Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

udioBlogger (www.audioblogger.com) is a free service which permits users to create audio podcasts using their cell phone, which are directly saved to the Internet and “subscribable” via an automatically generated RSS feed. Just as AudioBlogger permits anyone with a cell phone and access to the Internet to create a free online account to become an international podcaster, services like YackPack and Vaestro are likely to continue maturing and offer increasingly powerful ways for people to interactively podcast. These tools are powerful and rich in their educational potential.

Table 1. Classroom structure and instructional strategies supporting a mastery goal Structure

reasonable challenge

Bandura pointed out that negative messages have an even greater effect on lowering efficacy expectations than do positive messages to increase it.

Successful experience: It is the teachers' responsibility to help learners achieve academic success by providing challenging, yet attainable tasks . Successful experience is the most important source of fostering self-efficacy.

attributional theories

Challenge: Design challenging activities which convey the message to the learners that they have competitive skills. It is essential to find a balance between learner competence and the difficulty of the goals. Overly difficult goals are unlikely to increase learner motivation to continue the task if the learners perceive they will never reach the goal. Likewise, goals that are too easily attained do not sufficiently challenge learners to encourage skill development.

Twitter

~I continue to be astonished every week with how much I am growing and learning in this course.  Not only am I learning how to be an effective online instructor and everything that it entails, but I am also learning a lot about myself.~

I lose track of time and hours have gone by without me even realizing it. 

“What young children perceive that their teachers do plays a more significant role in their socio-emotional outcomes than what teachers report they do” (p. 30).  We have an EVEN bigger impact than we thought!

“Am I providing a bridge for my students from their prior knowledge to where I want them to be and where THEY want to be?” “What am I doing to facilitate their growth not only in building a positive self-image, but also as learners in general?” “Am I REALLY taking into consideration their interests, passions and motivations?” And finally, “What Would Alex Do?”

“I really like how you tell them you are there for them.  A lot of my teachers give us confusing assignments and I never feel like I can ask them questions.” 

When she was done going through everything she said, “Are you actually going to teach this class? Can I take it when you do?” 

  I was spending so much time figuring out the tools that I felt like I wasn’t spending time on content.  I realize now that I needed to spend that time and those tools were part of the content of this course. 

I LOVE learning in general!  I liked learning before…well I never disliked it anyway…well unless it was math…or science…I had no idea what it was like to truly LOVE learning.  Its sad to me that it took me 30 years to experience this.  Did I work A LOT in this course?  Did I give up much of my social life?  Did I stay up too late?  YES, YES and YES.  Was it worth it? Absolutely!  Did I mind? NOT ONE BIT…Reflecting on the fact that I worked so hard and so much on something and not only wasn’t bothered by it, but enjoyed every moment was a HUGE wake up call to me. 

You just have to have passion and a belief in yourself.

This was the only course I have EVER taken in which I will walk away having truly internalized knowledge.  I know that I internalized what I have learned because when I was reviewing my classmate’s courses I didn’t have to refer to a book or a checklist, it was all in my head.  When I look back at my undergrad education, I have always said that I didn’t feel like I actually “learned” anything until I student taught and learned by DOING.  That’s exactly what happened in this course, I learned by doing.  This is only course that has ever provided me with this type of experience and it has shown me what quality education should be, not only online but in a face-to-face situation as well.

We(myself, my classmates AND Alex) worked together in this course to contribute to the construction of our knowledge. 

It wasn’t until this summer when I turned 31 that I finally experienced being a student in a student-centered, constructivist environment that actually got me to THINK.  Not just think, but think critically…It took 31 years for me to experience a true community of learners!  I don’t want other students to have to wait 31 years to experience what its like to REALLY LEARN!

I want to CHANGE someone the way that Alex, ETAP 640 and all of you have CHANGED me.

Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way.  People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically.   They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked.  They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and sociocentric tendencies.  They use the intellectual tools that critical thinking offers – concepts and principles that enable them to analyze, assess, and improve thinking.  They work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence in reason.  They realize that no matter how skilled they are as thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and vested interest.  They strive to improve the world in whatever ways they can and contribute to a more rational, civilized society.   At the same time, they recognize the complexities often inherent in doing so.  They avoid thinking simplistically about complicated issues and strive to appropriately consider the rights and needs of relevant others.  They recognize the complexities in developing as thinkers, and commit themselves to life-long practice toward self-improvement.  They embody the Socratic principle:  The unexamined life is not worth living, because they realize that many unexamined lives together result in an uncritical, unjust, dangerous world. ~ Linda Elder, September, 2007