Reflective Summary #2
Question #1
The case study investigating participatory simulations, Chapter 9, looked at computer assisted simulation activities that require participation by all members. The hand held computer devices, “Thinking Tags”, allowed students an authentic instructional experience without actually being affected by a viral outbreak. The Thinking Tags mimicked a virus and how it spreads among community members. Once the students gathered data through the use of the tags, they engaged in discourse to determine what the simulators were trying to depict. The inquiry-based instructional strategy required students to revisit, reflect, question and compare each member’s information to determine the results. This activity is based out of Dewey’s Principle of Experience. The students were engaged in meaningful inquiry activities that built lasting understanding of viral outbreaks (Colella, 2001). This understanding-oriented activity design required the students to repeatedly conduct the activity until they were able to reach a conclusion.
The role of the teacher was critical in the success of the participatory simulation. Initially the teacher designed the Tag information content and how it was passed from one device to another. To ensure the students had an understanding of what to do, the teacher had to present lesson objectives, expectations and “how to” for using the tags prior to the activity. This provided the “what” and “why” questions for the student’s discourse. As the activity progressed, the teacher interjected, poise questions, and guided discussions ensuring learning opportunities were not lost among the students. The participatory simulations prompted each student to interact to fully understand the “what” and “why” questions. The design of the activity was broken down into stages to ensure quality knowledge growth. The initial simulations, discussion, and the final simulations manipulated the scaffolding of student knowledge. The activity relies upon the social constructivist theory, where learning occurs when individuals interact with one another (Jones & Bronack, 2007). The students could be viewed as a community of practice (Schlager, Fusco, & Schank, 2002). The teacher provided the minimal amount of information and through the participatory simulations, the students learned from one another.
Question #2
For my physics virtual community, I have chosen to use Moodle, an open source software package. Moodle capabilities include forums, journals, quizzes, resources, choices, surveys, assignments, chats, and workshops. In regards to scaffolding peer knowledge, students will participate in discussion forums responding to guided questions specific to the weekly content. The ability to chat synchronously will allow students to engage in discourse that can be saved for future review. Another collaborative feature is the wiki module in Moodle, allowing students to create and edit documents. All students can participate or just a few in the development of the document. Developing community requires individuals to have common interest and goals. Having a sense of belonging and the formation of trust among the members strengthens the community. Moodle allows members to enhance personal profiles enabling a closer connection among them. As members engage in forum modules, journal entries, and chat modules, they begin to develop rapport and appreciation for one another.
The decision to use Moodle will enable my physics class to have anytime access to course content. Due to the technology capabilities, students will be able to access their grades, participate in discussions, edit documents, and retrieve resources not only in class but also after school hours. The physics class will incorporate various collaborative activities were groups of two to three or the whole class will engage in inquiry and discourse. The Moodle modules will allow the groups to scaffold their knowledge as they progress through lab activities. Simulating a Knowledge Building Community, the knowledge of the group will enhance the understanding of the individuals (Hewitt, 2001). Throughout the collaborative activities, students will individually respond to guided questions posting to the forum module. This action will be very similar to the discussion threads in Dr. Ge’s class.
As a teacher of a virtual-physical community combined, I will have to create the course syllabus well enough to inter-mingle both mediums. I will have to keep in mind any students who do not have Internet connection at home, along with creating the modules that will progressively strengthen the community and enhance knowledge growth. Hewitt (2001) states, “pedagogical success is tightly tied to the teacher’s ability to deliver content.” Not only will I present material, design activities, and conduct labs face-to-face, I will also maintain course information virtually. All materials will be accessible from the course Moodle site. Students will engage in group discussions with the use of Moodle and post the course assignments to the Moodle class site. Moodle software will allow me to custom design my grading scale to differentiate course assignments, activities, and assessments. Time will be allotted each day to access Moodle allowing the students without Internet capabilities to stay connected to the virtual community. This will be done through the use of daily reflective questions at the end of the hour. Prior to leaving class for the day students will respond to reflective questions. This will allow me to know whether I need to reteach the topic the next day or whether I can move on in the curriculum. Moodle will also allow me to provide text feedback that will not get lost or thrown in the trash can.
Because the community I am designing is a secondary physics class, peer interaction and collaborative learning will be continually incorporated due to lab activities and projects. Physics labs are an integral part of the physics curriculum. As the groups work together to theorize and prove physics phenomenon, they will scaffold their knowledge and learn from one another. The initial material will be presented to them through demonstrations, lectures, and reading materials. But to ensure understanding and retention, activities, projects, and labs will be disseminated throughout the year. Through face-to-face and virtual pedagogical strategies whether conducted asynchronously or synchronously, students will be exposed to the physics curriculum in a manner that has never been done before at Maysville. Virtually, students will conduct physics Webquest, linking one Internet site to another while gaining knowledge to accomplish the prescribed activity task. Virtual lab simulations will be incorporated throughout the curriculum along with virtual field trips. As I begin to infuse roller coaster development into the traditional physics curriculum, I have accessed YouTube and other audio or visual sites. Numerous videos and podcast are available on every topic that must be covered in physics according to the Oklahoma PASS objectives. With many of my students, gaming is a favorite pass time; therefore, I will search for physics-type games to use as reinforcement activities. Since teenagers are entranced by technology, YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace, Wikipedia, I will strive to incorporate these mediums within my curriculum (Grossman, 2006). Time will be the limiting factor. Having enough time to try to develop a quality combination course will be my challenge.
References
Colella, V. (2001). Participatory simulations: Building collaborative understanding through immersive dynamic modeling. In Koschmann, T., Hall, R, & Miyake, N. (Eds.) CSCL 2: Carrying forward the conversation (pp. 357-407). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grossman, L. (2006, December). Time’s person of the Year: You. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
Hewitt. J. (2001). From a focus on tasks to a focus on understanding: The cultural transformation of Toronto classroom. In Koschmann, T., Hall, R, & Miyake, N. (Eds.) CSCL 2: Carrying forward the conversation (pp. 11-53). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Jones, J. & Bronack, S. (2007). Rethinking cognition, representations, and processes in 3D online social learning environments. In Gibson, D., Aldrich, C., & Prensky, M. (Eds.) Games and simulations in online learning: Research and development frameworks (pp.89-114). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.
Schalger, M., Fusco, J, & Schank, P. (2002). Evolution of an online education community of practice. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.) Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 129-158). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Case Study #2
Case Study #2
Blogging
“Anytime information” is a phrase that could be used to describe blogs. Within a virtual learning community supported by blogging, individuals have the ability to interact by posting journal entries, research findings, charts, videos, etc. (Bruckman & Jensen, 2002). In turn, blogs allows members to review, reflect and comment on information asynchronously. Blogging allows for scaffolding of knowledge. If structured and guided well, every member of the learning community is prompted to post their knowledge and comment to other blogs. As in this course, Dr. Ge has guided the blogging topics and structured all postings to revolve around various question prompts for example:
What do you see as the possibilities of virtual communities for learning and change after all the chapters so far? (for all chapters)
The opportunities for learning are endless….
This has proven beneficial for the construction of knowledge among all members as we have read each others postings, commented, asked questions and responded to one another.
Through this experience, I have altered a class I teach at the secondary level, Computer Applications II, and incorporated the use of blogs. By observing my students initially designing and posting to their blogs, it became evident that guided questioning techniques are a must. Students posted messages that were off topic and of no value to the course knowledge construction. In reviewing their postings, their comments mirrored text messaging and MySpace/Face Book blog postings instead of a more formal classroom posting I had anticipated.
So I'm sitting next to Zac in class right? Well I always sit next to Zac in this class. And he's on facebook like always. lol... And now his computer messed up so he's kinda mad!lol... And now he's lookin at me like i'm an idiot for writing this!!! lol... But I guess this is the end till next time!!
Love,
Shaunna Raelynn
posted by Shaunsta Rae at 9:09 AM on Feb 11, 2008
As our month long career project progressed, the student’s postings became more detailed and professional through the use of question prompts. Student’s postings covered the specific content and answered the questions for the day.
I plan on attending East Central University in the fall and getting my major in elementary education. Here lately I have been considering the field of special education. Then I have been planning on getting my masters in speech-pathology. If I major in special education then I do not plan on getting my masters. I think that I would really enjoy speech-pathology. But right now there is such a demand for special education majors that from the time you declare a special education major you will be reembursed for all of your college tuition. That sound real good and it should only take 5 years instead of 7 if I do elementary education and masters in speech pathology. I am very undecided as of right now!!!
posted by jenni lin at 9:01 AM on Feb 19, 2008
For Dr. Ge’s class, the requirement of reading the three blogs below our name is a great strategy for scaffolding knowledge. Each blogging activity has us reviewing the same people allowing a personal connection to develop among us. For me, I find myself valuing what Tracy and Sherry C. have to say. They are highly intelligent women whose perspectives on the readings have greatly influenced me. I look forward to their postings each time. In turn, reading through the comments left on my blog posting allows me to analyze my thinking more due to the questions that are raised by the three individuals “above” my name. This mirrors the functionality of self-help internet sites. Reflective modernization theorizes participants taking an active role within the online community, i.e. blogging activities. There is a sharing and exchanging of ideas, in turn, emerging new perspectives and meanings (Burrows & Nettleton, 2002).
In comparison to our discussion threads, blogging takes more effort on the community members. The locations of individual postings are disconnected from each other. Through Dr. Ge’s effort links to each blog is located on one page but participants must navigate from page to page to review each other’s blogs; whereas, the discussion threads allow a continual building of knowledge on one page. The individual can visually see the progression of knowledge growth in one frame.
In designing my computer supported physics learning community, blogging would be a great way to have student’s journal their daily or weekly activities. Writing is highly influenced at the secondary level. Each subject area is encouraged to incorporate writing into the curriculum. Blogging would allow a familiar medium for students to reflect upon their personal knowledge growth (Dunlap, 2006). Through the use of question prompts tailored to each activity, students would respond allowing the instructor, me, to read through and post comments. I would be able to address areas of concern, clarify information or reteach material if needed. Even though blogging is a public domain and anyone can access the student’s blog site, blogging does provide a sense of one-on-one instruction. As I have experimented with blogs this semester in my class, I have been able to answer specific questions and respond individually to each student.
sport coaching, or management
List a minimum of 10 things that interest you about the career you are researching.
1)I really like sports and am a fairly good teacher.
2)I think I would be good at being a manager.
3)I am patient.
4)I am a good listener.
5)I can handle problems fairly good.
6)I love the game of softball thats what i would be coaching.
7)I like being able to answer qustions.
8)I'm pretty good with parents.
9)I have great dedication.
10)I'm on time most of the time.
posted by Magen at 9:12 AM on Feb 19, 2008
Shelly said...
This is wonderful. Keep in mind if you plan to coach at the high school level you have to also be a teacher of "something". What area of interest do you have? What's your best/favorite subject?
February 20, 2008 4:51 PM
By doing so, I feel a closer connection between my students, then just in class face-to-face. My students have left comments on the blog that they would not say out loud in class.
Stephy Dawn said...
I want to go into Equine or Livestock Vet. Studies, it's what I've wanted to do since I was little. And I got the job at the Grassland Eqine Vet Clinic in Lindsay, all I have to do is make a phone call. So I'm pretty excited about that. And thnk you foe talking to my mom about my college options..it means alot. :)
February 21, 2008 11:03 AM
Blogging has been a great experience not only for me but I believe also for my students. Through the interactions of posting and commenting in this virtual media, the students have engaged in scaffolding of knowledge as viewed by situated learning theorist (Jones & Bronack, 2007). By interacting via text, learning from each other has resulted due to the situated learning setting of blogging.
Webcasting
After visiting Audacity, a podcasting site, Skype, a video conferencing site, iTunes podcasting links, and Podcast Alley, I have chosen to describe my experience with Marratech, a video conferencing site. Through my PhD cohort course work, Marratech has allowed me to stay home and still be an active member of my classes. My first impression of Marratech was “Wow, I can see everyone.” A cohort member led all our classmates to this site. He set up rooms for us to utilize and continually assisted us each time we would access Marratech for class purposes.
Marratech is a desktop videoconferencing system that provides users with a variety of features. Once the software is downloaded and connected, individuals have the control over the audio and video displays and volumes. The whiteboard feature allows participants to view documents, create documents, post images and grab websites. Anyone involved in the video conference can share any application and pass hand control to another user. What I find fascinating is Mike in Fargo, OK can write an entry into the whiteboard; Lance in Howe, OK can go behind him and correct the spelling, while everyone else in the conference is watching this happen. This feature is wonderful for collaboration among remote groups or individuals. The interaction over the Internet replaces the face-to-face in class interaction.
In our cohort courses, I have experienced courses that were provided face-to-face in class, digital delivery via Polycom or Tandberg equipment and also through Marratech only. The convenience of staying home and taking class has been advantageous for me. The video images are very small and when professors display materials “in class” only and not to the Marratech whiteboard, it is almost impossible to see them in virtual world. But that is the trade off to staying home, smaller images. Most of the times, the material would be posted to Desire to Learn or emailed to all class members allowing me to open up additional sites to view the images on a larger scale. By staying at a remote site while other colleagues set in class, I missed out on numerous informal or sidebar conversations that may have been beneficial to my personal knowledge growth. But the ability to multi-task without interrupting the professors out weighed the disadvantages of Marratech.
Additional features Marratech provides is a chat box for all participants to see or private chats one-on-one. Once connected users can record the conference for later playback. The quality of interaction depends on the bandwidth of their Internet connection. High speed DSL allows for smooth audio and video, wireless connection chops up the audio and dial-up is almost impossible. Marratech downloaded onto computers allows user to connect to each other from anywhere. This is great collaboration software for scaffolding of knowledge. This software allows for a computer-mediated community to evolve among the cohort members (Haythornthwaite, 2002). The social and emotional interactions that occur using Marratech provides the users a sense of belonging and connection to the class even though there is a physical distance between them.
Educational Benefit of Webcasting
With the conclusion of a career unit in the class I am currently teaching, I decided to try to videocast, vodcast our final activity. With the use of phones, IPods, and cameras, my students and I used my computer to develop a video we uploaded onto the class’s blog site. Students used their camera phones to capture images of our East Central University trip. They emailed, beamed, or bluetoothed their images to me and I uploaded them to my laptop. I had my laptop connected to a LCD projector for everyone to watch the processes. Images and videos from my camera were uploaded along with my IPod’s .wav file of the panel discussion with the ECU department chairs. Once everything was uploaded, we began to move files around to access them for Windows Movie Maker.
The video of the ECU tour and panel discussion was manipulated and designed by the students. Once completed, we posted the video to the class’ main blog. The manipulation of the files to specific locations and the overlapping of images and sounds was time consuming for novice movie makers. But through this experience the students and I enjoyed our final production. Here is the final result. Warning, this is the first ever video designed by my students or myself.
MHS ECU Tour
Using a videocast would be a great asset in a physics class during lab activities. Students who missed class would be able to experience the lab virtually providing them the knowledge they would need for future class activities. In addition, any student could revisit the videocast when completing the lab write-up to ensure they did not miss any information. Students are already watching videocast displayed on YouTube. Channeling this source of media into an educational setting will spark the interest of students (Grossman, 2006).
As an instructor, video casting would be beneficial for my class. The videocast would enable students to revisit and clarify information and summarize instructional materials. In designing my virtual learning community, the face-to-face and online combination I envision would allow video casting to tie in smoothly. It would be more convenient and efficient for me when students are absent. Instead of taking time before or after school trying to explain material, I could refer the students to the videocast of the instruction/lesson. Students would have access to the material anytime/anyplace as long as they had Internet connection. It would hold me, as the instructor, more accountable for the information, because it is out there for everyone to see.
The question to ask my future physics students is, “Do you have Internet access at home?” I would have to keep this in mind when designing instructional activities that require Internet connection. For the students who can not access Internet from home, I would ensure the classroom or computer lab was accessible before school, after school or at lunch time. Webcasting of any kind, whether a podcast or vodcast, allow any time, any place instruction.
References
Bruckman, A. & Jensen, C. (2002). The mystery of the death of MediaMoo: Seven years of evolution of an online community. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.) Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 21-33). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Burrows, R. & Nettleton, S. (2002). Reflexive modernization and the emergence of wired self-help. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.) Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 249-268). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Dunlap, J. (2006). Using guided reflective journaling activities to capture students’ changing perceptions. TechTrends 50(6), 20-26.
Grossman, L. (2006, December). Time’s person of the Year: You. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). Building social networks via computer networks: Creating and sustaining distributed learning communities. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.), Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 157-190). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Jones, J. & Bronack, S. (2007). Rethinking cognition, representations, and processes in 3D online social learning environments. In Gibson, D., Aldrich, C., & Prensky, M. (Eds.), Games and simulations in online learning: Research and development frameworks (pp. 89-114). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.
Blogging
“Anytime information” is a phrase that could be used to describe blogs. Within a virtual learning community supported by blogging, individuals have the ability to interact by posting journal entries, research findings, charts, videos, etc. (Bruckman & Jensen, 2002). In turn, blogs allows members to review, reflect and comment on information asynchronously. Blogging allows for scaffolding of knowledge. If structured and guided well, every member of the learning community is prompted to post their knowledge and comment to other blogs. As in this course, Dr. Ge has guided the blogging topics and structured all postings to revolve around various question prompts for example:
What do you see as the possibilities of virtual communities for learning and change after all the chapters so far? (for all chapters)
The opportunities for learning are endless….
This has proven beneficial for the construction of knowledge among all members as we have read each others postings, commented, asked questions and responded to one another.
Through this experience, I have altered a class I teach at the secondary level, Computer Applications II, and incorporated the use of blogs. By observing my students initially designing and posting to their blogs, it became evident that guided questioning techniques are a must. Students posted messages that were off topic and of no value to the course knowledge construction. In reviewing their postings, their comments mirrored text messaging and MySpace/Face Book blog postings instead of a more formal classroom posting I had anticipated.
So I'm sitting next to Zac in class right? Well I always sit next to Zac in this class. And he's on facebook like always. lol... And now his computer messed up so he's kinda mad!lol... And now he's lookin at me like i'm an idiot for writing this!!! lol... But I guess this is the end till next time!!
Love,
Shaunna Raelynn
posted by Shaunsta Rae at 9:09 AM on Feb 11, 2008
As our month long career project progressed, the student’s postings became more detailed and professional through the use of question prompts. Student’s postings covered the specific content and answered the questions for the day.
I plan on attending East Central University in the fall and getting my major in elementary education. Here lately I have been considering the field of special education. Then I have been planning on getting my masters in speech-pathology. If I major in special education then I do not plan on getting my masters. I think that I would really enjoy speech-pathology. But right now there is such a demand for special education majors that from the time you declare a special education major you will be reembursed for all of your college tuition. That sound real good and it should only take 5 years instead of 7 if I do elementary education and masters in speech pathology. I am very undecided as of right now!!!
posted by jenni lin at 9:01 AM on Feb 19, 2008
For Dr. Ge’s class, the requirement of reading the three blogs below our name is a great strategy for scaffolding knowledge. Each blogging activity has us reviewing the same people allowing a personal connection to develop among us. For me, I find myself valuing what Tracy and Sherry C. have to say. They are highly intelligent women whose perspectives on the readings have greatly influenced me. I look forward to their postings each time. In turn, reading through the comments left on my blog posting allows me to analyze my thinking more due to the questions that are raised by the three individuals “above” my name. This mirrors the functionality of self-help internet sites. Reflective modernization theorizes participants taking an active role within the online community, i.e. blogging activities. There is a sharing and exchanging of ideas, in turn, emerging new perspectives and meanings (Burrows & Nettleton, 2002).
In comparison to our discussion threads, blogging takes more effort on the community members. The locations of individual postings are disconnected from each other. Through Dr. Ge’s effort links to each blog is located on one page but participants must navigate from page to page to review each other’s blogs; whereas, the discussion threads allow a continual building of knowledge on one page. The individual can visually see the progression of knowledge growth in one frame.
In designing my computer supported physics learning community, blogging would be a great way to have student’s journal their daily or weekly activities. Writing is highly influenced at the secondary level. Each subject area is encouraged to incorporate writing into the curriculum. Blogging would allow a familiar medium for students to reflect upon their personal knowledge growth (Dunlap, 2006). Through the use of question prompts tailored to each activity, students would respond allowing the instructor, me, to read through and post comments. I would be able to address areas of concern, clarify information or reteach material if needed. Even though blogging is a public domain and anyone can access the student’s blog site, blogging does provide a sense of one-on-one instruction. As I have experimented with blogs this semester in my class, I have been able to answer specific questions and respond individually to each student.
sport coaching, or management
List a minimum of 10 things that interest you about the career you are researching.
1)I really like sports and am a fairly good teacher.
2)I think I would be good at being a manager.
3)I am patient.
4)I am a good listener.
5)I can handle problems fairly good.
6)I love the game of softball thats what i would be coaching.
7)I like being able to answer qustions.
8)I'm pretty good with parents.
9)I have great dedication.
10)I'm on time most of the time.
posted by Magen at 9:12 AM on Feb 19, 2008
Shelly said...
This is wonderful. Keep in mind if you plan to coach at the high school level you have to also be a teacher of "something". What area of interest do you have? What's your best/favorite subject?
February 20, 2008 4:51 PM
By doing so, I feel a closer connection between my students, then just in class face-to-face. My students have left comments on the blog that they would not say out loud in class.
Stephy Dawn said...
I want to go into Equine or Livestock Vet. Studies, it's what I've wanted to do since I was little. And I got the job at the Grassland Eqine Vet Clinic in Lindsay, all I have to do is make a phone call. So I'm pretty excited about that. And thnk you foe talking to my mom about my college options..it means alot. :)
February 21, 2008 11:03 AM
Blogging has been a great experience not only for me but I believe also for my students. Through the interactions of posting and commenting in this virtual media, the students have engaged in scaffolding of knowledge as viewed by situated learning theorist (Jones & Bronack, 2007). By interacting via text, learning from each other has resulted due to the situated learning setting of blogging.
Webcasting
After visiting Audacity, a podcasting site, Skype, a video conferencing site, iTunes podcasting links, and Podcast Alley, I have chosen to describe my experience with Marratech, a video conferencing site. Through my PhD cohort course work, Marratech has allowed me to stay home and still be an active member of my classes. My first impression of Marratech was “Wow, I can see everyone.” A cohort member led all our classmates to this site. He set up rooms for us to utilize and continually assisted us each time we would access Marratech for class purposes.
Marratech is a desktop videoconferencing system that provides users with a variety of features. Once the software is downloaded and connected, individuals have the control over the audio and video displays and volumes. The whiteboard feature allows participants to view documents, create documents, post images and grab websites. Anyone involved in the video conference can share any application and pass hand control to another user. What I find fascinating is Mike in Fargo, OK can write an entry into the whiteboard; Lance in Howe, OK can go behind him and correct the spelling, while everyone else in the conference is watching this happen. This feature is wonderful for collaboration among remote groups or individuals. The interaction over the Internet replaces the face-to-face in class interaction.
In our cohort courses, I have experienced courses that were provided face-to-face in class, digital delivery via Polycom or Tandberg equipment and also through Marratech only. The convenience of staying home and taking class has been advantageous for me. The video images are very small and when professors display materials “in class” only and not to the Marratech whiteboard, it is almost impossible to see them in virtual world. But that is the trade off to staying home, smaller images. Most of the times, the material would be posted to Desire to Learn or emailed to all class members allowing me to open up additional sites to view the images on a larger scale. By staying at a remote site while other colleagues set in class, I missed out on numerous informal or sidebar conversations that may have been beneficial to my personal knowledge growth. But the ability to multi-task without interrupting the professors out weighed the disadvantages of Marratech.
Additional features Marratech provides is a chat box for all participants to see or private chats one-on-one. Once connected users can record the conference for later playback. The quality of interaction depends on the bandwidth of their Internet connection. High speed DSL allows for smooth audio and video, wireless connection chops up the audio and dial-up is almost impossible. Marratech downloaded onto computers allows user to connect to each other from anywhere. This is great collaboration software for scaffolding of knowledge. This software allows for a computer-mediated community to evolve among the cohort members (Haythornthwaite, 2002). The social and emotional interactions that occur using Marratech provides the users a sense of belonging and connection to the class even though there is a physical distance between them.
Educational Benefit of Webcasting
With the conclusion of a career unit in the class I am currently teaching, I decided to try to videocast, vodcast our final activity. With the use of phones, IPods, and cameras, my students and I used my computer to develop a video we uploaded onto the class’s blog site. Students used their camera phones to capture images of our East Central University trip. They emailed, beamed, or bluetoothed their images to me and I uploaded them to my laptop. I had my laptop connected to a LCD projector for everyone to watch the processes. Images and videos from my camera were uploaded along with my IPod’s .wav file of the panel discussion with the ECU department chairs. Once everything was uploaded, we began to move files around to access them for Windows Movie Maker.
The video of the ECU tour and panel discussion was manipulated and designed by the students. Once completed, we posted the video to the class’ main blog. The manipulation of the files to specific locations and the overlapping of images and sounds was time consuming for novice movie makers. But through this experience the students and I enjoyed our final production. Here is the final result. Warning, this is the first ever video designed by my students or myself.
MHS ECU Tour
Using a videocast would be a great asset in a physics class during lab activities. Students who missed class would be able to experience the lab virtually providing them the knowledge they would need for future class activities. In addition, any student could revisit the videocast when completing the lab write-up to ensure they did not miss any information. Students are already watching videocast displayed on YouTube. Channeling this source of media into an educational setting will spark the interest of students (Grossman, 2006).
As an instructor, video casting would be beneficial for my class. The videocast would enable students to revisit and clarify information and summarize instructional materials. In designing my virtual learning community, the face-to-face and online combination I envision would allow video casting to tie in smoothly. It would be more convenient and efficient for me when students are absent. Instead of taking time before or after school trying to explain material, I could refer the students to the videocast of the instruction/lesson. Students would have access to the material anytime/anyplace as long as they had Internet connection. It would hold me, as the instructor, more accountable for the information, because it is out there for everyone to see.
The question to ask my future physics students is, “Do you have Internet access at home?” I would have to keep this in mind when designing instructional activities that require Internet connection. For the students who can not access Internet from home, I would ensure the classroom or computer lab was accessible before school, after school or at lunch time. Webcasting of any kind, whether a podcast or vodcast, allow any time, any place instruction.
References
Bruckman, A. & Jensen, C. (2002). The mystery of the death of MediaMoo: Seven years of evolution of an online community. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.) Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 21-33). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Burrows, R. & Nettleton, S. (2002). Reflexive modernization and the emergence of wired self-help. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.) Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 249-268). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Dunlap, J. (2006). Using guided reflective journaling activities to capture students’ changing perceptions. TechTrends 50(6), 20-26.
Grossman, L. (2006, December). Time’s person of the Year: You. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). Building social networks via computer networks: Creating and sustaining distributed learning communities. In Renninger, K.A. & Shumar, W. (Eds.), Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace (pp. 157-190). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
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Maysville ECU Tour
Never before have I posted a video to the Internet. I tried to embed it directly into blogger, but had difficulty. So I posted to YouTube then copied the link into blogger. Yeah it worked. Hope you enjoy. My students and I had a great time working with Movie Maker.
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