Group items tagged

This is why I am taking this course. I want to enhance my students learning and I feel that greater incorporation of meaningful/appropriate technology use will allow me to do that.

This is one of the items that I am most excited about using with Moodle. I want to have a way other than my classroom observations to see how students are working through problems and learning from each other. Wiki's, Google docs and forums will allow me to see who is sharing their ideas and how other students respond to them.

This is one of my concerns about online learning. I have found that students often are willing to say things in print that they would not have the nerve to say to someone face to face. I feel that I will have to devote some time in training the students on what appropriate feedback would include and not include.

I suppose this was one of the purposes of teacher portfolios, but I think evidence is growing in importance as NCLB continues to drive education and there is more pressure to prove student proficiency. This is going to require more use of technology, I suspect, to gather and maintain the data needed.

I am finding a whole different point of view as I use Moodle as a student rather than as a teacher. I find I have more questions about where components of the assignments are, and kind of worry about keeping all the tasks straight. I really want to think about this as I design my own course.

I'm struggling with those issues just for this one class. I couldn't imagine trying to keep more than one online class going on at a time. That may be the product of my non-digital native bias. Maybe for the present youth it will be no big deal. I struggle with the different technologies I'm expected to use as a teacher: Powerschool, gmail, igoogle, google docs, google class web site, Smartboard, etc. On the other hand, maybe having to learn and use new technology will help to prevent or slow Alzheimers. : )

This is an area of interest to me. I know how to teach face to face, but want to learn techniques that are appropriate to online learning and that actually help the students learn.

We teachers can learn so much from each other! I believe an online course can be set up to facilitate that well.

There are so many resources available to include to allow for the social compnent. Ideas include googledocs, wikis, chats, etc as we learned in the first unit of this course.

A key phrase in this is "to enhance academic performance". This means that we, as teachers, need to be utilizing these online strategies to help students learn and perform better than they would without access to these resources. Many times teachers attempt to try something new simply to say that they've tried a new activity, but our goal with doing something new should be to improve student learning over where it has been previously.

Moodle makes it very easy to share assessment criteria, especially rubrics with students prior to an assessment so that they may know how/what they are being graded on.

I think this will be a challenge for me. In the face to face class, this happens as a matter of course, I don't really go out of my way to make it happen. I'll need to get better at it.

Since this is the structure that the students will see, it is very important. Making this flow with the appropriate online tools will be the art of making a good blended classroom.

It is difficult to develop assessment tools that show this kind of learning growth with technology without it being more of a lab setting with a control group. I haven't found anything real practical yet that is reliable.

I think that classroom teachers are still struggling with this. We are improving our teaching styles to meet the needs and different learning styles of students, but we aren't quite there yet. My son, for example, is an auditory learner. I'd like for him to be able to have tests read to him without filling out a 504 or IEP. It should just be something that every classroom is quipped to do and the teacher is willing to do it.

This is always a challenge. We have done training on this for years.

This one grabbed my attention. I'm currently helping two students with special learning needs take an on-line math class for credit recovery. It has been a very frustrating experience for them in multiple capacities. They not only struggle with content, but with technology issues - the two combined are sometimes more than the students can handle. On a positive note, I've seen some really cool things you can do within an on-line class to tailor the instruction to better meet their needs. I think in some respects you could perhaps more easily tailor on-line learning to meet the needs of a more diverse set of learners?

I think these online learning tools, if used properly, can help all students, but especially thoses with special needs (including TAG, ELL, etc.). I think the ability to move at their own pace would help some greatly!

Ashely took my comments! She is dead on though. Online learning tools can be an amazing assest to students with special needs, if used appropriately. In Mary's example, podcasting or some other type of online audio program could be used to assist auditory learners.

I am a huge fan of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence model. As I have been searching through the "Cool Tools for School" website, I am constantly thinking of ways I could apply these newly discovered tools to my curriculum to reach all of the eight intelligences to some degree. I really think it will be vital to offer more options in an on-line course, since the face-to-face interaction will be less, perhaps making it more difficult to get to know students and their unique personalities.

I think one way to address this is to do a hybrid course with some online aspects and other face to face. I think anytime we can have variety in our assignments, presentations and assessments, we are more likely to reach a greater number of students with at least some part of our class.

I like the hybrid concept. Our students are diverse in the way they learn and this allows each student to maximize and individual their learning.

Again, moderation in all things is key for learning and building relationships.

Providing feedback to students in any type of course is extremely important in order for students to continue to progress. When not meeting face to face with the instructor communication and course feedback is imperative.

Rob, I think that feedback, when given constructively to students prior to any type of evaluation, can be one of the most effective teaching tools a teacher can use!

I think the use of technology will enhance feedback opportunities. I also think that the peer feedback opportunities could be a very enriching experience for students, in addition to teach feedback.

I struggle with feedback within my language arts classroom when it comes to writing assignments. By the time I get them all graded and handed back, the kids look at their grade and many recycle them on their way out. Did they really benefit from all the time I spent making comments and giving them feedback?

I think that supplementing our face-to-face classrooms with online environments (ex. Moodle) will enrich the student experience and provide the teacher with a quicker response method.

Sherri, I wonder if students would take more time reading feedback if the feedback was on some form of online feedback. I agree many times students are just interested only in the grade as oposed to how to improve or what they can learn from the feedback. I said many times, nothing gets in the way of learning more, than the almighty grade!

I model feedback after the Boy's town Model. Constructive feedback starts with a powerful statement of praise AND supporting details. We also have a consideration statement...NO buts...for example: I truly appreciate the aesthetic details that your writing creates within my mind due to your word choice and the emotions created. You might consider looking at us more by becomeing more familiar with your writing so that eye contact is given to your audience. I have found that many students appreciate oral feedback and most look forward to it. Naturally, I always end the feedback session after the students go. What's really neat is when students have done such a good job with feedback that it's difficult for me to add more...

Once again, it's the relationship piece that is needed within the feedback piece. I believe we need to show students improvement through building the relationship.

This could be difficult for an animated personality, where actions speak as loud as words.

I can definitely see the benefits to teaching online, but it would be a sad foreign language class if all of the material was taught this way. There has to be social, face-to-face interactions. That's where fluency can be built.

I totally agree. I keep trying to add more technology to my classes all the time, but I really try to caution myself to add it because it is an improvement and not just simply adding technology.

This standard seems very vague to me. How do you determine if the instructor knows the difference between face to face and online learning? I guess I am still sorting out and determining that myself what the difference is, so may be why it is difficult for me to discern.

It's the relationship variable.....do we care enough to reach out?

I currently use numreous programs: from powerpoint and gradebook to email, smartboard, blogging, etc. In four weeks I will either be much more technologically advanced or I will be ready to give up.

I must agree. It is starting to get out of hand

Yes, I know, but I'm willing to give it a good shot. If I fail, I fail, but I think I'll learn something useful. I guess "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" applies here very well.

This standard will have to be updated a lot. Technology seems to change very frequently. What is advanced today may very well be obsolete tomorrow. More importantly, the variety of technology out there makes this a nightmare. You might be in one district that utilizes one type of application then go to another district that uses a totally different platform for the same task.

I'm with you all on this. It's called information overload. Moderation in all things is GOOD. Too much drink, we know what it does. Too much food, we know what that does. Too much technology, oh nooooo what could that do. Moderation in all things will bring a balance

I definitely need to work on this standard. Everything seems so new and unfamiliar. I hope I can learn through this course which tools are appropriate for my students and curriculum.

Ashley, it is very difficult to determine what strategy or technology is best to use when, especially, when there are so many different options out there for an instructor to use online. I guess we just need to keep an open mind and adjust accordingly because new technology is always being developed.

This is also something I need to work on. There are so many online tools that are available to use, but I feel overwhelmed by the number available to us.

I am currently using Moodle for several of my classes. I don't use the "tools" to make my classes more engaging. My goal is to use the Moodle as more than a homework repository. I think we all have good intentions on adding technology , but we get bogged down in the routines. This class is a great way to explore new "tools". :)

Technology is such a difficult thing because it is ever changing, and it seems that by the time we get it loaded on our machines, life has moved on without us. The other issue is the amount of tools that are available for use because time to explore is rather limited.

I have not yet figured out what technology is fun, and what technology is actually useful in teaching.

I believe a lot of teachers (myself included) are stuck in using technology as an add-on to learning. For example, my 6th grade students are currently creating Google presentations about extraterrestrial locations. The presentations are very nice and the practice of making and presenting them will help communication skills, but the creation of the presentation itself will not enhance their learning of the science content. I have simply integrated a different media for presentation. We need to use technology in pedagogy not a superficial add-on.

Critical piece when working with young adults in this media age!

I would agree, and add that teachers also, to be reminded of what is appropriate. You see all too often where a teacher is being accused of inappropriate behavior while use social media sites.

It is so important to teach them media literacy. I know this is a fear that my fellow teachers have about moving to online learning, but academic integrity should be part of the curriculum!

Academic integrity is necessary when learning online! One also needs to teach students how to filter through all the information to find the accurate sources.

Academic integrity has been an issue long before the development of the internet. I started out as an English teacher and have several tales of the plagiarized or bogus research paper. I moved to the role of teacher librarian in '95 as the internet surged into our lives. what an interesting dynamic it is, but the issues go back to basic human ideas of right and wrong. I very much appreciate that the teaching standards, the core and the 21st Century Skills all address this fundamental issue of working with people.

With my experience so far in teaching it seems that the students will be assisting me with the technology. My students seem much more knowledgeable than me.

I think they have more time to just explore than we do. What I dislike most about exploring technology is the amount of time it takes.

I've noticed how many basic things kids don't know about technology, though. Like the one I notice the most is they do not know how to use Google - if they are looking for answers to questions, they post the full question. While I think there are a lot of things they are better at than we are, we still need to stay on top of the technology that matters most to us so they can learn the best ways to use things.

Engaging students is a constant struggle for me in my mathematics classes. Any appropriate technology to assist in that would be helpful.

I also struggle with engaging students in the Language Arts classroom. Getting students to try new things isn't always easy, but I think they get bored with some technology. Finding and perfecting different technoloical ideas may help students to stay engaged.

I also think students get bored with technology tools. The key question is...are you use the correct technology tool? Our students (or at least most of the class) will get bored if there is fluke during the lesson and will notice if the tool doesn't fit the lesson well.

Student motivation is a concern for me when considering online learning. There is something about a living, breathing, and physically accessible educator that brings me peace of mind.

My challenge is to translate what some of these tools do in relation to what I traditionally do with a group of students. If I think through the tool plus the strategies I use in class...what new products could be developed? Kind of boggles the mind.

Engaging students is a little work at times. Students have developed so many skills with portable technolgoy they carry with them,the first challenge is to get them present then get them to engage??

Using online instruction for a high school class requires an appropriate balance between the online and the in class instruction.

Finding that balance may be challenge. I have not thought deeply about some of the strategies we use in the district butI believe online might be interesting to use with AIW...both teachers and as we move to students reflecting on their work.

Time consuming???? Any ideas on how to handle this with out being on consant email surveillance?

I've used e-mail and a blog to communicate with sophomore world history students for several years. E-mail is actually pretty fast. It's a great way for kids to ask for help. I think it's easier for the student to get my attention that way, because they're not competing for my attention, and they're not embarrassed about the help they're asking for. I respond to their blog posts privately. They receive my comments in both an e-mail and in a reply on the blog. I think your question about constant surveillance is a good one. It's easy to respond quickly to e-mail questions, but I've found that I need to establish a time to respond to their blog entries. Depending on the class, you would have to determine how often and when you'd respond. Otherwise you'd be constantly distracted.

An organized approach to responding has been an issue for me this year. I'm likeing the model Evan is using in this course with specific days we can expect assignments to be graded and specific times he will be checking e-mail, etc. I think I will borrow from that idea. Of course, the burden is eased when we are also seeing students fact to face and not just online.

Great to see so many tools for problem solving with a partner (no matter what you teach)!

I agree.  I feel it is very important to have that learning community to allow the students to collaborate.  Let's face it, the less we say, the more they learn!

With teaching middle school social studies, I am constantly changing up the dynamic of my classroom. Students work individually, in pairs, in small groups, as a whole class, individually conference with me, deliver individual and group presentation, etc. I think changing the arrangement helps middle school students to refocus and stay interested in the material. At first I though this would be difficult to accomplish online; however, I am now realizing that there are many different ways to interact through a wide array of tools.

My students are always wanting to know what they are going to be graded on and how they can earn an A. Originally I thought creating a rubric would be a stressful task, but now I have found that rubrics make grading much easier. Also, the feedback provided on the rubric is more beneficial and detailed for students. I also have found that students are more productive and focused on work days, as they know my expectations ahead of time, and they know exactly what they need to do to earn the grade they desire. Certainly with online learning, a rubric would be a key communication tool in guiding students when the instructor might not be readily available to answer questions.

My first year of teaching I had both a self-evaluation for students and a course evaluation to gain an understanding of how students felt the year had gone. I have not done this since, probably because I use several formative assessment strategies throughout each unit to gauge student understanding. I definitely think a course and/or instructor evaluation would be essential in an online learning environment, especially for those of us just starting out, so we can use students' suggestions to better improve our instruction.

I am in agreement with you about the need for course and instructor evaluations, but I think a lot of times it gets overlooked or dropped.

The most effective course evaluation is frequent and ongoing. Feedback from students is more specific right after an activity or unit than at the end of the school year. Perhaps a course evaluation could be divided into sections to be completed at appropriate times throughout the year.

Having just finished teaching a college class I am awaiting the the student feedback the college requires the students to fill out under the supervison of another person. It will be informative to read what they belive my teaching had done for them.

I use survey monkey for my evaluations. I do it by quarters. It's great because it is free, and it complies the data for you. I get a lot of good information from these surveys and would definitely continue to do this with an online course.

I appreciate data. I appreciate the time needed to look at the data. Until we are able to become more reflective practitioners during the school year, looking at data won't necessarily happen. I know how much time I take to look at data. I am not harried during the summer. When professional development allows for time to be reflective in our teaching, I do think greater results will happen.

As much data as we have at our finger tips, I feel the variable that consistently comes through is the relationship piece. Teaching over the ICN is different than teaching in a face to face. As an instructor of a college level class, my evaluations have always suffered when comparing the face to face students with the students who are at another site. They really don't have any idea what I am like during the natural coffee breaks because of that relationship piece that is lacking. Having a face to face relationship is different than having an online relationship, yet I do believe it's easier to build in person. Many contacts via email doesn't necessarily build it, yet quick responses in email can help....but being that 24/7 teacher is really hard as we juggle our own lives.

To maximize knowledge the subject area content must be aligned to the goals. Assessment must also be aligned!

While I do not have any experience of any kind in the online teaching world, Evan may know, what does conflict look like between students in the online world?

What would be examples of 'multiple assessment instruments here? Does this refer to typical rubrics?

Hmmm. Using moodle there could be an on-line multiple choice test, a blog entry, and insightful forum posts. Would those be multiple assessment instruments?

Not everyone learns the same so this is a very important part of any teaching.

In the research I've read about age and ability level, I was surprised to learn that an instructor cannot assume that the young are tech savvy and older participants will struggle with technology. There is no research to support this, as sometimes just the opposite is the case.

In Math, choosing the appropriate resource is critical as it is in any course.

This is going to be hard; knowing how to grade it? I hope there is a rubric that is easy to follow.

I want to be able to use the new information I learn in the this class and apply it to my library classes that I teach in the elementary.

I plan to use the knowledge I gain from this class with my students.

This could take a while for me; I'm still learning how to do this stuff let a lone plan, design, & incorporate. I can already see there will be a lot of trial & error this coming year

There is so much to learn about the Iowa Core. I'm so glad there is a great deal of exposure within this class.

All these theories will bring a better understanding to educators when it is worked into our vocabulary.

I was helping a colleague with an online statistics course this semester. The instructor did not know how to explain or help students other than telling them to reread the text or what she had already written. I did not see if they were using moodle or blackboard,

I agree that both (content and technology) knowledges need to be pretty sharp. Students are at all different parts of the spectrum on their own knowledge of the subject and need to have the resources from the instructor to help them succeed.

I strongly agree that the instructor needs to know the content of the subject and also needs to know how to teach it as well as have adequate resources to do so. I believe the success of the students depends on the confidence and knowledge of the instructor. I took several online courses in college and without the resources from the instructor or without the instructor knowing how to navigate through the course I would have felt lost! I know several other students in the class that struggled but with a knowledgable instructor they were able to get back on track. I think this is something that can be hard even in face-to-face instruction!...I've had several teachers that weren't sure HOW to teach, while I've had others that were creative and found many ways! This is a vital part of the standards!

With students in our school going 1:1 next fall will help some of them. They will have more access to resources from the internet and the ability to access those resources. I also feel that the teacher needs to be available for the students to ask questions, when they still do not understand for the internet resources.

I taught a course using ISU's WebCT system and found that I was so busy troubleshooting the program with learners some days that the content was lost---I think this standard re-emphasizes that the point of using technology is to enhance content learning...so it's important to not let the technology usability get in the way of the content....

Moodle should make this easier to use different learning styles

Absolutely! What are tech strategies to maximize differentation to make learning more engaging for the student?

I think this area could be boosted a bit. From a special education teaching perspective there need to be a few changes before students with special needs are able to navigate the system easier. I have taught students with visual and hearing impairments, therefore, I am thinking of the print needing to be larger, possible sign language interpretation video links, etc. I hope these are things that are being worked on or that are already in the works that I haven't seen.

It is important that teachers be exposed to different technologies so they cannot only find ones that will or will not work for them, but also know what is available. The problem is finding time to investigate/explore and then implementing them into the classroom.

Before starting this class, I had no idea of the tools that are available. It seems that when I go to investigate one, it leads to looking at another and another. This is a time intensive search process. I would love to see videos of how many of our classmates are already using these technologies.

Agreed. Finding time to keep up on what is out there is important--that's what I like about communities of learning where people can share what works/doesn't work, etc. It helps when people share what they use/like.

This might be something that teachers might find overwhelming. You have 4 section of American History. Each with 30 students and now they are all sending you questions, posting to forums and other activities that you need to check. How much time is this going to take? When will your teaching day end? When you post to a forum, it does not post until after 30 minutes.

This stuck out to me because again it is something that is important in both face-to-face and virutal classrooms! If any of these are missing students will feel disconnected to the course and probably will not do as well. If you are positive, interactive, etc your students will also take action to do these things!

I would like to see more professional development in these areas. In our school we were offered the chance to take this class by an email being sent out by our superintendent, which was great, but unfortunately not many of our staff members took this opportunity. I believe if there were more of a "push" to take these courses or to enhance our learning in technology there would be more advancement in this. I am not much of a "techy" (if that's the way it's spelled) and I've found myself fretting over how to complete many of the activities or if it's done right. If I were expected to teach a course online my lack of confidence would lead to my students lacking confidence as well.

You are so right! What do you think would have motivated your colleagues to take an course?

This is so important, since we all know how quickly technology changes! Staying current is a must!

I have really been struggling with the technology of this Moodle class. Our instructor has been very prompt with her helps and that has kept me going. I am concerned that many of our adult learners (teachers) may be intimidated like me by the technology of this type of learning and therefore not use it. It will be very important to have adequate staff development available in order to make all of the wonderful class content that will soon be available accessible to everyone.

Every class must have collaboration and interaction among all people involved teachers and students. Some students are going have no problems communication via a computer class. Other students not going to be as comfortable communicating via a computer class. Some students will not follow proper etiquette communicating. This concerns me.

My students really enjoy learning when they are doing it collaboratively! All students are putting forth effort because they all want to be using the computers to learn. I need to work more on the student-content part of this standard.

Right now as I am creating my own moodle course I am having a difficult time deciding what materials would be best used online and which would be better used in a face-to-face class. Knowing which materials to use and how to present those materials is very important. On-going professional training in this area would be great. We need to remember that learning online is not going to best for all students.

I wonder how this is operationalized? What do you all think is "evidence" of this standard?