Week 6 of CEdO 550

My students are gaining 21st century skills by...

• learning about new technologies available, communicating in new and different ways, being allowed to multi-task, and gaining knowledge through student-centered learning. I have attempted to include more real-life lessons and discussions into my courses to expand my students' ways of learning.

I understand the Virtual School Legislation in Wisconsin and am concerned/excited about...

• It concerns me how much money is sent to virtual schools because of open enrollment when it does not cost the virtual school as much per student as it is receiving. That is a lot of lost money for a traditional school. Every student learns differently and I think there could be a more equal way of distributing money to traditional schools and virtual schools. 

My district involvement in online learning includes...

• My district has very little online learning incorporated into it. We have recently implemented My Big Campus. I have been working on learning all the tools it has to offer and have begun using it in a couple of my courses. 

During the module I was excited to learn about...

• This class has allowed me to learn much more about teaching online. I also have learned a lot about student-centered learning and how to adapt lessons to be more student-centered. I am excited to be able to practice some of the skills I have learned into my own classroom and see how my students react to it and adapt to it.

Week 5 of CEdO550

My experience with online communities has been …

• This class has been my only experience with an online community. 

I believe the biggest benefit of collaborative groups is …

• a variety of views and opinions. Everyone thinks about things in a different way and has a different viewpoint on topics or projects. The group can get a wide variety of answers to questions and a wide variety of ways of accomplishing the task at hand. 

I believe the greatest challenge is/would be … coordinating work time with group members and also equal work. Depending on the nature of the class it can be very difficult to coordinate a meeting time with group members, especially with adults. It would be a little easier with high school and younger classes as class time can be given to work together. Equal work can be a great challenge for groups. Sometimes groups can have one member that will take charge and think that they are the only one that knows how or what to do. Or one or more group members could fall behind on their share of the work.  My thoughts regarding the social development and socialization issues are … I think it is very important for students to work collaboratively to develop socially. For many students that is how they learn to work with others and work cooperatively with people that they may have not thought they could.

Week 4 of CEdO550

In reflecting on my teaching experiences to date, I would say that the proportion of teacher centered versus student centered lessons has been …

• I would say that my classroom is much more teacher centered than student centered. I have attempted to make more student centered lessons over the years. When I create lessons that are student centered, the students retain much more information. 

I was able to identify more than one authentic assessment to measure mastery of a single concept lesson when I …

• My students have been involved with a reality check in which they attend an event at which they have to make real-life decisions. The students are given a life status (married, single, children, no children), they have a preselected career that has an annual income attached to it. Based on knowledge gained in class, the students must make life decisions based on the life status and income. Some find they have to get a part-time job in order to pay for their necessities and some find they have to get a part-time job in order to pay for their wants. After the event I am able to look at their paperwork and their checkbook register to see how successful they were at budgeting, making life choices, and balancing a checkbook.

The rubric I created for my lesson clearly defined expectations and scoring for the lesson so that my students could …

• understand what was expected of them. The rubric also told the students what they were required to do to receive full points, partial points or no points.  The rubrics are very clear and to the point and leave little room for subjectivity. 

While working on this module I had success/difficulty while doing something new involving …

• I am still struggling a bit while trying to make lessons more student centered. I find it difficult to break out teacher centered instruction when that has been the technique used when I have been a student. I also find it difficult because student centered instruction was not heavily stressed when I was an undergrad.

CEdO 550 - Week 3

What is the greatest challenge that I have encountered as an online teacher/facilitator and how did I manage it?

• I would say that my biggest challenge was getting over my anxiety of facilitating a synchronous activity. I was very nervous that I would hear crickets after posing my questions or that I would get so nervous that I would stumble over my words and not be clear about my message. Once I got passed that feeling, I felt good about presenting. There are many things to pay attention to when using a classroom like Elluminate and I found myself missing what was being said in the chat area. I think I used the other tools effectively though.

Some things that I feel are really important to consider about synchronous and asynchronous facilitation as I prepare to facilitate my threaded and web conference discussions are. . .

• I think that different learning styles must be considered when planning synchronous and asynchronous activities. I also feel that a great deal of organization is required. During synchronous facilitation, the facilitator must know what needs to be discussed in the given amount of time as well as making sure to have enough material to be covered in the alloted time period. During asynchronous facilitation, different learning styles need to be taken into consideration to ensure that every student will benefit from the asynchronous work.

I chose my particular discussion topic because . . .

• I chose E-Learning 2010 because virtual learning has been a highly debated topic since it has come about. As a traditional classroom teacher I find both sides very interesting.

One thing that I thought about when developing rubrics for the 2 different discussions is. . .

• I thought about having clear objectives that needed to be met with specific directions for each point value.

Week 2 CEdO550 - Online Facilitation

Identify at least two synchronous and two asynchronous online learning tools that would be appropriate for your targeted online learners.

• Of all of the synchronous tools available I could use Elluminate to host the learning environment and Skype to host a one-on-one discussion, or a group discussion. Both are very easy to use and easily accessible.
• One asynchronous tool that I could use in online learning is a blog site, such as edublogs, for discussions. I like to use a discussion board in my classroom and a blog can serve as this. Another possible tool to use is My Big Campus. This tool allows me to post assignments, resources, and submit grades. Students can communicate with each other and the teacher via chat or the wall.

List four different types of activities that you might use with your targeted online learners and identify an appropriate online tool to use in implementing that activity.

• In Accounting I like to use spreadsheets for some of the problems. I could post the spreadsheets on MBC as a Google doc file for the students to download it and complete it. When the problem is completed, the students could then submit it on MBC and share it with me.
• In Intro to Business, my students research a green business in Wisconsin and create a presentation about the business. Rather than using PowerPoint, the students could use Prezi and share the presentation with me and others in the class. The presentation could then be viewed during class while the student presents it.
• In Entrepreneurship, student create a new type of cereal. They are expected to design a new box and create different types of advertisements for the cereal, including a tv commercial. The commercial can be created by using goanimate and shared with me.
• In 8th grade business, the students research famous entrepreneurs and present their findings. They could use voicethread to create their presentation and include their own voice if they would like to.

Is my initial contact warm and inviting? Are there things I did particularly well or could do better in the future?

• I think your initial contact was done well. You gave our log in information for the site you use, as well as the things you expected us to do before class started. You also included links to our class and also to tech support for elluminate. In closing, you said you were looking forward to learning with us. You also asked for follow up to make sure that everyone received your email. The only improvement I would suggest is something simple, like "Welcome to OFTWOL!" 

Is my initial contact clear and concise and yet user friendly? What are some strategies that help to format your contacts to make them as clear and concise as possible?

• Yes, your contact was very well-written. When considering the second part of this question, I think about when I am writing substitute plans. I usually read through them several times after I have written them. I add things that I have forgotten and delete unnecessary items. I try to think about whether I would understand them or not if I was the substitute. I have problems following some sub plans myself when filling in, so this is very important to me. I also make sure that if directions are given, they are step-by-step and sometimes I will give visuals.

CedO550 Online Facilitation Week 1

I can relate the examples of online learning to my own experience in the following way. . .


I started thinking about ways to incorporate more online tools in my classes. We recently adopted My Big Campus in our district. I am slowly testing it out and trying new things with it. 


I mostly have been utilizing the calendar to post assignment due dates and test dates. I also have begun using the Discussion feature to push my students to think further about our topics and hopefully link it to their own lives. In one of the articles we read this week, that was one of the advantages to online learning. The work is more real-world based and the students are pushed to a higher level of thinking and are expected to utilize critical thinking skills. It is my hope that the students realize that what they are learning actually happens and can affect their lives. 


Another feature I have started using is the Schoolwork feature where I can post assignments. This allows the student to print if needed or just view the assignment on the computer, depending the nature of the assignment.

CEdO535 Week 6 - SMART goal

What item do you believe you can incorporate from this class into your professional or personal life and how will you ensure that you achieve the goal of incorporating it?

The first tool that we worked with that I plan to use in my professional life is blogs. I am hoping to improve the amount of writing in my classes by incorporating a blog. My plan is to pose a question or give a topic on Monday for the students to write about. The topic would be related to what we are talking about in each of my classes. This will be a way for my students to realize that what we are talking about can affect their lives or be seen in their lives.

The second tool that I would like to use more of in my professional life is podcasts and screencasts. I think these are great tools that can be used in a classroom. I find it very difficult to have a sub in my classroom who can teach my subject area. By using podcasts and screencasts, I don't have to worry about losing valuable class time with my students. The sub can air the podcast or screencast in class and if students are confused, it can be replayed as many times as necessary. These also could be helpful if a student is absent. The student would be able to view the cast and won't have fallen behind in class.

Week 5 of CEdO535 - Web 2.0 tool and Google site

This week in CEdO535 we were asked to research a new Web 2.0 tool. I chose to go the route of photo editing. I found Pixlr to look at and found it very easy to use and very similar to Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is a program that I use in my yearbook class and I also use it in my personal life. Pixlr is a free tool and is so similar to Photoshop that if my school district ever refuses to update our Adobe Design Suite we would have Pixlr as a back up program to use. Most of the editing tools were the same and I only struggled with one tool. That tool is erasing a background to create a cut out of a picture. I had some trouble with it, but with some further practice and work with the program I could probably master it. Pixlr allows the user to upload photos from a computer and also to save it back to the computer. I found myself falling in love with Pixlr as I did with Photoshop!

I also worked on finishing my Google site. I created the site to be able to use it in my classroom. I have a page for each class that I teach. Almost every page includes links to google docs that would normally be copied and handed out in class. I was able to link up presentations that I use in Intro to Business for students who missed a day and notes. I am also hoping to have a fully functioning blog. That page still needs work, but with a little extra work it will be ready to go soon. I like the idea of students being able to be a little more independent and also be able to participate in class when they might not normally participate in the classroom.

We also finished reading the required chapters in our book about Web 2.0 tools and using them in the classroom. I found the podcasting and screencasting the most interesting and valuable tools. I like the idea of being able to have podcasts or screencasts as back ups for students who have missed class or for myself when I have to be gone from school. Every class period is valuable and it is difficult to miss time with students when they have a substitute who might not know how to teach the material. Using a podcast or screencast could minimize the loss of classroom time.

Week 4 of CEdO535 - Google site, podcasting, and Twitter

I started my Google site for my classroom this week. It is still a work in progress, but I am done with two classes so far. I teach six different high school classes over the course of a school year, so I have my work cut out for me! I would like this to be fully functioning site by the time I am finished with it. We have been given two weeks to complete this assignment, however to be fully functional I think it will take me longer to perfect it and make it exactly how I want it to be.

I am struggling to complete my five required tweets for the paper that is due this week. I don't feel as though I have that much to say and I feel like I am forcing myself to come up with intelligent tweets to add. I don't think I am using twitter to my full advantage at this point. Professionally, I could follow people who would give helpful links or lead me to tools or information that could be useful in my classroom. I think I need to spend more time with it to see what I can do with it.

After creating my screencast with Screenr, I found out how easy screencasts are. I think the biggest downfall of Screenr is that it is restricted to five minutes. I could see myself talking for much longer than five minutes on some lessons. I also have used eyejot and also found it easy to use. I would definitely need to investigate some other tools to see which I like best and which I would be able to use effectively.

CEdO535 - Creative Commons, Photosharing, RSS, and Google Sites

What did we do this week that you can apply in your school or job and how might you use it?


I spent a lot of time attempting to create my Creative Commons license and my Flickr account. Creative Commons is a fascinating thing to me. The fact that anyone can get a license, for free, for how their material is used is wonderful. I'm not exactly sure how the settings of the license is enforced, as I didn't have to put in any of my information with the license, but perhaps that is something I can figure out. Also, I struggled a little to get my Creative Commons license into my Flickr account, but eventually figured it out. So far, I found using Flickr to be very easy. The uploading process is quite quick and tagging photos is very easy also.

I'm not sure that I would be able to use photosharing in my classroom. Flickr and Photobucket, as well as other photosharing sites, are blocked in our district. I think it would be very difficult for me to get it unblocked since so many photos are made public and could be of questionable content.

I set up my RSS feed with Google Reader. It seemed the easiest route to go since I already have Blogger and a Google account. The RSS feed can be very helpful from a teacher standpoint that I can subscribe to things that pertain to my curricular area and give me suggestions for my classroom. I also subscribed to a few track and field websites to see what is going on in my coaching world.

We also spent some time researching Google Sites for education. Google Sites is a very easy webpage designer that can be used by anyone, including people like me who are petrified by HTML. In a previous course, we set up a Google Site and found out just how easy it is to use. I liked it enough to create a website for my track team. It became a great tool for communicating with my athletes. I was able to post our schedule and results on the site, as well as schedule changes that occurred during the season. A Google Site could be very useful in a classroom if a district doesn't provide a site that teachers can latch on to or a learning environment such as My Big Campus, edmodo, or moodle. It is very easy to add a calendar to the Google site and have assignments on the calendar so students always know when things are due. Or documents can be added so students can access them anywhere. Google Sites could be used in so many ways in an educational environment.

Week 2 CEdO535 - wikis, Twitter, photo sharing

This week we were asked to create an account with Twitter, investigate wikis and photo sharing. We also looked more at how blogs can be used in the classroom.

I created my Twitter account as I have resisted the trend for quite some time now. While I am still learning about it and learning about the value of it, I'm sure I will figure it out. I have about eight followers right now and all but one are from our class!

After reading the beginning of chapter 4 in our book, I am beginning to wonder if Wikipedia should really still be blocked in schools. The chapter said that when several errors were posted, purposely, they were corrected in minutes. I realize that we still do not allow students to post to chat rooms, blogs, and wikis, but as far as using Wikipedia as a resource, I don't see a problem anymore.

So, what did we do this week that I can apply in my school or job and how might I use it? I'm struggling to see how I can use Twitter in my classroom as students aren't allowed to use it at school and some don't have internet access outside school. In regards to wikis, I could see using one in my classroom, however we have My Big Campus and that may make things a little redundant.

Week 1 CEdO535

This week has involved a lot of reading. The first chapter of our book, Blog, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, had me thinking a lot about using an educational blog in my classroom. One thing that was stressed in the book was safety of the students and keeping their information secure. Recently, our IT director installed My Big Campus at school, which, from what I understand, is a way to keep the students' information secure. This is something that I plan to look into more and use in my classroom. Blogs seem like a great way to have students not only write more, but read more and learn to be an effective editor and collaborator at the same time. Another point that was stressed in this chapter was that teachers must understand that we are dealing with very technology-literate students and if we are going to implement new technologies, to make sure to be very comfortable with the technology.

The second chapter talked about the difference between blogging and journaling. Blogging should really take students' thinking to a higher level, rather than just discussing what they worked on or what they learned after completing an assignment. I also liked the point that was made that students who may be a little shy in class are given the opportunity to share their thoughts in a less intimidating way.

Our group work this week had a lot to do with blogs. We were asked to think about different topics and if they could be used in our environment or not. One of the topics really caught my attention and that was the topic of blogs for students with special needs. I hadn't ever really thought about this topic because I see blogs as something that can be used by all types of students. I hadn't really thought about the fact that they could be customized for certain groups of students. It was an interesting section for me.

Week 5 of CEdO540

This week we were asked to look at Google Trends, Google Insight, and various statistical data sites.

Google Trends is an interesting site. It allows you to search terms and find out how often those terms are searched for. The results can be defined according to region and language. The results are provided with a line graph for easy viewing. If desired, a person can search for several related terms to see how they compare to each other. Google Insights is very similar to Google Trends. It provides the same information and also includes a map of the world with search volume index, categories that can narrow results, and rising searches.

We were also asked to research statistical data websites. My favorite sites were National Center for Educational Statistics and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The DPI site provides information that is local. You can find information about the school district you teach in, the district your children are enrolled in, or a district you may be getting a job in. The NCES site provides information about almost every topic in education. Results provided on this site are given in many different ways, which is great for interpretation.

Week 4 of CEdO540

The past few weeks we spent the bulk of our time concerned with a survey. As a group we created a survey to solve a problem that we had. My group chose to do a survey about hosting a summer barbecue. We were looking at what location people preferred for a barbecue, what types of food should be prepared, and what types of beverages should be available for guests. We charted our results by grouping them according to location, food, and drink. Our results showed that most people preferred to have a barbecue in a backyard, eat hamburgers and hot dogs, and drink water, soda, or beer. Our results can be found here.

We also were to listen to Bill Tancer. Bill Tancer is an internet analyst. He studies trends on the internet and what people look at and do on the internet. I found Bill Tancer to be kind of interesting. First, I would never be able to do his job day in and day out. Studying trends on the internet and what consumers are searching for is not something that I could do every day. Second, from a business stand point, his research could really assist retailers in increasing their revenue. When he discussed prom dresses, he found that teenagers were researching prom dressed in January and retailers weren't making them available until March. His research allowed retailers to make prom dresses available in January. Now, working in a high school with a classroom full of computers, I could have told retailers to make prom dresses available in January, but not everyone works in a high school classroom with computers. Third, I think his methods could be seen as ethical and unethical. Some people may think his data is manipulative, however, he doesn't typically research specific populations. So, he wouldn't always know who exactly is providing the data.

We were asked to come up with a job that would be available in the future. This was a difficult task. It's hard to think of a job that would be needed in the future without being a psychic! But, we came up with a teleporter specialist. This person would assist people in teleporting. Someday, we may not need cars, planes, trains, or boats. Transportation may be done by teleporting, a concept that has been featured in futuristic movies. Anything is possible, so maybe someday this could be a job that is needed.

Week 3 CEdO540

This week we were asked to retake a technology survey that we took at the beginning of our program. I feel like I could answer more questions with "I am able to do" or "I can teach it", which made me feel like I am learning a lot of great things!

Also, we were asked to create a survey within our study group. We must choose a topic, create a survey, and then distribute the survey to ask people to take it. My group chose to do our survey on a summer bbq. We are still working out some of the details to be able to work with the results we receive so we can find means, medians, and modes easily. We also are trying to make it easier to find standard deviations based on our results. It is definitely a challenge for me as I am not a math teacher, but I am excited to use the information in class so that I may be able to use it in my classroom.

Week 2 of CEdO540 Decision Making Using Data Collection & Analysis

This week we continued learning about central tendencies and also variances, ranges, and standard deviations. I find myself struggling with the definitions and explanations of the different terms. It has been many years since I have had a statistics class, so it would benefit me to have actual examples to see the numbers working and better understand the terms.

As a group we were asked to analyze a website, Capterra. Capterra allows software buyers to search for the most appropriate software possible. Buyers search for the type of software they are looking for, either by industry or function, and are given many options of software programs available. This site is a great resource for any type of organization! It gives almost every option available for what a buyer is looking for.

We also were required to study different survey creation sites. There are so many out there and we were asked to look at three free sites and two sites that required a fee. As a group we felt that Zoomerang was the best creation site available. Zoomerang offers graphic representation of results, which can sometimes be read easier than number results. Zoomerang also offers tutorials, guides and online training to assist a user.

Week 1 CEdO540

This is the first week of 540, our statistics class. I've never been a big fan of statistics, so this class has me feeling a little nervous. We were asked to watch a video with examples of statistics being used in real situations. At school, I am always trying to teach my students how they can use what we are talking about in real life. So, seeing that video helped me understand statistics a little better.

I like the guided practice worksheets. It's something that I have never used in my own classroom, but have been considering. These are great examples for me to use to try to create my own some day.

Pecha Kucha and rubrics CEdO530

This week we put together our Pecha Kucha! This project was fun and challenging! I created mine using voicethread and enjoyed learning some more of the formatting tools. It was difficult to get my timing down on the dialogue so I didn't go over my twenty seconds, but after a few takes on some of the pictures I got it right!



This week we also were required to create a rubric for a multimedia project. I have done an assignment in the past about famous entrepreneurs. The students create a presentation about a famous entrepreneur, but the presentation would be a great digital story instead. Now, if I decide to change the project I have a rubric to go with it!

In our group, we evaluated Aviary Tools and Jay Cut. Aviary has many free editing tools, including photo editor, video editor, and music creator. Jay Cut is a free online video editor. Both of these programs would be great to use in a classroom, especially now with budgets in question! It would eliminate purchasing expensive software or computers to run the software.

Week 4 of CEdO530 Digital Storytelling

This week has brought some wonderful new tools. We explored how to make a Prezi and worked on the storyboard for our Pecha Kucha.

I found the Prezi to be very fun to work with! It was easy to learn about and also easy to format. I think that this could be a different way to create presentations, both for me and for my students. I think that many of my students get tired of viewing PowerPoint presentations and also creating them. Using Prezi would be a fun way for them to present in the classroom.

We also created a storyboard for our Pecha Kucha. I chose to do my Pecha Kucha on the many vacations I have taken in my life. So far, my biggest challenge has been choosing which pictures to use. As I was working on the storyboard I was remembering some trips I had forgotten I had taken as an adult! I should be able to remember the more recent ones, but I guess not!

We also finished the Presentation Zen book. This book has given me a lot to think about. I have learned how to simplify my presentations, better plan my presentations, and make my delivery more effective. Often I feel like I have lost my students during class because of an ineffective presentation. Hopefully I can improve those presentations and keep the focus of my students.

Week 3 CEdO530 Digital Storytelling

This week we had a lot of different things to look at. We are working on redoing a presentation to make it more "zen," animoto, and pecha kucha.

I still am enjoying our book Presentation Zen. The ideas we read about this week will be very helpful in redoing my presentation. One thing that really caught my eye in this chapter was about empty space. This is something that I discuss with my yearbook class. Those students typically think they need to fill every inch of space on the page. I inadvertently thought about this with presentations. After viewing many student presentations, I have realized what distracts viewers, therefore learning what not to do in a presentation. Obviously, I don't know it all when it comes to creating effective presentations, but this was at least one thing I knew about.

I enjoyed using animoto. I found this sited very easy to work with, since there is very little technologically that I have to do. Simply choose a format for the video, upload photos, organize them, add text, choose music, and animoto does the rest. I created a video that could be used to introduce myself to new students.

Pecha kucha is an interesting concept, 20x20. 20 slides for 20 seconds each. A concept that could be very challenging for me! I am a fast talker, even my dad has to tell me to slow down. Timing will be everything for me in creating a pecha kucha. I have come up with three options for my pecha kucha:  vacations, pets, and evolution of my music tastes. Each of them would allow me to have ample information. My parents always took us on family vacations, insisting that it was important for us to see things, experience our country, and spend time together. Some of my favorite memories are from family vacations. As a child, we only had one pet, but now I have three. I have also had some others a long the way to my life now, i.e. two raccoons, roommate's pets. All have had an effect on my life and make, or have made, my life more interesting.

CEdO530 Digital Storytelling Week 2

This week entailed a lot of different things in Digital Storytelling. Much of my time was spent investigating Voicethread. Voicethread is one way to create a digital story. Images and videos can be uploaded and the author can add voice to the images. Other users can comment on the voicethreads either with voice, typed in comments or video. We were asked to create a voicethread about civil rights. I enjoyed the experience of creating a voicethread. Am I an expert after creating one voicethread? Not even close! But I would like to spend more time with this to hone my skills and create effective voicethreads.

At this point I'm struggling to find a way to incorporate digital storytelling into my classroom. I can see using voicethread as a means for student participation. Students who don't necessarily feel comfortable speaking up in class could participate online. Also, voicethread could be used when a substitute is in the classroom.....as long as the teacher can plan that far ahead! At this point I will have to do some thinking about how to incorporate it into student assignments.

I am continuing to enjoy taking pictures for posterous. It is fun to see my creative side come out. I've never considered myself a creative person, so this has my juices flowing!

Digital Storytelling, Week 1 of CEdO530

Well, I must say I am quite excited for this class! I am really looking forward to finding out about ways to improve and enhance some of the presentations that I use in my classroom. I realize that some of my presentations are not the most exciting for my students. Improving those presentations could keep more students interested in the material being covered and would increase the amount of information being retained by the students.

So far, I am having a blast taking pictures and posting them! I am looking forward to the final project that we will be doing with the pictures.

It took some time to find three different stories to watch. The stories I found were short, all less than four minutes. However, despite their shortness, they conveyed emotion, peaked my interest, and answered my questions. These are all things important to telling a story. Hopefully, I will be able to create some stories just as effective.

Conclusion of 525

This was the final week of CEdO525 and we learned about different ways to improve our lessons through the technologies we've been learning about.
During our six weeks, we looked at several different learning strategies and discussed how to implement them using technology. Providing students with feedback and recognition is very important to the learning experience. During week 2, we were required to review rubric generators and I particularly liked Rubistar. I found this website to be very easy to use. I was able to create a rubric from their database of products. The site allows the user to change points offered and choose their own categories for evaluating the assignment. The category description may be changed and the criteria may be manipulated for each category to suit the user. Using a rubric is a great way for students to know exactly what the teacher is expecting and for the teacher to clearly explain what the student did correctly or incorrectly. I also have implemented Google docs into one of my classes in order to communicate with students effectively.

I especially enjoyed learning more about nonlinguistic representation and advance organizers. Personally, I am not the type of learner who can imagine what something will look like. I also benefit from having some sort of visual that will help me remember information, so learning more about implementing nonlinguistic representation and advance organizers was beneficial to me. When reviewing different types of online advance organizers, I liked the printable organizers provided by Education Oasis. Education Oasis had several types of maps available, however, they were in pdf format and couldn't be saved or changed for the user's specifications. Using any kind of map to organize ideas can be useful to students.

Our final project was to improve a current lesson or unit by incorporating technology and learning strategies. I am always looking for different ways to improve my lessons and to better engage students. I found many ways to improve the unit I reviewed, which is helpful considering we started the unit immediately following me reviewing my unit. I plan to incorporate many of the things that we discussed in class and see if there is any improvement in the students.

Week 5 of 525

What questions do I have about using technology to generate and test hypotheses in my classroom?

I teach business and there are not many times that I expect my students to generate and test hypotheses. In some of my classes students will predict what will happen, but it is difficult to test theories when business is pretty black and white. So, I guess since I find it difficult to hypothesize in my classroom it is difficult to think about what technologies could be used.

What kind of technologies can I use to help students identify similarities and differences?

I do this often in my Personal Finance class. Just recently we compared banks and credit unions, debit cards and credit cards. In the past we have compared saving and investing. When doing this I encourage the students to use a graphic organizer to sort out their thoughts. It is very easy to use Microsoft Word to create a Venn Diagram to use.

What kind of technologies can I use to help students with homework and practice?

I have had students use many different technologies for homework and practice. Often I use spreadsheets in accounting for financial statements, journalizing, posting, and creating a worksheet. I also use spreadsheets in Personal Finance when the students are creating a budget. First, we create a budget together in class and then they are expected to create a similar budget for themselves. Currently, in my Entrepreneurship class, students are  creating a new cereal. They create a new box and design a magazine ad and television commercial. The students are using goanimate or xtranormal for their television commercials and Microsoft Publisher for their magazine ads. The Entrepreneurship students are also using Google docs for many of their assignments.

Cooperative Learning and Reinforcing Effort

This week in 525, we focused on cooperative learning and reinforcing effort.

What is the purpose of asking students to work cooperatively?
Cooperative learning can be a very powerful tool to use in the classroom. Students get the opportunity to work with others and share ideas and talents. It is important for students to learn to work with others that they may not be comfortable working with, since that would most likely happen when they are adults in the workplace.
Our first task was to explore It's a Wild Ride! This project is an interdisciplinary project where students work together to create a new roller coaster ride for an amusement park. The project incorporates the four main content areas throughout the different phases. While I think this is a great project, I am a bit surprised that other content areas weren't considered. Tech ed standards could be considered for the engineering of the roller coaster and business ed could be considered to help market the roller coaster. (But, I guess that is just me being biased to my teaching area!) Overall, the project seems to incorporate many important ideas. The students are working together, several content areas are linked together to answer the student question of "When am I ever going to use this in my life?", and it gives the students clear guidelines to follow.

Next, we had to watch two videos by Clay Shirky, Institutions vs. collaboration and How cognitive surplus will change the world. In the first video, Clay was talking about people collaborating via the internet and used the example of Flickr. His point showed how collaboration typically works, in my opinion, especially when high school students are involved. It showed how one person typically contributes the most work and the other collaborators differ in how much they contribute. I see this often when my students are doing group projects. The second video discussed how cognitive surplus is used. Clay told us that cognitive surplus is the ability for the world's population to volunteer, contribute, and collaborate on large, and sometimes, global projects. There are two things that make up cognitive surplus:  the world's free time and talents and media tools that allow more than consuming, they allow creation and sharing as well. Cognitive surplus can be a powerful tool for students. Technology will allow them to increase their "surplus" of knowledge and also share their knowledge.


   

Cues, questions, advance organizers; nonlinguistic representation; and summarizing and note taking

In week 3 of 525, we discussed cues, questions and advance organizers, nonlinguistic representation, and summarizing and note taking.

What is the purpose of asking student to use cues, questions, and advance organizers? And what kind of technologies can I use to help students?
I was asked to review three online tools. I looked at bubble.us, Education Oasis, and MindMeister. Bubble.us was very easy to use, but I found it a bit restrictive as it only allowed me to make one kind of map. Although it did allow me to move the boxes around on the page and make the map look how I wanted it to look. MindMeister was also a bit restrictive as it only allowed one type of map. MindMeister was free up to 3 maps and then the user would have to pay to use the site. Education Oasis had several types of maps available, however, they were in pdf format and couldn't be saved or changed for the user's specifications. Using any kind of map to organize ideas can be useful to students. Students learn in different ways and using a map can reach  many different kinds of learners.

I can think of a time when I asked students to use nonlinguistic representation and I was pleased with the results. Why did it go well?
In my entrepreneurship class, I asked the students to create an organizational map of our high school. They could set it up however they chose as long as all staff was included. Most of them used Microsoft Word to create their map, others used Microsoft Publisher and color-coordinated the chart. This happened to be a day that my principal was in observing and he particularly enjoyed that part of the class. The students were able to convey their ideas in a different way than just in writing or by reading it.

I can think of a time when I asked students to use a KWL chart to assist in summarizing and note taking and I was pleased with the results. Why did it go well?
In my personal finance class, we spend a great deal of time discussing credit. It is a very important topic for the students to learn about and understand as it affects their entire lives. I start the unit with a KWL chart. The students list what they already know about credit and what they want to know about credit. Throughout the unit, I try to make sure to discuss the things that they want to know and also the things that I feel they need to know. In this unit the students work in groups to teach lessons about different credit topics, so many of them are responsible to teach some of the things that other students want to know. Finally, when we have finished th unit, we finish the KWL chart and the students list what they learned during the unit.

Providing feedback, setting objectives, and providing recognition (Week 2 CEdO525)

This week in 525 we focused on providing feedback to students, setting objectives, and providing recognition to students.

I read the article Feedback That Fits and found many things interesting in it. I found the section about relating feedback to the goal the most interesting. The article talked about commenting on improvements that a student would have made since previous assignments. This is especially helpful for students who are struggling in a particular class or on a particular subject. Dealing with unsuccessful learners is a challenge that many teachers face. The student typically doesn't look closely at assignments or tests that have been handed back, making feedback difficult. The article suggested pointing out improvements made by the students and then giving suggestions of some steps to follow for the next assignment and following up with more feedback. Tone of voice becomes very important when giving any kind of feedback. It should indicate that the teacher is making helpful suggestions. In my opinion, tone of voice and eye contact go hand-in-hand. Students can sometimes misread a tone of voice and making eye contact with that student becomes essential to the student understanding what the teacher is trying to say. The major emphasis in the article was being clear about the feedback and giving suggestions that the student can comprehend. A student may receive feedback and not read it or may misinterpret it completely. A teacher must make sure that a student understands their expectations and their intentions when giving feedback.

What kind of technologies can I use to help students receive proper feedback?
We were asked to review one of the rubric websites; I chose to check out rubistar. I found this website to be very easy to use. I was able to create a rubric from their database of products. The site allows the user to change points offered and choose their own categories for evaluating the assignment. The category description may be changed and the criteria may be manipulated for each category to suit the user. This site seems like a great, easy way to produce rubrics. Rubrics can be very time-consuming to make and this makes the process much more efficient!

When reviewing the online quiz creators, I chose to take a closer look at QuizStar. This site requires the teacher to create classes to assign the quizzes to. QuizStar allows the teacher to import a quiz that has already been made or it allows the teacher to create their own quizzes. It seems easy to use and I think it would be easy for students to use. This is definitely a way for teachers to save paper and ink by not having to make copies of quizzes, however, if a teacher does not teach in a computer lab they may have trouble getting access to computers for the students to take the quizzes.

What kind of technologies can I use to help students receive recognition?
We use Power School as our grading program where I teach. The grade book program provided allows the teacher to not only enter grades, but indicate if the assignment is late, missing, or exempt. It also allows the teacher to add specific comments on assignments or general comments about the student's performance.

I also have begun using Google docs in one of my classes, which is a great way for me to provide needed recognition by using the comments tool. Students would be able to see exactly where the comment is linked to and they would be able to see if changes are needed or not.. I also would be able to email the students to provide recognition they may be needing.

Readings for week 1 of CEdO525

The first article we had to read for week 1 of 525 was Principles of Teaching and Learning, I was reading the section about teaching principles. I found the fourth point especially hit home with me. It discussed coverage of topics in the classroom and how a teacher decides what to teach and how much to teach in a semester. I teach business and have many different state standards available. Since I am the business department in my district, I am limited in how many of those standards are reached. So, I attempt to meet as many of them as possible, however, sometimes that becomes a challenge because of the make-up of the class. Each student learns in a different way and at a different pace and all have different backgrounds and experiences. My class sizes have been increasing since I began teaching which also poses a challenge for me. I find myself adapting how I teach certain material or how I present information to my classes. For some classes, I am not able to cover as much material as I would like to, but with others, I can cover much more than expected.

Teachers must be willing to be flexible with how they teach and what they teach. It is important that each student receives the education that they are expecting to receive, but it is also important to not lose other students in the process. It is a fine line, and a difficult one, that teachers walk. We must prepare ourselves for any challenges that may arise.

The second reading we had in Week 1 of CEdO525 was A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning With Technology on Student Outcomes. I will be honest and admit that I struggled with this article. I am not a scientist, nor am I a mathematician. So much of this article confused me. What I did understand from the research were the results and I was quite surprised by them. The results indicated that when technology is used to assist in teaching and learning, it had a slight positive effect on learning. And in some cases, technology had a negative effect on behavior. I find much of this hard to believe. It has been my experience when using technology in my classroom, that often the students are better behaved and have much better outcomes with learning. 

Copyright, Privacy, and Internet safety for children

In our final week of CEdO525 we discussed copyright and Internet safety for children with our groups and wrote about privacy and ethics on the Internet individually.

One of the sites that was recommended to look at in regards to copyright was Creative Commons. I had never heard of the site prior to this class and found some of the information interesting. The website supports legal use of another's work. The site offers six different types of licenses for creators to choose from. Most of them allow a user to change or build upon the material as needed as long as proper credit is given. The licenses also have three different layers to them. The first layer is legal language, the second layer is "human" language, and the third is machine readable.

When looking into the information for Internet safety for children, the FBI provides a guide for parents about Internet Safety. It is very inclusive as it discusses signs to look for that a child might be at risk online, what to do if a parent suspects their child is in contact with a sexual predator, and how to minimize the chances of a child coming into contact with an online exploiter.

This course has been very helpful! I particularly enjoyed learning how to use Google Alerts and creating a website evaluation tool. Researching different Internet learning tools also proved to be valuable. I find it very important to know what resources are available, especially free resources, in the recent happenings in Wisconsin. With threats of deep cuts in state financing, using online tools may become a requirement.

Google Alerts!

In week 2 of 520, one of the things we focused on was Google Alerts. It's awesome! I have never used it before and didn't know it existed. What a wonderful tool to use to keep up on topics that are important to you! While discussion boards and listservs are valuable resources to have in the teaching world, sometimes it is helpful to have tool like Google Alerts to tell you when something new has been put onto the Internet. I teach about so many different topics and it is very difficult to stay on top of everything that is changing in those areas. Google Alerts would allow me to do this. I see myself using this a lot for my classroom.

CEdO520 To blog or not to blog?

This week we were asked about our opinions of the blog. Personally, I don't mind the blog and appreciate it as an historical tool for our final project for the program. However, I have found the repetitive, "How can you use what you've learned in your classroom?" a bit mundane. I realize it is important for me to think about how to use what we have learned about, but sometimes I would like to have another topic to discuss. I also find it difficult to comment on two other classmates' blogs when they are discussing how to use what we have learned in their classrooms, an entirely different content area than mine. I struggle to question them or expand on what they have talked about without knowing more about their area of expertise.

We were also asked about Internet learning resources this week. After reading three articles about possible resources, my eyes were opened a bit about what they can be. I had this idea of learning tools for students to learn to expand their thoughts about the subject previously discussed in class. I was surprised to see that teacher resources and tools are considered Internet learning resources also. I use these frequently, as I am sure many teachers do, to spice up or revamp some of my lessons.

I will admit I was a bit fearful of the wiki when I first saw it, but am much more comfortable with it now that I have looked around a bit and used it. It is a different platform to use and I enjoy seeing a different tool be used in our program. I am still a bit worried that I will lose track of assignment due dates, but I will just have to keep track of those on my own to be sure I don't.

Summary of 515

After reviewing my previous blog posts for 515, I realized that I forgot how much we have done for this course.

We began the class by creating a graphic. I chose to use Image Chef to create my graphic. I think that I would be able to use some of the programs in my classes, but I would have to be careful, since some of them have questionable images to use.

We also had to create a presentation using an online presentation program. I chose to use 280 slides, which was very easy to use. Advertising:  The Art of Attracting an Audience  I have students create presentations in many classes and using an online presentation software could be very helpful, especially if a student has internet access, but not PowerPoint at home.

The next week we explored different online word processors. I actually have implemented Google docs into one of my classes this semester. I am very excited to see how it goes for the students, but so far they have really enjoyed doing it. All of the students I have in this class, I had in a previous class. A couple of them have a hard completing their homework on time, but that has improved since using the Google docs.

We also learned to work with online spreadsheets and created a spreadsheet involving a recipe. This was a great way to play with spreadsheets and their formula ability. I have never manipulated a recipe in a spreadsheet, so this was fun for me. I chose to work with my recipe for Chili.I use spreadsheets in my Accounting 1 class and could easily use Google spreadsheets as an alternative. If I use Excel, the students may be forced to complete the homework at school if they don't have Excel at home.

Finally, we moved on to creating a calendar with Google calendars. I hadn't ever worked with Google calendar before and found it to be a great experience. I am considering using one for my track team. I would be able to put practices and meets on it. Parents would be able to access it and check on practice times over spring breaks and check on meet times if needed. I created one for myself to use everyday.

All of these programs that we worked with can be valuable in my classroom or coaching. We also researched  lessons that implemented spreadsheets by using NetTrekker. NetTrekker is probably a good resource for core subject teachers, but I struggled to find a lesson in my content area. We also worked with different software evaluation tools. With so many classrooms implementing more technology and softwares, an effective software evaluation tool becomes important. Ineffective or eventually unused software can take up server space and become a hindrance to school district ITs.

I learned about a lot of great tools that I can use in my classes and that can help my district save money and resources in the long run.

Google Sites and Software Evaluation

This week's focus in 515 was creating a Google site and evaluating software. I created a Google site in which I included work I have done for 515 and also a presentation I created for 510. I found Google sites very easy to use. Creating pages and editing them was very straightforward. I'm not sure how much I would use a Google site in my professional life. Our school district website allows us to create a page of our own from the district website, so if I were to use a website, I would create it there. I think that this will be a great way to create a portfolio of my work throughout this Master's program. In my personal life, I could create a Google site for my husband's business. It would be a great way to direct potential customers and exhibit some of his work.

As a group, we had to evaluate three different software evaluation tools. We looked at Sun Prairie's Evaluation tool, Children's Technology Review and Kathy Schrock's Software Evaluation Form. All were very easy to use; they utilized checklists, provided an area for cost, and provided an area to include standards that would be met by the software. We liked Sun Prairie's the best as it listed information about the software, cost, rationale for purchase, standards that would be met by the software, and provided room for comments by administration and tech support. The evaluation is very inclusive and leaves little to be desired. This is a tool that I would be very comfortable using in my own district.

On a side note, I have incorporated Google docs into a class this semester. The students were very receptive to it and had no problems creating accounts and learning to use the docs. They have had a good time using the software and have not had any complaints so far. I am very happy to have integrated something I have learned in this program into my classroom. I hope that I can continue to do so.

Go Pack!

InTime video - Virtual CEO

This week I chose a video from InTime that was close to my content area. The lesson was Virtual CEO and is actually from a social studies class. However, much of the components of this lesson are things that I focus on in my business classroom.

In this lesson, the students use a software program called Capitalism Plus to create a virtual corporation. Incorporated with the software are tutorials to help the students so they can make better decisions about their corporation. The students attempt to make as much money as possible through retailing, wholesaling, and investing in the stock market. They also create a website for their corporation. The teacher, Chris Hungerford, said he liked the program because he likes the constructivist approach to the software. The students must make decisions and come up with ideas on how to make their corporation succeed. He said that the students control how well their corporation does by interacting with the simulation. He acts as a facilitator and leads the students in the right direction. The simulation allows the students to learn in a hands-on way, rather than using worksheets and tests to learn and show understanding.

This is a great way to get students to learn. I really like that the students are in control of their success. They need to be able to make decisions based on what they have learned and what they think the outcome will be based on their choices. They learn how to succeed and fail because of their decisions, and if they fail, they learn to come up with another idea that will hopefully lead to their success. I find that anytime a student learns by doing, it is valuable. They can learn what they need to do in order to succeed and they can learn what they need to do to correct any failures.

In this lesson, students use many types of technology to assist in their learning. They use a software program, but they also create spreadsheets, graphs, presentations, and a website. Using all of those technology tools is a great way for students to get exposure to many different learning tools.

I have added Entrepreneurship to my curriculum and am considering a project similar to this, but it would be based on a sole proprietorship rather than a corporation. But many of the ideas can be used in that course for the students to create their business and study trends and learn how to make money for their business. There are some great ideas in this lesson that I could incorporate into my classroom.

Spreadsheets and Software Evaluation

Over the last two weeks, we have been working with online spreadsheets and discussing software evaluation. I am fairly comfortable with spreadsheets as I have used them often in my classroom, but there are always new things to learn when using a new software.

I have used Microsoft Excel for many things in my own life. I coach track and field and use spreadsheets to track athletes' personal records and points earned throughout the season. In my classroom, I use spreadsheets often in Accounting. The spreadsheets become a valuable tool for the students. Once we cover basic accounting principles and the students become comfortable doing problems written, I then require them to work with spreadsheets for many problems. I create the form they will be using, and they fill in the required information and the formulas needed in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheets make journalizing and posting transactions much faster and prevents errors in math. The students also use spreadsheets for the financial statements. Again, I create the forms and they enter the appropriate information and formulas. By using these spreadsheets, students see there is another way of doing accounting. I also use spreadsheets in Personal Finance when the students are creating budgets. The spreadsheet allows them to use categories for income and expenses. The students can then use a formula to total each section and then subtract the totals to balance their budgets. It is very easy for them to then change the numbers the next month.

Where I teach, teachers are responsible for evaluating software and submitting a request to purchase the software. On the form, the teacher must indicate for what class the software will be used, how the software aligns with curriculum and what learning objectives will be reached by using the software, who will be using the software and where it will be used, how many copies of the software are required for purchase, and hardware/software requirements. The form is then submitted to the district technician for approval. If it is approved, the form must be attached to any requisition form to be approved by administration. It is a good process since the teacher is the one requesting the software and knows it is valuable to their curriculum. It also is a good process because the technician is consulted to see if the servers and computers have the capabilities required by the software.

This week's lessons have been very valuable for me and could easily be used in my classroom.