Week 13 Reflections

I agree with Dr. Horvitz that Chapter 30 was a complex, yet interesting, read which provided many ideas I can apply to my work. “How Humans Learn” was the most enlightening section. I learned a lot about the brain in training for my summer job and I am absolutely fascinated with the brain’s power. I was excited to read about the brain and technology. “Prior knowledge of the learner is an important individual characteristic that must be considered” and in my job, it varies greatly (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 314). For example, in one section, I could have students ranging in age from 18 to 58, and students who have never worked a day and students who have always worked two jobs. I must take all of my students into consideration when planning and implementing my lessons. I would like to share all of the brain knowledge I’ve gained with my students so that they better understand the learning process. For example, sharing with students that we take two shorter breaks than one long break because of the brain’s “limited capacity of working memory” will hopefully translate to taking study breaks at home and not cramming for quizzes/tests (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 314). Like all technologies are not ideal for all subjects, all technologies are not ideal for all students. Instructional designers need to take the student’s prior knowledge into great consideration.

Another enlightening section was “Surface Features vs. Functional Features of Visuals”. A significant question instructional designers should ask themselves is “does animation or video enhance learning?” (Reiser & Dempsey, p. 315). If the answer is “no”, the educational technology is derogatorily referred to as edutainment. The “bells and whistles” of edutainment get our students’ attention, but contain little or no content and take-away value. I love YouTube videos, Google Earth, and other Internet media, and my students do, too! One of my favorite videos to show at the beginning of each quarter is an Abbot and Costello multiplication video. The students and I laugh while watching it, and then we have a discussion. We conclude that there are many ways to do things in math, but generally only one of the ways is the right process, and that it is good practice to check our work. I would like to incorporate more media, not just videos, into my lessons. As I’ve mentioned many times before, my students often ask why they need to take math classes when they claim they will never use it again. I reply that it’s more than just math; it is problem solving and critical thinking. By using media to demonstrate real-world application, students will be more open to math and more successful in the class.

Picnik & Google Docs

Picnik

Picnik is fun!  I had played with it prior to this week’s Learning Module and was excited to have an excuse to play with it some more!  Picnik offers many great features, such as editing and creating, which are great for both personal and professional use.  Personally, Picnik is fun for adding graphics and text to photos for Web sites like facebook and MySpace.  Professionally, Picnik is ideal for diagrams or screen shots with text instructions.  Photos can be conveniently opened from Websites like Flickr and Picasa or uploaded from a computer.  As with most free Web sites, there are great features that are heavily advertised and able to be clicked, but are only available with Picnik Premium.  (Insert sad buzzer “wah wah” here.)  I would recommend Picnik to coworkers for both personal and professional use.  Picnik is easy to use and does all the basic editing and creating as expensive programs, like Photoshop Elements.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

Google Docs

Google docs is a free alternative to Microsoft Office, but like other free software, it has limited features.  For someone experienced (and certified) in Microsoft Word, Google docs and free just doesn’t cut it.  Google docs is most notably inferior to Microsoft Office in terms of compatibility and formatting.   Many students use free software, like Google Docs, OpenOffice, and AbiWord on their home computers.  When the students open the documents on campus to print, either Microsoft Office does not recognize the file format and cannot open it, or if it can be opened in Microsoft Office, the formatting is skewed.  As for the collaboration feature of Google Docs, it is inferior to Wikis and other public work spaces.  I would not recommend Google docs to coworkers for either personal or professional use.  I recommend saving money and buying Microsoft Office when it is on sale at Best Buy or using a Wiki for collaboration.

Overall rating: 1/5 stars

Web site!

Click here for my Baker College of Jackson LSS Web site!  This site features some great need-to-know information about the LSS.  There's basics like contact information, location, and hours.  There's announcements for updates and things coming up.  There's testing information because we get A LOT of questions about testing.  There's also tutoring information, because that's our number one service!  I think this is great for students to access from home and on campus so that they can find out more about the LSS and the services we offer!

Week 11 Reflections

There are a few instructional designer, training manager, and competencies that I would to develop.  First, I would like to develop my “[application of] current research and theory to practice” and “apply basic research skills to design projects” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 275).  While this is two competencies, the commonality is research.  I take in a lot of great research-based information via these Master’s courses, Baker College of Jackson professional development (PD), the Michigan Developmental Education Consortium (MDEC), and other professional, and sometimes personal, interactions.  I don’t however, always further consider and apply the information I’ve gained; the worst of all is that I cannot pinpoint why. I have restructured my course at the beginning of every quarter, so I’m not set in my ways.  I attend and now present PD at Baker College of Jackson, so I’m not reluctant to learn.  Or maybe I’m in denial.  I feel that this post is going to become very personal; maybe I should have started it with “Dear Diary...”. 

Second, I would like to develop my “[evaluation of] training and performance interventions” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 275).  As I just mentioned, I attend and now present PD at Baker College of Jackson.  In the past few years, I’ve become more critical and demanding of PD.  Specifically, I want better PD, and more of it.  I always underestimated the value of my evaluation of the PD offered; I either attributed it to my lack of an educational background or the fact that others don’t learn technologies as quickly as I do and need the introductory training.  The question I often want to pose to myself and other faculty is “how are we challenging ourselves to become better educators?”  I feel incompetent to teach Health Sciences, Business, and Computer Information Systems instructors how to become better educators.  What I can do is provide PD that will encourage them to challenge themselves, and thus challenge their students.  I get into a rut every Spring Quarter and am sure that this happens to other instructors, too.  I want to recharge them, to challenge them, and myself, to be excited for and value PD for professional growth and (here’s my favorite line) an improved learning experience for our students.

A third competency (although there’s many more) that I would like to develop is my “develop[ment] and monitor[ing] of a strategic plan” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 275).  Specifically, I want to focus on the monitoring of a plan.  I have learned great things and have the best intentions, but I have poor follow-through.  I need to learn to ask “why” after asking “what works and what doesn’t work?”  Eh, maybe I’m blaming this on my lack of pedagogical knowledge, but I don’t always see the value in monitoring my plan.  I’d even be happy if I kept a better record of the things I try in class.  As I mentioned, I restructure my course at the beginning of every quarter, because of what worked and what didn’t work.  I have my old syllabi and course calendars that have what we did, but I wish I monitor the effects, students’ reactions, and other plan-related events.  Hmm, in a nutshell, the competencies I wish to develop are research, evaluation, and monitoring.  So, I need to just use what I learn, see how it works, and record it.  "Thanks for listening, Diary..."

It's bubblicious!

The first concept map I made is a dissection of an algebraic term.  When I teach Pre-Algebra, I put a lot of emphasis on vocabulary and using math terms when explaining processes.  In the first week, I introduce variables and algebraic terms to my students.  We first learn to identify like terms, as you'll see the map describes and provides examples of what like terms are.  We then learn how to combine like terms, which you'll see the map also describes (using math terms) how to do so and provides examples.  The second concept map I made is the process to solve an algebraic expression. I find that students learn best from a good example with the process explained.  I felt kind of limited with concept maps and math, but think I could come up with some other things besides dissections and processes (like order of operations, too).

Week 10 Reflections

There are many similarities among instructional design/technology in business, P-12, higher ed, and my work at Baker College of Jackson. The first, teamwork, is prevalent in all three fields. In business, “a typical work team might draw members from human resources, organizational development, and communications as well as from training” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 177). In P-12, a leadership team might consist of a school board member, principal, PTA leader, and superintendent (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 216). In higher ed, “[some] full professors are expected to participate...on important college and university committees” (Reiser & Depsey, 2007, p. 231). Whether a work team, leadership team, or committee, all fields utilize teamwork.

The second similarity, online learning is present in all three fields, but varies slightly. In business, online learning is considered “training” for employees. The often-outsourced training “facilitates more effective training delivery” and can greatly reduce lost work time (Reiser & Depsey, 2007, p. 180). In P-12, online learning expands beyond employees to students, like in the Chugach School District where “education occurs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week” (Reiser & Depsey, 2007, p. 217). In higher ed, online learning involves both the employees and students via distance learning, hybrid classes, and online classes. Higher ed employees may often receive online training for teaching online classes - that’s a double whammy!

A third similarity most common in P-12 and higher ed is reluctance to change. In P-12, a first effort for five districts was to “develop their district’s readiness and willingness to engage in district-wide reform (Reiser & Depsey, 2007,p. 217). In higher ed, “many [faculty] are reluctant to admit they want or needs help with their teaching” and Brenda Litchfield shares, “the hardest part of being a faculty developer is getting faculty to come to workshops” (Reiser & Depsey, 2007, p. 229). I see plenty of reluctance to change among the faculty at Baker College of Jackson.

Many traditional teachers (of the faculty at Baker College of Jackson) are unwilling to embrace new technologies in the classroom, whether online supplements, SMART Boards and interactive media, or clickers. They may be reluctant because of the trends provided for P-12 and higher ed. The traditional teachers are not “sold” on the idea of how technology will improve the classroom experience. They think the way they have always done things still works, so they see no need to change it with gimmicks and gadgets. Traditional teachers are often uncomfortable using technology in the classroom that they are unfamiliar with. A solution to this is training, but how do we get them to attend, and more importantly, use what they learn at the training in the classroom? There are many technology myths, one of them being that “teachers who are newer to the profession and those who have greater access to technology are more likely to use technology frequently for instruction than other teachers” (Anonymous, 2010). Although the myth is in reference to K-12, I think it’s very applicable to higher ed. Perhaps we need to borrow some trends from the business field, specifically marketing, to “sell” the traditional teachers on the idea of how technology will improve the classroom experience for both faculty and students.

Anonymous, . Dispelling technology myths. (2010, August). Reading Today, 28(1), 33. Retrieved November 11, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2125407161).

You Jing, I Jing, We All Jing!

I read the first paragraph and got excited about the activity, so I simply recorded myself "performing some task on [my] computer [and added] voice narration". I didn't realize it had to be lesson-related until I read #7 tonight. I apologize for the lack of relation to a lesson, but think this is more fun! So many times, we get cool computer programs (like Photoshop Elements 8.0) for personal or professional reasons and don't know how to duplicate cool effects that we've seen or just different effects, in general. This Jing is a very easy guide to show how to make a black-and-white photo with one color. For a bonus (or relation to a lesson), I've also included a Jing of last week's Google Earth activity, specifically how to find the distance in light years between Earth and the stars Rigel and Canopus. Enjoy! :)

Week 9 Reflections (holy cow, it's week 9!)

As a disclaimer, I may be a bit “off” on this reflection because I’m quite unfamiliar with P-12 (and why it’s considered P-12 and not K-12) districts. I did my best, however, to reflect on the chapter in terms of my work experience in higher education. There were three (not only two as asked for) trends and issues that resonated with me. The first is the redesign efforts of the five school districts listed on page 217. There were two common significant characteristics among the districts – “work[ing] to develop their district’s readiness and willingness to engage in district-wide reform” and “the development of a vision of where they wanted to take their district” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2005). Specifically, the words “readiness”, “willingness”, and “vision” stood out. A district, or any organization, cannot change if they are unready and unwilling. Furthermore, it’s important for the district, or again, any organization, to have a vision of what the change will bring. I immediately thought of this in terms of district-wide implementation of educational technology. Consider a district wanting to implement the usage of SMART Boards, for example. Prior to implementation, which includes SMART Board training and even installation, the district must create teacher interest in this initiative to evoke change. Also, the district must provide teachers with a vision of what the implementation will look like. The vision will include physical aspects, such as SMART Board installation in their classrooms, and intangible aspects, such as professional development.

Second, the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township’s initiative of forming a leadership team could greatly benefit Baker College of Jackson. Instead of team members of a principal, PTA leader, school board member, and superintendent, Baker College of Jackson’s leadership team could be made up of the president, deans, and core faculty. Baker College of Jackson has well over 200 faculty and staff, but is unique in that a majority of faculty are adjunct, i.e. on campus as few as one night a week, and more than half of the staff is part-time. “It is difficult to shape the culture and dynamic of a [large] group”, but the Baker College of Jackson leadership team could adequately represent on behalf of all faculty and staff (Reiser & Dempsey, 2005, p. 216). On a broader scale, forming a leadership team could also benefit the Baker College System. As mentioned in previous reflections, the Baker College System is the third largest in the state of Michigan, but is spread out among 13 campuses throughout the state. System leadership teams, for example of departmental deans or counseling staff, can greatly increase the amount of cohesiveness and collaboration among the campuses.

The third trend and issues is the product vs. process approaches to change. Reiser & Dempsey (2005) define the product as “the redesigned or transformed educational system” and the emphasize the importance of the process, stating “no matter how good a design is, it will not succeed in its implementation if a sound transformation process is not used (p. 211). I think that the process is too often overlooked; districts may be too focused on the product, the end result, but it’s getting there, i.e. the process, that really matters. While I was overwhelmed at first with the focus on P-12 districts, there are many trends and issues that are applicable to higher education that I was unaware of!

Week 8 Reflections

There are two prominent ways Baker College of Jackson and the Baker College System could utilize Instructional Design in education like it is used in business and industry.  First, Baker College of Jackson and the Baker College System could utilize the team member and leader roles in the creation of virtual teams.  Baker College of Jackson has over 150 adjunct faculty that are on campus as few as one night a week.  Often, faculty within a department do not communicate and collaborate with, or even know, other departmental faculty because of schedule conflicts, lack of means of communication, or other reasons.  Virtual teams could be made within departments to foster the sharing of resources, dean-to-faculty and faculty-to-faculty training, and overall communication and collaboration.  Deans, and possibly core faculty, could act as team leader(s) and departmental faculty could act as team members.  As for the Baker College System, it is the third largest college in the state of Michigan, but is spread out among 13 campuses within the state.  “Members of a virtual team are located in different places”, which is very similar to the spread-out Baker College System (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 177).  Virtual teams of similar departments could be made to increase collaboration and communication among counselors, advisors, admission, etc. throughout the System and physical state.

Baker College of Jackson could also utilize “faculty”, not “designers”, as consultants for deans within the campus and the Baker College System.  Like designers “often serve as consultant to a development team” in business and industry, faculty can serve as consultants to a different type of development team (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 176).  Development teams for Baker College of Jackson could consist of departmental teams, developmental education teams, mentor faculty teams, counseling and advising teams, and research teams.  Developmental teams for the Baker College System could consist of professional development and training teams, departmental teams, developmental education teams, counseling and advising teams, and research teams.  Many times, deans and the System make decisions based on their best judgment, however they are not in the classrooms.  Similarly, faculty question deans and the Systems' decisions, but do not see the bigger picture of all 13 campuses.  I think deans and the System would benefits greatly from utilizing the classroom experts in making decisions or for general input.

“Over the past 10 years, the boundaries between many workplace disciplines have blurred, and design and performance improvement project teams are often staffed by a variety of specialists working together (Foxon, Richey, Roberts, & Spannaus, 2003 as quoted in Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 177).  Not only have the boundaries between workplace disciplines been affected, but the physical boundaries, too, have been blurred.  Ironically, Baker College of Jackson and the Baker College System could utilize virtual teams and faculty as consultants simultaneously, which would improve collaboration and communication without physical limitations.  I am confident there are many other ways that Instructional Design used in business and industry can be used in education, and vice versa!

Victory for MSU!

Students often complain that they will never use math in their jobs or real life and I can only reply with “it’s more than just math, it’s problem solving and critical thinking”. While the following activity is not completely applicable to real life (unless hovercrafts exist), it gives students a fun way to use math in real world context. Look at the map below and see that Petah’s house (the blue push pin) is in Schoolcraft, MI. On a beautiful day for football, he drives via 127 and 94 to get to Genny’s House (the pink push pin) in Clarklake, MI. After picking up Genny, Petah drives himself and Genny via 127 and 94 to Spartan Stadium (the green push pin) in East Lansing, MI to watch MSU football live. If Petah had a hovercraft, meaning he didn’t have to drive via highways, and didn’t have to pick up Genny in Clarklake, what is the distance (in miles) from Schoolcraft to Spartan Stadium.

Click "View Pythagorean Theorem in a larger map" and zoom in to better see the push pins. Use “get directions” to calculate the distances (in miles) between Schoolcraft and Clarklake, and Clarklake and East Lansing. Then use your knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the distance between Schoolcraft and Spartan Stadium via hovercraft. Assume Clarklake is the vertex of the right angle and that the distances from Clarklake to Schoolcraft and East Lansing to be the legs of the triangle. Oh, and the Spartans win!


View Pythagorean Theorem in a larger map

Week 7 Reflections

I found it ironic that the authors said “there is power in words, but only when their meanings are made manifestly clear” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 135). Aren’t these the same authors who devoted all of Chapter 1 to defining the field of instructional technology? Thanks to their definition, I quickly understood the meaning of HPI and immediately linked it to professional development. To play off of the first quote, “there is power in TECHNOLOGY, but only when it is used to our (HUMAN’s) best ability”. What I mean is that schools can have the greatest technologies, but if the teachers are not trained on, keen of, or even using the technologies, it is of no benefit to the students. This is inversely reflected in the relationship between HPI and HPT; “human performance improvement is what we wish to achieve and human performance technology is the means we use to achieve it” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 137). Consider Baker College where we have a variety of educational technologies ranging from SMART Boards and clickers to overhead projectors and educational software. Most instructors attend 1-2 professional developments a year, of which few, if any, are technology-related. Like I said, I initially linked HPI to professional development, but the editors presented the idea that “human performance problems could be solved via means other than training” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 141). Technology aside and looking at Baker College faculty as a whole, “timely methods for providing feedback for employees” and “better worker selection procedures” are the most relatable means to improve human performance (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 141). Every quarter, faculty are evaluated Week 8 (of 10 weeks), and I think we receive feedback Week 1 or 2 of the following quarter. By then, most instructors have probably already set up their class as they normally do and it’s too late for major changes. To tie feedback into hiring, I think Baker College needs to not be afraid to let go of poor instructors. I’m told every quarter that the President reviews every instructor’s feedback and that we could lose our jobs if the scores are too low. And every quarter, the instructors that students complain about and that I know are poor instructors are still listed on class schedules. Maybe we need to evaluate human performance more like we evaluate educational technology and ask ourselves if it’s worth the investment and going to enhance the students learning experience.

Since I’m not an Apple user, I went to Zune.net to view podcasts available for my Microsoft Zune. I’ve always noticed the “podcasts” list on my Zune, but never bothered to get into it…until now. Two topics peaked my interest when I was browsing through the education podcasts – math and German. I’ve taught math for three years now and am always interested in new, fun ways to look at math. I reviewed the various math podcasts and subscribed to “The Math Dude – Quick and Easy Tricks to Make Math Easier” for a two primary reasons. First, the host, Jason, takes a non-traditional and more fun approach to math, which is much like my teaching style. He explains things in terms that people can relate to and makes math more understandable and offers a wide range of podcasts of beginning math, intermediate math, terms, test taking tips, real world math, and brain teasers. Second, the most recent episode was uploaded 10/8/10; a common problem I saw with most podcasts is that new episodes haven’t been uploaded for months or years. Listen to the “What Do Prefixes Mean in Math?” episode on the official Web site here - I think you’ll love the music like I did! :) I had never before noticed various types of RSS feeds, i.e. podcast and article, but I did this time and correctly subscribed to his podcasts via Google Reader…go me! The German podcast I chose to subscribe to is Pukka German: Real German Lingo! I’ve had over four years of formal German instruction and visited Germany twice, but everyday conversations are often very different than what is taught in school. This podcasts features episodes of street-wise lingo instruction in topics ranging from Oktoberfest and food to elections and family interactions. The unofficial Web site doesn’t work, but you can find out more about this podcast here. I’m going to review some higher ed podcasts within the next week, but I thought I’d first get into podcasts with some more fun educational topics! My sister's been doing a lot of business in Germany the last few months, so I'm going to send her the link to German Survival Phrases! Looking forward to seeing what exciting podcasts my classmates found! :) PS, hope you could find the links easier...I found out how to change the font color! :)

My boss, the director of the Learning Support Services (LSS) has been talking about podcasts for a few years now. Here’s a few examples of how the LSS could use podcasts:

LSS Services

Episode 1 – Tutoring

Episode 2 – Make-Up Testing

Episode 3 – Hours

Study Skills

Episode 1 – Note Taking

Episode 2 – Test Anxiety

Math podcasts would probably be broken down further into each class

MTH 091

Episode 1 – Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers

Episode 2 – Multiplying and Dividing Whole Numbers

Episode 3 – Adding and Subtracting Decimals

Episode 4 – Multiplying and Dividing Decimals

Episode 5 – Ranking Decimals

Students could access these short podcasts from home, or even a computer on campus, for a variety of topics! There could even be other categories with subject-specific tips and tricks, brain teasers, etc. to appeal to a wide variety of students!

Week 6 Reflections

I thought that the question for reflection this week was odd; my first thought was how has the Internet not changed the three areas mentioned. The benefits of the Internet that I discuss in the next few paragraphs does not even begin to scratch the surface of how much the Internet has changed, and enhanced, these areas.

In reference to K- 12 programs, I think the greatest benefit of the Internet is improved communication. Teachers can post pictures and videos from field trips (another classmate mentioned this, not my initial idea), district resources, and other day-to-day happenings. In the younger grades, teachers could use the Internet to post links to educational gaming sites or fun activities to do with the students outside of school. In the older grades, specifically high school, teachers could use the Internet to post grades, attendance, and homework in case students missed class. In all grades, teachers could use the Internet to more actively involve parents in the students’ learning experiences.

In regard to higher education (ed), I think the greatest benefit of the Internet is an expanded, and enhanced, learning. One of the most obvious uses of the Internet in higher ed is what we are all in right now – online courses. This gives students the opportunity to complete course work where they want, when they want, how they want, etc. Another use of the Internet is higher ed is course supplements like MyMathLab that provides students with a more individualized learning plan. These supplements, as well as online courses, give students more control over their learning and other benefits, such as instant feedback, gradebook, multimedia library, and another means of communication with the instructor.

As for business, I think the greatest benefit of the Internet is resources more readily available. The second to last section of the chapter, Into the Twenty-First Century: Changing Views and Practices, peaked my interest and I jumped to chapter 28 to read more about online learning. There, “supporting materials [and] books or manuals for reference” were mentioned (p. 295). Most, if not all, of the Baker College System information is on the Internet. We do FERPA trainings, request maintenance, view our pay stubs, access professional development (PD) resources, etc. on the Baker Web site. For a system of thirteen campuses spread across the state of Michigan, this is the ideal way to share resources.

Brown University

Here's a Google map of Brown University in Providence, RI. I worked as a facilitator for SuperCamp, an accelerated learning camp. The dorm rooms were in Woolley Hall, the course rooms were in Alumnae Hall, and our Main Room was in Andrews Hall.


View Larger Map

Who said math isn't fun(ny)?

A Vision of Students Today

This is possibly one of my favorite educational videos.

Week 5 Reflections

I’m excited to share one of my most favorite free-write activities in which I used flickr. Free-writes are used in dev ed math classes to utilize writing across the curriculum; I use it in my class to give the students a chance to think about math as more than just numbers. Around Week 8 of the 10-week quarter, the free-write topic is “design two math bumper stickers; one serious, one funny”. At first, the students look at me oddly and worry that they won’t come up with something good. I remind them that it’s not graded and just for fun, and a few minutes in, I hear giggles and students talking to themselves as they are writing. I removed any names and scanned the bumper stickers into a computer and uploaded them to flickr. The next class, after we get done with a quiz, I tell students to go to External Links on Blackboard, and then to the flickr link. I give them a small piece of paper and ask them to vote for their favorite bumper sticker. Again, there’s more laughs as the students browse through their classmates’ bumper stickers. My Dean even purchased some items (mini stapler, post-its, click eraser, etc.) for first, second, and third place winners. The following day, I reveal to students the bumper stickers that won and the designers claim their prizes. Click here for the link to my students’ bumper stickers. You can even tell me you favorite!

Two of the characteristics of instructional design resonated with me. The first characteristic, “instructional design is learner centered”, applies directly to my experience teaching at Baker College of Jackson. MyMathLab, an online supplement used in our dev ed math classes, makes each student’s experience a little more personalized; for example, homework is generated based on the student’s individual performance on a pre-assessment, so the exercises vary among students. Also, each student has the power to control his/her learning experience outside of the classroom; he/she can chose to do the MyMathLab work from any location with an internet connection, at any time of day, for any length of time, and as often as desired.

In regards to the third characteristic, “instructional design focuses on meaningful performance”, I think that this is an opportunity for improvement for Baker College. Baker College is a career college and focuses a lot on post-graduation employment. My experience with teaching dev ed math and tutoring higher math classes, shows a disconnect between classroom content and real world application. MyMathLab does have story problems , like one about a recipe that involves fractions, but what about using math in a career, in the real world? The Learning Support Services (LSS) staff and math teachers are often asked “why do I need to take math...I’m never going to use it”. Sometimes after finding out a student’s major, I can list a few examples. Most of the time I say, “because the math class is about more than just math...it’s about problem solving and critical thinking”. But really, how will the human services majors specifically use math? What about the criminal justice majors? Hopefully the opportunity for improvement is taken and we strengthen ourselves as a true career college.

Week 4 Reflections

1. The primary benefit of social bookmarking for educational purposes would be the sharing of resources. Social bookmarking sites, such as delicious and diigo, allow users to share, manage, organize, and tag sites. I’ve used the “external links” feature of MyMathLab to post links to helpful math Web sites for students. In the Learning Support Services (LSS), the tutoring center I work at, we utilize Blackboard to share links to helpful Web sites. What social bookmarking offers that MyMathLab and Blackboard do not, is tagging and access to other’s bookmarks. For example, all LSS bookmarks could be posted together, but tagged with words like “training”, “tutor”, “math”, “a&p”, etc. for easy searching. In regards to access to other’s bookmarks, the LSS could save other tutoring centers or helpful users to a Network. As for using social bookmarking sites for sharing with parents, this could be a great resource on a broader scale, i.e. the high school or school district. I know that college courses can be run very differently depending on the instructor and I don’t know much about K-12, but I think individual Web sites for each class could be too much. But wait, thanks to social bookmarking, these Web sites can be tagged for parents to easily find what they are looking for!

2. A couple things stood out to me when reading Chapter 1 of Trends and Issues. First, I kind of snickered to myself when I heard the term audiovisual (AV). I immediately thought back to when I was in high school (late 1990s - early 2000s) and how there were AV carts, AV rooms, etc. that seemed obsolete. My high school had already made some technological investments and instead of overheads and slides, we were using projectors and TVs. I still consider the latter technologies to be AV, but the term itself seems outdated.

Second, I was intrigued at the thought of technology as a process. I was excited to see the emphasis on design (someone needs to create it, right?), but had not thought of it as much more than pushing “play” or using a technology as you teach. In addition to an emphasis on design, an emphasis was also place in learning rather than on instruction (p. 4). We initially designed the technology with the intent of enhancing the students’ learning, so our usage should reflect that intention.

Third, I found that the AECT definition most related to my idea of educational technology. The key phrases that resonated to me are “improving performance” and “managing…processes and resources” (p. 6). I was surprised to see “ethical” in the definition, but read on and discovered that it mean “professional conduct” and that made more sense to me. The text’s definition is too wordy for me and the older definitions are just that – older. Therefore, I find that the AECT definition encompasses my personal and professional beliefs of educational technology. While it may seem odd to many people that the definition has changed over time, it is not surprising to me because it is technology-related. With continuously changing and improving technology, we must adapt our usage, ideas, and thus definition, of educational technology accordingly.

It's delicious!

Click here for my yummy bookmarks!

Week 3 Reflections

I would use a wiki in my teaching as a MTH 099E site.  I started one on PBworks.  The first thing I would do is structure the folder into a few pages: links, general questions/comments, daily log, and help!  I went ahead and made a links Wiki here, so check it out!  The general questions/comments forum would be a great form of communication between the teacher and students, as well as among students!  Like our similar discussion, students could post questions and the teacher or other students could post replies.

For example:

Student 1: Do we have to do our homework on lined paper?

Student 2: Yes, notebook.

Teacher: Please use perforated paper and the front side only...thank you!

As for the daily log, the teacher could post the content of the day’s class, i.e. textbook pages, concepts, in-class activities, and homework.  The teacher could also post lecture notes for students to review or a question for students to answer by commenting on the Wiki before the next day’s class.  I, personally, wouldn’t post notes because I teach at the college level and hold my students accountable to find out what they missed if they must miss class. 

For example:
Teacher: Today we covered 4.1 - Introduction to Adding and Subtracting Variables.  A few vocabulary terms to become familiar with are “like terms”, “variable”, “exponent”, and “base”.  For tomorrow, please simplify the following expression:  5y + 6xy - 3x + 2xy - 4y  All answers must be put in the “IN” folder by 10:00AM.

The help! section would be where students could post questions, to which other students would reply.  Ideally, students would ask questions like “why do we simplify six twelfths” not “why is the answer one half and not sixth twelfths”? This area would be monitored so that answers were not being shared.

For example:

Student 1: Why don’t 5x and 4y become 9xy?

Student 2: They’re not like terms. Variable parts have to be the same.  Look at pg. 103.

Student 1: Thank you.

There’s many other ways Wikis could be used, but these are the ones most beneficial to me in MTH 099E!  I don't know if I'd ever actually implement the use of a Wiki in my class, but the possibility is there and now I'm more familiar with Wikis, too!  :)

Week 2 Reflections

This is only my second experience as a “blogger”; I set up a blog while I was working in North Carolina and Rhode Island this summer for two reasons: I wanted to keep family and friends updated on my experience and I wanted to document the experience for myself. I do not read friends’ blogs, or even their numerous facebook status updates, and do not plan to continue blogging for personal reasons. I think it’s a great tool, but not for everyone!

This was my first experience with RSS feeds; I had heard of them and noticed the icons on various Web sites, but that was the extent. I feel a little overwhelmed with the numerous unread daily feeds, but think I might enjoy it once I fine-tune my subscriptions and become more familiar with customizing Google Reader to fit my needs. Generally I get frustrated when technologies try and take care of things for me (I’m used to going to each Web site I’m interested in), but I think this may be helpful!

Blogs fit into the demonstrations level of Dale’s Cone of Experience. “A demonstration is a visualized explanation of an important fact, idea, or process” and blogs are written explanations of significant stories, feelings, and memories. Like a specific, thorough demonstration, blogs contain descriptive words and informal language that communicates clearly to its readers.

RSS feeds fit into the exhibits level of Dale’s Cone of Experience. RSS feeds are compilations of articles, posts, updates, etc. that are read by “spectators” - a common feature of exhibits. When I hear the word “exhibit”, I think of a museum where people are walking around individually or in small groups and nodding, frowning, or thinking deeply to themselves as they interpret the paintings. The feeds are these paintings and we can interpret the information how we choose to. If we are not interested after reading the tag line and first sentence, we can move on. If we are interested, we can click the link to read the full story and explore the Web site more!

An imaginative educational use of blogs would be to post various math problems that students can read and reply to. I’m a firm believer that if someone can explain a math concept or process to someone else, that they themselves have a solid understanding of the concept or process. For example, when studying integers, I could ask students to first go find a Web site with integers, i.e. the Weather Channel, Google Maps, etc and propose a question. Students would be required to reply to other student’s questions and explain their thought process and answer.

An imaginative educational use of blogs would be to subscribe to various Web sites that offer numerical, or statistical, data. We focus a lot on real-world application in our math classes and utilizing everyday resources in the classroom is very effective. For example, when studying mean, median, and mode, I would ask students to follow the Micihgan State Spartans basketball RSS feed. We could look at the team statistics, the players and team as a whole, and analyze various points, i.e. free throws and three-pointers. We could find the high, low, and average of the season for the team, as well as the high-scoring players.

Week 2 RSS Feed

My Google Reader is full of "stuff" and I'm ready to see all the Web site and blog updates in my dashboard!

Week 1 Reflections

Two shifts from Reigeluth’s article really resonated with me. The first, “focus from presenting material to making sure that learners’ needs are met” is apparent in the developmental math students I teach and tutor at Baker College of Jackson. These developmental math (and English) courses require to achieve a specific level of mastery of the content in order to receive a passing grade. Like the suggested “hold[ing] achievement constant at a mastery level”, I feel the number of dev ed students would significantly decrease if they weren’t pushed through the K-12 system and given passing grades in math classes when they have not mastered the content. The second, “passive to active learning”, is a primary focus of dev ed instruction and tutoring. In math dev ed courses, we utilize MyMathLab. Many non-traditional students and outsiders may say that this is less personal for the students, easier on the instructors, and not as effective as old methods. What a lot of those people fail to understand is that MyMathLab and most other technologies are used as supplements to enhance the students’ learning experience. For example, MyMathLab provides instant feedback, exercise resources, and a variety of multimedia. Students are already on their computers on facebook, MySpace, or Twitter; why not a homework Web site, too? Reigeluth’s statement “society is undergoing massive changes...” says it all. 21st century students are different and educational strategies must be adapted to accommodate them.

I started reading Postman’s article with Dr. Horvitz’s forewarning of the nature of the article in mind. This is the second article of Postman’s I’ve read and I don’t think I particularly enjoy his style of writing. First, I don’t understand the reference to Luddites; his other article had a similar, odd opening that I found displeasing. Maybe I am too used to more straight-forward and technical articles. Second, his primary theme of both his Honda story and technology in schools, “what is the problem...” was a problem in itself for me. I don’t think that there needs to be a specific problem in order for an improvement or advancement to be made. For example, I re-do things at work every now and then not because there was a problem with them, but because I can make the things better. To me, the challenge and constant push to improve things is what drives me. I often lose interest and feel like my work is worthless when I get bored and quit trying to make things better. Lastly, his comment that “information has become a form of garbage” is upsetting. I immediately thought of the Bing ads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxfk3hS0uU) and their campaign of “search overload syndrome”. I think technology does give us greater and easier access to information, but it is up to schools, parents, etc. to instruct students and children on how specifically to use the information. Some may diagnose themselves as sufferers of search overload syndrome; I look at it as a challenge, a scavenger hunt, an opportunity to learn more, and a great way to improve trouble-shooting and critical thinking skills.