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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Module 7: Final Project Resources

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Your final project is where you will use what you have learned throughout the class to create a final unit where you will be identifying an outcome and then create a learning environment using audio, video and emerging instructional technologies.

Here are some links to some examples of what has been done in the past in Emerging Instructional Technologies.  They do not exactly fit the current requirements, but they will give you the idea.
These are similar projects that were done in previous Media Planning and Production courses. They weren’t created to fit the requirements for this assignment, but they are good examples of how media is used to create a successful learning environment.
This RWLD posting will provide some instruction and resource materials that should help support your work.

Selecting Emerging Instructional Technologies
Looking for ideas for Web 2.0 technologies you might use?  There are 1000s of Web 2.0 tools in the world. Here are a few lists that may be useful. Don't be overwhelmed by the number of tools listed. Browse the lists until you find something interesting:

 Creating Rubrics

A rubric is a tool used to evaluate student work. The rubric presents a list of the criteria that are considered important. Each of these criteria are accompanied by descriptions of different levels of success in demonstrating proficiency in each of the areas.
Here is an introductory video that uses chocolate chip cookies to explain the basics of using a rubric for evaluation.


Rubrics serve multiple roles. While people usually consider rubrics as evaluation tools, their most important task is to inform the learner of what is expected. Each cell tells you what is expected for each criteria.  Learners can use this tool to evaluate their work before submitting it.

Here is a video that is a bit more technical than the cookie video. It appears to have been created by a college student, but it is complete. The only problem with the  presentation is that they place the "unacceptable" column in the left column.  It is generally accepted that it is easier for learners to place the "exceptional" column in the left column so that it will be directly next to the criteria name.


You can easily create a rubric using a table in Word or Google Docs, but you can also create a rubric using RubiStar (rubistar.4teachers.org)  The advantage to using RubiStar is that there are many samples of rubrics that you can modify to fit your needs.

Writing Performance Objectives
The key to writing performance objectives is that you need to write a statement that describes an outcome behavior that can be measured.  This behavior is evidence that something has been learned.  Use observable and measurable verbs to describe the learner's performance.
  • Understanding is not measurable.  
  • Listing is measurable. 
You can refer to the Helpful Hundred (.pdf) which is a list of 100 action verbs you might use.  You might use others, but these are all performance action verbs for performance objectives.

The most common form of a performance objective is the ABCD objective.  This is one that includes the Audience, Behavior, Condition and Degree. Here is a page that explains the ABCD objectives.

Here are some examples of ABCD objectives:
  • Objective 1: Using scale models(C), fourth grade students (A) will arrange the eight planets in order from the sun (B) with 75% accuracy (D).
  • Objective 2: In 400 words or less (C), fourth grade students (A) will describe characteristics of a planet (B) with at least 80 percent accuracy of both information and grammar (D).
  • Objective 3: On a test (C), fourth grade students (A) will label planets in our solar system as gaseous or rock bodies (B) with no more than one error (D).
You may not realize this but Dr. Z wrote a song about writing ABCD objectives.  It is written to the tune of Scarborough Fair.  You can see Dr. Z sing "Are You Going to Write Objectives?" in the Roman South Theater in Jerash, Jordan. Granted it is a bit off key, but that was just the acoustics.  =-)

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Module 6: Learning in a Virtual World


Who would YOU have as an avatar if you had the chance?  Meet Dr. Z

This will be an opportunity to meet, greet and talk with people through virtual means.
 
You will have the opportunity to use a Quest Gaming system at 3D GameLab to be introduced to the Second Life Virtual Worlds.  This will involve you opening a Second Life account and then exploring.


You should receive an invitation to partake in the Quest in the next couple of days.
 
Remember to post your Second Life name at the bottom of the page on our Student Contact page.
 
We will visit the Iowa Island in Second Life. Your new Home Away from Home is Dr. Z's


Read the materials and watch the videos below to get an idea of what SL involves. Can you find any materials on the web that you would like to add to our collection?

7 Things You Should Know about Virtual Worlds. A virtual world is an immersive online environment whose "residents" are avatars representing individuals who participate through the Internet. Many institutions are experimenting with virtual worlds for educational purposes. They may foster constructivist learning by placing students in a context that challenges them to learn without explicit learning objectives and assessment.

Using Second Life for Immersive Learning podcast
(Educause Connect Podcast) 14-minute podcast with Dr. Cynthia Calongne, Professor of Computer Science at Colorado Technical University. Discusses how she uses Second Life to provide real-life laboratories for her students.


Educational Uses of Second Life
Interesting 7-minute video introduction to the educational possibilities of Second Life.

Dr. Z's Intro to Second Life Wiki
A series of YouTube videos that Dr. Z found to introduce you to Second Life.


Virtual Social Worlds And the Future of Learning
Learning in Three Dimensions: Experiencing the Sensibilties Imagining the Possibilities of virtual worlds in education.


Friday, November 1, 2013

Module #5b: How Gaming Affects My World

ultrapublications.com/JoshWV
Gaming is now officially part of your life.

In the first half of this module, you were challenged to play Kingdom Rush for at least three hours.  Chances are quite good that your gaming experience lasted much long than that hour. In fact, you may have found your life has changed with a few hours per day dedicated to continuing to do your "homework."

Why is this? What does the gaming process provide that rewards you in such a way that you want to re-experience it?

You reflected on your playing and learning experience on your blog.  You even read and reacted to your classmates' experiences.  Did their experiences match yours?  What were the similarities and differences?

Gaming is full of choices and the second half of this module will require you to make a choice.  Below are two sets of resources that you must review.  One of them deals with Gaming and Learning while the other addresses How Gaming Affects Our Daily Lives.

Gaming and Learning
What Teachers Need to Know about the Videogame Generation(.pdf)
7 Ways Games Reward the Brain
Gaming's Elements Make for Good Learning
How is Gaming Different for Boys and Girls?

How Gaming Affects Our Daily Lives
What Kids Learn That's Positive from Playing Video Games (.pdf)

How Gaming Makes a Difference in Your World 
TED Talks About Gaming in Our Daily Lives
Is Gaming "As Real As Your Life?"

Return to the Module 5b in BB9 for the rest of your instructions.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Module #5a - Gaming in Education

It's NOT about the Games.  It's about the Gaming.

Did you know that in 2011:
  • 65% of US households played video games?
  • Almost 1/2 of the video gamers were adults < 49 years old?
  • The average gamer was 32?
  • 2 out of 5 gamers were women.?
Gaming is not a fad. Video gaming is a way of life. Gaming is an activity that provides sufficient positive feedback to cause players to exclude all else. It is challenging enough to entice gamers to continually attempt to beat their last score.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if school was like gaming? Where students would be so motivated by their learning activities that they would get up early and stay up late to engage themselves in the learning process.

Here is a video where Dr. Z introduces how we can Learning to Game by Gaming to Learn.

How Did Pac-Man Do It?
Pac-Man entered the market in 1980 and was followed by Ms. Pac-Man in 1981 (I remember my wife playing one of the original machines in Venice, CA.) It was spell binding. Players would funnel quarter after quarter to try to better their previous scores.

BUT WHY?  What does Pac-Man have that was so appealing?

In 1982, R. F. Bowman released an article entitled A Pac-Man Theory of Motivation: Tactical Implications for Classroom Instruction which explained his theory. The article is not available online, but the Reading for Pleasure blogger, Dixie, included a useful summary.  Read it.

Flow - The Psychology of the Optimal Experience 
Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Chick-sent-me-hi) has studied states of "optimal experience" for over two decades. He is exploring the conditions and attitudes that engage people's concentration and attention to the point of total absorption. He calls this state of consciousness Flow.  In this state of attention, learners are at their most receptive level.

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi discusses his theory of Flow in this 5-minute video. 
It is the primary introduction to the Flow concept. He further explains its application to education in this short interview on Edutopia.org:  Motivating People to Learn.
 
9 Characteristics of Flow have been identified. Learn these characteristics so that you can later relate them to the apparent aspects of gaming and learning.
Pay careful attention to this concept of Flow because while it may seem like "good common sense," it is an underlying principle of learning.

Gaming's Elements Make for Good Learning
Gaming is a directional process where the player is guided towards a selected goal through positive and negative reinforcement. Isn't that similar to a good learning situation? How does that relate to the 9 characteristics of Flow?

Read this posting which discusses a list of 8 characteristics of Gaming. Relate these to those of Flow. What similarities do you see? What distinctions?  You will also find a video of a leading gaming researcher, Dr. James Paul Gee.  Watch this video and correlate it with the connections we have been discussing.

Consider your present concepts about gaming. Have they changed in the past 24 hours? If so, what have you realized?  How does this affect your perspective as a trainer, teacher, educator?

Using Gaming Practices to Improve to Learning
In this 10-minute video, Paul Anderson explains how he reinvented his course to make it a gaming learning experience. Pay attention to the insights that he shares about the elements of active student-centered learning environments.


Time for Gaming
You have read and watched about gaming. Now it is time for you to play games of your own.

Read the assignment sheet and you will see that AFTER YOU HAVE REVIEWED ALL OF THIS INFORMATION, your assignment is to play Kingdom Rush for 3 hours in the next week.

Kingdom Rush is available for your phone and your computer.
  • iPhone - Go to the App Store and search for "Kingdom Rush Free"
  • Android - Google "kingdom rush free android"
  • Chrome - Go to the Web Store and search for "Kingdom Rush Free"
  • Web - Google "kingdom rush free" There are some sites where you can play it for free but you have to look at some advertising.
GAMERS!!!  Help your classmates.  I have created a BB9 discussion forum where you can connect with your classmates. Ask questions. Supply advice. Share sites that provide assistance.  Learn from each other.  Play simultaneously and talk with each other through Google Hangout while you do it.

You must play for at least 3 hours. Begin by reviewing all of the lists of characteristics that we have explored so far. Consider these as you learn the game and play it throughout the next 60 minutes. Reflect on your learning process (these just thought provokers.)
  • What helped?  What hindered?  
  • What were the good learning experiences? 
  • Were you in The Flow? Why or why didn't you reach the Flow? 
  • How has this affected you as a teacher or student or human?
Submission: Reflect about this on your blog. Refer to the Assignment sheet about what you need to say.

BTW, Dr. Z has been playing this game for months and this is what he has accomplished.  He has almost achieved the 50 stars he needs to go to the next level, but it has been quite a journey.  ;-/

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Module #4 - Global Learning



iClipart for Schools
We are engaging in education online. This means that we can sit in our office or classroom or den while we interact with classmates from a distance. This distance might be anywhere in Iowa or the midwest or the U.S. or around the world. What do you think about this online learning? Is it useful? Are you learning? What are the opportunities that can be afforded a learner using distance learning opportunities?

The successful individual cannot just be a citizen of a state or even a country. We live in a world where we must be aware of people and their customs around the world. We must be worldly citizens who feel connected with others.

The World is Flat . . . or at least that is what Thomas Friedman tells us.  What does this mean? It means that the “playing field is being leveled.” Workers in India and China are competing for jobs all around the world. Accountants, doctors, teachers, software programmers and editors are all positions that can be done at a distance using today’s technology. This means that, due to a group of flatteners identified by Friedman, technological and political forces have converged to create a web-enabled playing field that enables participants to collaborate regardless of geography, distance or language.

Friedman’s book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, is a book that all educators should read (or at least have some familiarity – you can watch the 1:15 lecture at Yale to get a brief view of his ideas.) His primary ideas have to do with how the world is changing into a world where the traditional rules of commerce and workplace are no longer valid.  Mix these ideas with those of Christenson (and company) about the Disrupting Classroom and you see that there can be some serious changes in how education needs to be addressed to support our global economy.  Have you ever worked with students in another state, country or continent in your classes (as student or teacher?)

Flat Classroom Project
Two high school business teachers were exploring Friedman’s book with their students in 2006. They bumped into each other on the Web while they were searching for information about Friedman's concept. They began questioning if they could and should flatten their own classrooms. If commerce can cross borders, then what about classroom? While these two teachers, Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay, were on the same page when it came to their teaching pedagogy, they had a whole globe between them. Vicki taught in a small school district in Camille, Georgia (U.S) and Julie taught in an American school in Doha, Qatar. Together they set out to design their first project. 

The Flat Classroom Project was an endeavor where the students were challenged to work collaboratively through the web to explore ideas in communicate about them using both words and video media. This project expanded into a variety of projects include Digiteen, Eracism, and NetGenEd.  Each of these collaborative projects requires students to engage in global collaborative projects using collaborative work spaces.

The Flat Classroom Project model breaks the global collection of students into 11 groups. These groups coincide with 11 flatteners of the world. Each of these groups is composed of students from various schools around the world. Here is an example of how the groups were divided in early 2010.  Each flattener was broken into 6 more pieces. A small group of about 5 students assumed the task to communicate about each of these pieces. First they had to use a wiki as a collaborative tool where they could research and respond to writing prompts. Here is one based upon the #2 flattener “How the World Wide Web has Changed the World.” You can find the list of students involved in this flattener at the end of the section. After writing about the flattener, the groups began the task to create videos to further explain a specific perspective concerning the flattener.  Here is the set of final videos that this same group created concerning the #2 flattener as well.  All of these written and video creations are judged by additional teachers and university students.  The top projects are recognized with awards.  It is a whole different perspective on learning.

Spend some time exploring the different types of projects on the Flat Classroom Project website.Read about them and explore the various finished projects for each of them. These projects include: Flat Classroom Project, eRacism, Digiteen and NetGen Ed.

Watch the video on the 2009 Flat Classroom Project conference. You can also learn more about the 2011 Flat Classroom Project conference in Bejing, China.

Global School Network
Another center for global education is the Global School Network. GSN has been around for over 20 years. It began with connecting students through Apple II+ computers and telephone lines and has evolved into a center where educators and students can connect with colleagues from around the world. Go to their website at gsn.org and you will find a collaborative center that provides many educational opportunities.
  • Doors of Diplomacy - An international exchange for middle and high school students. This US Dept of State sponsored program facilitates collaboration both locally and across borders.
  • International Cyberfair - This project encourages students to create collaborative projects in their local areas and then share it through their websites.
  • Projects Registry - A huge database of projects where students and teachers can participate. Enter the specifics of the students and subjects you want to explore and you will find many opportunities for you to engage in Global Learning.

Around the World with 80 Schools
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano was a language teacher with a dream. She saw the opportunity that video conferencing tools like Skype afforded the classroom teacher and she used them to enable her students to interact with other students from around the world.

So What do you think? Is introducing the world into your classroom a reasonable way to begin to develop global citizens?

Z

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Module #3 - Social Networking in Education

Getting Into the Blog-o-sphere
You have already entered the blog-o-sphere by beginning to follow some bloggers.  What did you learn?  What comments did you leave on the bloggers' postings?  Did you get any responses back from anyone? 

Now that you have reviewed the postings of accomplished bloggers, what do you think?  Was it useful? How could you make blogging useful to you?

It is time for you to create your own blog-o-sphere identity. You will begin by creating a blog and then begin to share your ideas, experiences and resources. In the past we have said that blogging involves Reading, Commenting, and Writing/Creating.  You have already had the opportunity to read and comment.  Let's hope that you continue with this enthusiasm as you embark on your blog writing/creating experience.

Writing/Creating 
Writing is the key to it all. This is where you can share your ideas with world. It is where you have to confront your thoughts. I once had a professor (Dr. David Moursund) who told me that he didn't know how he felt about a topic until he had written about it. Writing requires you to organize your ideas so that you can express them in a clear and cogent manner.
1. First thing you must do is create a blog. We use Google's Blogger as the standard because it is quick and easy, but you can use whichever blog you would like. Just remember that it needs to be accessible to the world.

Here is a 2-minute video on how you can create your first Blogger account. 



2. Your blog will be enhanced if you add a few gadgets to it. I would suggest that you add: 1) Subscribe to (allows others to subscribe to your blog); 2) Labels (lists the labels you have added to your postings); and 3) Stats (shows how frequently people visit your website.)  Here is a video that will show you how to add these three gadgets to your blog.  



3) Now that you have the easel, it is time for you to share your ideas.  This is where you get to reflect upon the blogs you have been reading for the past couple of weeks.  Here are some things that I want you to review:
  • Review the names of the blogs you have been reading.
  • Explain what each of them discusses?  
  • Have you found them to be as interesting as you expected?  Why?
  • Have you found a common theme between them?  Is there a general reason why you selected them?
  • What have you found to be the attributes of these blogs that have been effective in making them interesting and useful?
REMEMBER!!!  This is NOT in an enclosed eLearning discussion group that ONLY Dr. Z will read.  It is in the public. All of your classmates will be reading it. People in the public may read it.  DON'T write it like you are answering this writing prompts on a test.  Write it in a manner that will interest your colleagues.

You MUST read all of your classmates' postings and thoughtfully respond to them by the end of the module. 

What to write?  Sometimes it's tough to find what to write.  The MOST important part of blogging is to be PASSIONATE about what you write.  Here is a list of ideas for writing prompts but get creative!!!


Once you have an idea, here are some hints for making effective postings.  You may have found some other ideas about what makes a posting interesting.
  • Begin with an active title. (i.e., Making Your Blog Postings More Interesting; 5 Ways to Extend Your Summer Vacation; How Blogs Changed the Writing Process in my 10th Grade English Class; or ????)
  • Include an image or photo of some sort.  You can find a wealth of photos you can use (as long as you cite them as I have done below) at Flickr/CreativeCommons  (www.flickr.com/creativecommons)
  • Always include at least 2 links to something relevant on the web. This means that when you discuss the Dr. Z Reflects and Clif's Notes blogs, you must have links to those websites so that your reader can examine them.  It is similar to the APA citations you have to do in your research papers, only it is MUCH easier to include. Include links to your classmates postings.  Build community.
  • Your postings must have depth and that is more than can be captured on the single page.  Writing a post can be a small research project that will provide readers a deeper understanding of the topic.  This depth is provided by the additional links you provide your readers.
  • End your postings with questions to elicit responses from your readers.
Here are some blog postings on how/why to create good blog postings.
So how do you see yourself using blogs in your future teaching/training careers?

Twitter and TweetDeck 
Twitter is an important form of communication.  It seems to be used more in the professional world (Facebook fills that person niche for social networking.) Instead of making this page unduly long, I have created a Blogger Page and dedicated it to Twittering. This is a new capability of Blogger. The nice thing about this is that I don't have to deal with it as a dynamic blog post.  It is also available for linking from anywhere on the Web in case you want to use it in another form.  Only limitation is that you can only have 10 of these pages per blog.
Go to the Twitter Page and then come back here to see what needs to be done.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Create these columns in TweetDeck:
  1. Create a column that will follow our list of class twitter-ers: eitF2011
  2. Create a column that will follow the hashtag: #UNI_IT
  3. CHALLENGE: Create a column that will follow tweets about a specific area of interest to you. I am not going to tell you how to do this. You need to search the web or twitter or YouTube to find out how to do this.
RSS and Your Personal Learning Network
Another problem with seemingly endless amount of information on the web is trying to get to it.  Each time you want to read the blogs you have selected, you have to click on the bookmark you have created and then go to the blog to see if there are any new postings. Sometimes there aren't.  WHAT A PAIN!!!!!

Wouldn't it be easier if we could just subscribe to these blogs so that they would come to us like a magazine in the mail?  Well folks, we CAN!!!!  We use the magic of RSS.  RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication (RSS).

Wondering about RSS?
Read What the Heck IS RSS?  - (a 2-page description on CopyBlogger)

Watch RSS in Plain English - (a 3-minute video on YouTube)

RSS allows us to be connected to the world. Think how this could change the structure of education. Here is video explaining how a teacher and students used RSS to create a student-centric learning environment.

The Networked Student -  a video that tells a true story about how a student used a Personal Learning Network (PLN) to develop a network of resources for his learning.

Beginning Your iGoogle/Personal Learning Network
Now that you have seen what's possible with a well-developed personal learning network, it's time for you to create your own. There are many programs used to collect resources through RSS.  These are called aggregators because they aggregate RSS feeds.

Teachers create PLNs to organize resources for themselves and ultimately their students. Art Titzel, an 8th grade American Cultures teacher, explains in his blog how he created and maintains his PLN. How I Built My Personal Learning Network (PLN)

For this class, we will use Feedly.  iGoogle and Google Reader were discontinued in November, 2012. Below is an introduction to creating your own Feedly-based PLN.

Feedly: A Good Replacement for Google Reader - a 4-minute introduction created by professor Barbara Schroeder for her students. This is especially useful because she tells you about how you can use Feedly to read and respond to your classmates' postings.

Blogs You Need to Subscribe to:
  1. Classmates' Blogs - Go to our Student Contact wiki and find the links to your classmates' blog. (You might also see them in the right column of this page, depending upon how quick Dr. Z is in posting the links.) Use the subscribe buttons on their blogs to subscribe to them through iGoogle.  These blogs need to be in the blog tab that you just created.
  2. Professional Blogs - You have been following blogs. Link to them so that you can keep up on them.
A video explaining how you can add your classmates' blog (or any blog) to Feedly so that you can read them all in one place.
Read the Blogs:
  1. Read Your Classmates' Blogs - You are expected to read ALL of your classmates' and comment on them. Check your PLN every day. Keep up on this.
    1. How to Comment Like a King (or Queen)
  2. Read the Professional Blogs - Keep up on these blogs as well. You will expand your connections as you comment and reply to these bloggers.
TweetDeck and Feedly are personal systems that only you can review.  This doesn't mean that you shouldn't complete this assignment.  You WILL be held accountable.
photo: flickr.com/roland

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Module #2 - Distributed Learning Communities

Distributed Learning Communities
You are entering a distributed learning community. Distributed learning environments are often separated by distance.  More importantly, the dynamics of a successful distributed learning community will be on the students. It will emphasize building a community of learners where individuals work collaboratively with their group members rather than competitively. Students can be experts and are acknowledged as such. It is a community where individuals work for the betterment of the group.

A learning community is a group of learners who actively demonstrate 4 characteristics:
    1. Diversity of expertise; 
    2. Shared objective of advancing the collective knowledge;
    3. Learning how to learn; and 
    4. Mechanisms for sharing what is learned.

Dr. Christopher Dede of Harvard University wrote about how distributed learning communities can be supported/enhanced through emerging technologies. Read the following two articles and consider how this model relates to your past and present educational experiences: 
Web 2.0 Tools  

The interactive nature of Web 2.0 tools facilitates interaction between people. The Internet has flattened the playing field between people and nations of the world. No longer is geography a limiting factor for human and professional interaction. X-rays taken in Bangor, Maine, can be read by a doctor in San Diego, California. A customer support call from Las Crusas, New Mexico, is answered by a specialist in Manila, Philippines.

The educational opportunities have been expanded as well. Ninth grade Spanish students in Pleasant Plains, Illinois will practice the language as they Skype with high school English students in Aguas Dulces, Uruguay. A third grade student in Des Moines can work weekly with a tutor in Bangalore, India. Our ethnocentric world will never be the same.
While you are reading, consider these following points. These questions are similar to the basis for the reflecting you will do in the Discussion section of this module:
    • How is the Distributed Learning Community scenario different from your present/past educational experience.
    • Will these learning environments fit your learning needs? How about those of your present/future students?
    • Consider specific instances that would demonstrate your ideas.
      Communicating through Social Media.
      Social Media is one of the most important emerging technologies today. Not really emerging if you consider how it has taken the world by storm. YouTube and Hulu are becoming replacements for network television. Governments are being overthrown in the middle east by civilians armed with nothing more than Twitter and Facebook. Newspapers are closing down because information is so accessible through blogs and online sources.

      Social media is important in education as well. While the transition seems to be slower than many would like to see, using social media to build connections between teachers, students and the world is happening throughout our schools. 

      Blogging

      Blogging is the tool that has done a great deal to democratize information and communication. No longer do we need to have our own printing press to share our ideas with others. It is as easy as 1-2-3 (see Blogger) to hang out your publishing shingle and get into the business of writing for the public.

      Let's see what a blog is and what it can be:
      Before you can blog, you need to know what composes a blog. You need to have background in reading blogs in your area of interest. You need to see how postings are usually more interesting if they have been well researched and provide a variety of links that will help the reader explore further into the topic. You need to become an active member of the Blogosphere. You will be reading blogs this module and begin to write your own blog in module 2.

      Working with blogs during this course will involve Reading, Commenting, and Writing/Creating. 


      Reading

      1. Follow at least 2 of these professional blogs over the rest of the semester.
      2. Read at least 1 blog in a personal area of interest.  Use the Google Blog Search (blogsearch.google.com) to find someone who writes about what you enjoy. This search will provide you with postings, but usually the blogs that hold the postings are in your area of interest. 

      Commenting  
      Commenting is important if you are going to be an involved part of the Blogosphere. Your comments give a blogger an indication that someone is reading her/his work. That gives a sense of mission. Interestingly enough, bloggers will often respond to your comments either directly or in an future posting.
      Useful comments are much more than just a quick reaction to a posting. They can build the basis for an ongoing discussion. They can add additional content to the discussion. They can  . . . tell you what, I don't want to make a huge list here. Why don't you jump over the Vicki Davis's CoolCatTeacher blog and read her posting, How to Comment like a King (or Queen)Comment on her blog using her guidelines. Say something about being in our EIT class. We will be working with her later on in the semester.

      This week we are commenting on other people's blogs. Soon we will begin writing our own blogs.

      Twittering (#eitF13)

      Another thing that we will be doing this week is signing up for Twitter.   This will be a way that we can follow each other as well as follow any comments that apply specifically to our Emerging Instructional Technologies (EIT - You will see me using EIT to refer to our class.)

      Twitter in Plain English video - Short video that provides an intro to Twitter.  "Plain English" videos are simple, low tech videos by Lee LeFever. They are what you should watch if you want to learn about anything from Twitter to Blogging to RSS to US Government to Zombies.  You can find them in YouTube by searching for "Plain English"

      Getting Started with Twitter - 5-minute video about how to sign up for Twitter. Good tutorial.

      User Name Advice: 
      Before you sign up for Twitter, consider this when selecting your screen name. Twitter is usually used for more professional activities. You should use a username that you will use for ALL of your places on the social media network.  This should be a professional name that will easily identify you.  
      • DON'T use one with long numbers or cute sayings: jbrown714456 or funnyguy3933
      • DO use something with your name if possible  zeitz, leighzeitz, leigh.zeitz, vvrotny
      1. Join Twitter.  Go to the Twitter homepage and sign up (http://twitter.com).
      2. Follow Dr. Z. Once you are signed in, go to http://twitter.com/zeitz   Click on the Follow button so that you can follow my tweets. I will follow you back, so you will know that you have at least one follower.
      3. Tell us Your Twitter Name. Go to our Student Contact page on our wiki where you will post your twitter name.
        Read about Guy Kawasaki's 10 Steps to Terrific Twittering by Lauren McKay.  Consider how you could use this in your professional life.  You don't need to just use it with your students. Twitter can be a powerful personal professional development tool that will open you to the world. (Optional Reading: the Edutopia posting, Twittering, Not Frittering: Professional Development in 140 Characters)

        Hashtags
        You can follow people using Twitter. This is useful if you want to know about a person, but what if you want to know about a topic?  Twitter has something called a Hashtag for that.

        We are interested in hashtags that have to do with education, but here is a link to the Top 7 #Hashtags of 2011  It's not surprising that #7 was SuperBowl but did you know that #1 was Egypt?

        ASSIGNMENT:  I know that I said all assignments would be part of the module, but this is a small one and I didn't want to waste a whole assignment page on it.

        This week, you need to Tweet at least 5 times about realizations you have had from our class, the MPP class or life itself.   You MUST include the hashtag: #EITF13
        You can search for #EITF13 to follow what other students are saying.

        Hope this has been useful.

        Z

        Leave your comments below. Click on the Comments word and then add your ideas.

        Tuesday, August 27, 2013

        Module #1 - The Introduction


        Welcome to your RWLD.  
        The RWLD is a resource page that includes an assortment of Readings, Watchings, Listenings and Doings. This multimedia approach is designed to improve the learning experience in multiple ways:
        • Millennial learners (students ages 10 - 28) think best using multiple forms of input. The RWLD approach provides a variety of forms of information.
        • Even older learners enjoy differing ways to absorb information. RWLDs address differentiated learning needs as well.
         Your assignments will be found in the eLearning website.  They may be mentioned in the RWLD, but the real instructions are on each of the assignment sheets.

        This week you will complete a number of surveys and inventories as well as creating a media-ography about yourself where you are introducing yourself to your colleagues.  As noted earlier, the specifics of these assignments are not here.

        Begin by completing the ILS questionnaire below and then entering your personal information into the following surveys.


        Watch these videos. They will hopefully provide some interesting perspectives on emerging technology throughout the ages.
        • Introducing Le Book - depicts the process that a support person might have used when books were first introduced.
        • Iowa, Did You Know? -  Interesting video that uses data about today's world to demonstrate how it is changing and providing us with ideas about the world where our students will be living. 
        • Web 2.0 . . . The Machine is Us/ing Us - How has/is life changing in the digital age. Prof. Wesch explains this in this video. Learn what Prof. Wesch is learning about the digital age at Kansas State University.
        • The Sixth Sense - Dr. Pattie Maes shares her research into creating a wearable device that "enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data." This video is on the TED website. These are short presentations by some of the greatest minds in the world. You will enjoy exploring the TED Talks website. It will definitely replace the time you spend watching TV.
        Remember to read pages 1 - 44 in the Disrupting Class book.

        Consider how the world and innovations depicted in the previous video connect with the ideas portrayed in Christensen's book.

        photo:flickr.com/GypsyFae