMUC class.  I found Google Docs to be an amazing collaboration application.  My group (there were 4 of us in the group) used Google Docs to remotely and simultaneously collaborate and edit our project document.  When I say remotely and simultaneously, none of the group members were in the same location, literally, but we could actually see what the other person was typing and editing to the live document.  Talk about virtual classroom, what about virtual study hall! I recently used Google Scholar in another TAMUC class.  It was a good source for scholarly references. Many of the scholarly sources were available in PDF format, so they could be downloaded for reviewing and printing later if needed.  I use Google Gmail (which I think a lot of TAMUC students do) as one of my email accounts.  I use Google Maps on my iPhone instead of the native mapping app that comes with iPhones because it is a better app and I can save my favorite places for use later.  I have used the Google Chrome web browser and if you have used YouTube to view a video (like I do on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day), you are using a Google app.  If you are reading this blog post, you are viewing it using my Google Blogger account.  I just recently downloaded the Google Hangouts app for exploration.  I will let you know later what I think of it.               

            I presently work for a higher education institution that has not adapted the Google Classroom. However, I did explore the Google Classroom website as extensively as I could without creating an account.  I found it to be a very dynamic application that, if I were an educator in the classroom, I would definitely petition for it to be adapted by my school.  My pedagogical stance would be that the adaption of technology by my students, using the affordances allowed by the Google Classroom suite of technologies, would greatly enhance their ability to construct and adapt to real world professions, through the daily interaction and collaboration with myself and other students.  The learning outcomes would be the use and integration of technology using the Google technology tools to create documents, collaborate with other students on live documents, integrating pictures, videos, map drawings and locations into those live documents, translating dialog from others students in other cultures, researching scholarly references to be included in those documents and using the many affordances allowed by the Google Classroom technology. Students would learn how using these technologies with such affordances could not only allow remote collaboration among classmates (virtual classroom), but remote access to the teacher as well.  Students would also learn of the ecological benefits of a paperless environment, the ability to store classwork on remote servers for use at a later date, bookmarking subjects for later use, and using media sources like YouTube for additional learning while studying.

                The one drawback with using a technology such as the Google Classroom is that some students still need the interpersonal face to face interaction the comes with in person classroom learning.  For these students, using the Google Classroom technology will not be a good fit.

Hope you find some interesting information in this post.

David

 

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my new blog for the Online, Virtual and Distributed Learning Systems course at Texas A&M University - Commerce Graduate Program.

As you may have guessed from the wallpaper, I am a traveler.  I Love To Travel!  It was instilled in me during my 20 years of serving in the United States Air Force.  Go Blue!