ITForum Final Reflection

Overall, I found participation in the ITForum beneficial. I engaged in conversation with a few individuals that I would never otherwise have come in contact. I do think that there is too many job listing opportunities that get posted and I really have to dig to find a conversation that relates to what I do. I think I will stay in the forum even after this course and perhaps one day become more than a lurker. Who knows, maybe one day it will be my paper that being discussed. I do appreciate this introduction into a professional IT world. I was most impressed by the qualifications of the participants and by their level of expertise.

Almost There

Just uploaded my writing assignments to the Dropbox and pasted my discussion posts. Down to one final assignment. This course has really helped me to become more professionally minded. All the readings and writing assignments have helped me in my job by refreshing my knowledge of learning theory and given me a fresh attitude about higher-order thinking.

I'm still not a fan of working in groups. I know this is an area where I need to develop more patience. I'm trying :)

More Participation in the ITForum

The following question was posed:
This has been my feeling regarding Smartboards for a number of years. Has there been any research done into the effectiveness of Smartboards at different levels of education - K-7, 7-12 and Tertiary?
Does it change the way people teach? Do students learner better? Is it just a school marketing tool so that when the head takes parents around they can say, "look how much we care about technology in learning, we have Smartboards in every classroom" ?
How many smartboard lessons are saved onto a VLE for access by students after the lesson?
My feeling is that a Smartboard is just a way for teachers not to move away from lecturing from the front of the classroom - there is no real change in how they teach.
I am under a lot of pressure from admin and teachers to provide smartboards, but I am looking at providing tools for creating online content and would rather see more students with access to technology in the classroom.

to which my response was:
I would agree with Jim's statement that it is about the method of instruction more so than the type of equipment. In my opinion, the learning experience is the same whether the teacher is using a Smartboard, a wireless slate, or an old-fashioned chalkboard. The value of the learning experience is dependent upon the degree to which the teacher can engage and include the student in the learning process. Programs such as Inspiration(R) are great tools to use with interactive equipment of all types because it changes the way teachers present materials and the way it is perceived by the students. Intel (R) Teach also has some great, free online interactive tools that promote higher-order thinking. www.intel.com/education

Papers Written

I finally got my three papers written, at least a semi-edited draft. I am not looking forward to the collaborative process. I'm not sure what that says about me but I'm pretty sure it is a control issue. :)

I'm finding I have holes in my knowledge of how to cite sources. The OWL at Purdue site is very helpful and I'm learning a lot. I am leaning on the side of over-citing to avoid any suggestion of plagiarism.

Next thing is to polish up the papers and submit them to Turnitin.

Geoff and I have begun work on our final presentation and only a few details to work out.

More Participation in ITForum

As part of a conversation on the ITForum concerning screen capture technologies, I exchanged information in a discussion with L. Dawley, a professor and dept. chair at Boise State University. Our conversation centered around the merits of Jing.com vs. Camtasia for creating online tutorials and for use by students in product-based technology-based assignments.

Reflections on Online Course Work

I now have a new appreciation for participants in online courses and online professional development. It has taken my several weeks to discipline myself so that I don't procrastinate on assignments. I am having to spend a lot of time organizing the assignments so that I understand them. This is not because the instructions are not clear but because of my own unique learning style. I must re-organize in order to comprehend the assignment. Failure to do this leaves me overwhelmed and confused. I also have learned to dedicate more time to working on my assignments and having done so, find them much more rewarding and enjoyable. I feel confident that I will be able to write my three papers and create an interesting, informative presentation in the next few weeks.

Participating in ITForum Discussion

I noticed that a classmate had posted a question to the ITForum for which I had a reasonable response. The question, "Can anyone recommend a software program that would allow a technology teacher to create a skills based assessment?" to which I responded,
"I would recommend a free program very similar to Captivate called Jing. Jing does not allow editing but does allow online capture of both screen shots and screen video with voice narration. The maximum duration for a video is 5 minutes and the files can be saved to the computer or shared online using the Jing server. If interested, the website is simply www.jing.com."

From reading the other responses, I learned of several other technologies that do much the same as Jing and Captivate. I look forward to researching these to add to my list of technology tools.