Final Reflection Piece on CEP 820

CEP 820 was the first online course I had ever taken and I was not sure what to expect. Fortunately for me this course was a very enjoyable and positive experience and I felt that I grew a lot professionally because I feel that I learned what it takes to design a successful online course. During the course I felt challenged since I was forced to critically think about aspects of the design of an online course which, prior to taking this course, I had not given any or much thought. For example I had not given much thought to how to clearly communicate the goals for my module to all stake holders; how to assess tasks and projects to be assigned during the module; how to design meaningful tasks that would engage the student with the module and fellow classmates; and how to establish my “voice” as well as the voices of the students in the module. 
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Prior to taking this course, I had also not realized how important it is to have a  communication policy in place at the beginning of the course so that students, parents and administrators will know what to expect when a situation arises during the course. On the other hand I also learned that online instructors need to be much more flexible and patient than a regular classroom teacher because of tech issues which may arise, everyday “life” issues and even issues or situations which the instructor had not foreseen. 
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When I began to design my module I had envisioned a strictly online course with no face to face meetings. However when I began to plan assignments and projects I realized how challenging it would be to incorporate some aspects of the module, specifically discussions of literary pieces I wanted to share with the students and I also began to wonder how I could be certain that the students would know how to use the online tools which I had envisioned for my module. For example, would all of the students know how to use tools such as Voicethread, Skype, Google Docs, Lingtlanguage for voice recording and the Discussion Board? It was then that I realized that a hybrid online course would probably be a better fit for me and the HS students who would be taking this course.
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While designing the module I was thankful for the wealth of resources already on the internet which offer first time online course writers such as me a lot of pointers and guidance for online course design. For example, the principals of Universal Design for Learning, (UDL), taught me to take a critical look at my module to see if it provided for the three principals of UDL, (multiple means of presentation; multiple means of action and expression and multiple means of engagement). I also remember watching a video about the three types of interactions in online courses. After watching the video I realized that my module was a little heavy on learner content. Consequently this led me to change some of the activities I had in mind for my module in order to be certain that the module had a good balance of the interactions, (learner interaction with the course content; learner interaction with other learners in the course and learner interaction with the course instructor). A good balance of interactions will ultimately allow the learner to learn the content better which is key to a successful online course. 
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While designing the module I was also not sure how I would or could assess certain activities in an objective manner, in particular, the discussion forum. I had no idea how to value discussion board posts. For example, should I require one post and one response? Furthermore unlike a face to face discussion in a classroom, how do I know the student on the other side of the web page is actually the person they say they are while posting on a discussion forum? 
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Yet another reflection on assessment while I was designing my module and one that is not necessarily limited to an online environment was the lesson on rubrics. During this particular lesson I was forced to stop and think about the use of rubrics as an assessment tool. My school is very rubric oriented for both formal and informal assessment, hence why I was curious to know if we are in fact following best practices in this area. I personally found the readings, (excerpts from Maja Wilson’s book, Rethinking Rubrics and the forward of this book, written by Alfie Kohn, very enlightening as an educator.  These readings made me aware of the pitfalls of using rubrics however on the other hand I was also reminded that there are several types of rubrics depending on what the teacher wants to communicate to the student and most importantly, a teacher always needs to evaluate a rubric after having used one to make sure that the results from the rubric are valid, reliable, consistent, objective, usable, etc. I must admit that I don’t always do this.
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I do find it a bit ironic that it takes a course about designing a successful online course to get me thinking more critically about several key aspects of my “face to face” course.

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Link to my Developer Notebook: http://tiny.cc/le52x

PGP - week 4 reflections

What specific goals do you have between now and next summer in your teaching practice?

Since my school is implementing a one-to-one program this year, one overarching goal I have is for the students to use their laptops on a daily basis as an effective learning tool, (as opposed to a toy or a device for on line social networking), for my subject area, French. The web 2, 0 tools available on the internet makes the student's "toolbox", aka, his/her laptop, a very rich and powerful resource. The coursework this summer has introduced me to so many applications that I can see will actively engage my students in the French language, at a whole different level. For example, I would like to give the chat feature in Edmodo a try to engage the students in an on-line discussion about a topic in French; I would also like to use this feature to try back channeling during class as I would be curious to read what the students have to "say" during class, especially the ones who do not speak up much. I also plan to have students use the Google tools a lot more for collaborative work. I did not push the students to use Google Docs this past year but now that I have worked with it myself and have seen what one can do using Google Docs, I would like to see my students using it more.

With the one-to-one program being implemented and after having done a vodcast on Digital Citizenship, I now see how important it is to model and attempt to teach good digital citizenship in every class, not just the computer course. Consequently, another goal for me this year is to be more diligent about the promotion of good digital citizenship.

Another goal I have is to strive to bring more creativity into my teaching because doing the “creativity” activities during the MAET program really showed me how much more one really engages with the course material when one must be creative. For example, I would like to try the abstract lesson we did during the course to portray new vocabulary words in French or take a virtual field trip to somewhere in France and have the students do a social learning challenge like we did for Giverny. This course has definitely made me more aware and conscious of bringing in this aspect to my course.

The last goal I have for this upcoming school year is to share what I have learned this summer with my administrators and colleagues, especially those who are not that comfortable with technology or those who are skeptical about having teenagers use laptops with internet connection during class time. With the implementation of the one-to-one program, I will also attempt to emphasize to my colleagues that we should all model/teach Digital Citizenship in our classes, especially if we want to help empower the students.

How specifically do you plan to accomplish these?

I plan to accomplish my first goal of having the students use their laptops as an effective learning tool, by slowly introducing the "tools", aka, applications, during the 1st quarter, so that by the 2nd quarter, I can integrate these tools into my lessons on a daily basis. Modeling/teaching Digital Citizenship will begin from day one of the new school year and I will make the effort to reinforce and discuss Digital Citizenship with students during the entire school year. I don't feel that I modeled this enough this past year, partially because I forgot and partially because I naively assumed that the students were getting this elsewhere in their English or in the freshman Wellness Class. (I teach mostly 9^th and 10^th graders).

To implement creativity into my teaching, I plan to attempt a few of the activities that I did during this summer’s MAET program as well as come up with a few on my own. If I get stumped for ideas, I will check the MAET Year 1 wiki to see if any of my classmates have posted any activities that promote creativity or get in touch with classmates, (via Skype or the wiki), to help me brainstorm ideas.

As far as sharing what I have learned this summer with my colleagues and administrators, I plan to do this informally by working one-on-one with anyone who is looking for help or ideas with integrating technology into their classroom. However I also plan to do this throughout the school year during department or faculty meetings and during professional development days.

Which goals do you think you can accomplish on your own, with which do you need help, and from where might that help come ?

I think that I can accomplish all of my goals on my own; however, having the support of my parents, colleagues and administration would definitely help me to accomplish my goals, especially the modeling/teaching of Digital Citizenship. If I am to share what I have learned this summer with my colleagues at SAS I will look to my administrators to provide ample time and opportunities for me to work with my colleagues. The time factor is always a challenging one for everyone unfortunately.

Since I will be trying many of the applications I learned this summer out with my students this year and I don’t know how it will go, I will need students to be patient with me and above all not be shy about giving me feedback about the lessons into which I integrate technology.

As I mentioned earlier, should I need help brainstorming a creative lesson or should I want to seek advice on ed tech, I am fortunate to have several options open to me: I am lucky that I have many competent colleagues in ed tech among the faculty at SAS with whom I could talk; I can also contact my MAET classmates and/or look on educator social networking sites and/or blogs to see if I can find for what I am looking.

Quickfire Creation (mouse over & click!)

Digital Citizenship Videocast

We hope that you enjoy our Videocast! To view click on the words, Digital Citizenship Videocast, above.

"Demotivation" Poster about Collaboration

Created by: C Popowski, B Marsland, J Perry & J Johnson

Have a look at another group's "demotivation" poster. Click HERE.

Vodcast Project - Outline, Script & Storyboard

Three educators, working towards a Master’s degree in Educational Technology at Michigan State University, are asking their colleagues an important question:

What does digital citizenship in the 21st century mean to you?

Insert video clips of MSU students & faculty answering that question briefly

We only wish we knew the perfect way to answer this question. But it’s not going to be that easy. The solution isn’t going to be black and white. In order to navigate this digital world in which we currently find ourselves, we need to encourage an open dialogue amongst its inhabitants. Each digital citizen has the opportunity to contribute their own unique perspective to this issue.

Digital Citizenship - Let’s start the conversation

Insert video clips of MSU students & faculty speak to specific points they are contributing to their efforts in educating digital citizens

Are you discussing this at school? With colleagues? With students? At home with your own children?

Are we, as educators, discussing it enough?

Let’s talk about it more.Together.

Let’s continue this conversation.

[With great power comes great responsibility.]

What can YOU add to the dialogue?

end

Personal TPack Challenge

Problem:

Gender agreement in French. In both written and spoken French students in HS levels 3 and above are not producing the language consistently using the appropriate gender and number agreements for the different types of adjectives, (possessive, demonstrative, interrogative), as well as prepositions followed by a definite article, (i.e. au, du, aux, des). This issue is to be expected at the beginning levels of French however, after 2 years of working with this concept, I am always surprised at the large number of upper level students who consistently do not heed the gender and number agreement.

Solution:

Using Google Docs, have the students work with 1-2 partners to write a made up story or exaggerate a real experience in French. While writing the first draft, each adjective in the story and the noun it is modifying must be colored coded, i.e. mas singular = light blue, mas plural = dark blue; fem singular = light pink, fem plural = dark pink. After feedback from the teacher and peers, while writing the second draft, students must do the same color coding for the prepositions à + definite article and de + definite article and the noun that follows. Groups will peer edit each other's 2nd draft and the teacher will also give feedback on each group’s 2nd draft. Images to accompany the story will be added to the third and final draft of this particular document. The final draft of the story will be posted on the class blog for others to read and enjoy. Students will also read each other's stories and give positive feedback and constructive criticism on the writing and choice of images.

TP knowledge: What is the TP knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)

This student centered strategy of collaboratively authoring a story which will ultimately be posted to the class blog, is a blended face to face and an online experience. This teaching experience will allow students to take ownership of their own writing while collaborating both face to face as well as on line. Prior to commencing the writing process, students will brainstorm possible story scenarios and storyboard, face to face. During the online collaborative writing process students will discuss, explain, negotiate, justify, apply critical thinking strategies and creatively problem solve in order to determine the gender of nouns, (especially for irregular adjectives or exceptions to the rule). Students will also explain, negotiate and justify their choices of images which will accompany their story. The use of images has not only the potential to nurture and enhance a student’s creativity, but also help him/her to broaden their understanding of this grammatical concept, (gender and number agreement).

TC knowlege: What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about representation.)

Students will need to know how to use Google Docs, (or Google Wave for the real tech savy students); how to locate applicable and appropriate vocabulary on the website, www.wordreference.com; how to use appropriate online research tools to locate non-copyrighted images on the Internet on sites such as Creative Commons; how to download the images from the Internet; how to post their stories and images on the class blog; how to adjust images sizes on their blog post and how to post a comment on a peer’s blog post.

PC knowledge: What is the PC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies).

In order to write a story in French students need to have knowledge of appropriate vocabulary and know where and how to locate vocabulary unknown to the student. Students also need to know how to construct a basic sentence in French, have an understanding of the parts of speech, noun and adjective; have an understanding that each noun in French is classified as either masculine or feminine, and that any adjective describing the noun must agree in gender and number, (singular, plural). Students need to have an understanding of adjective placement in French and exceptions to the general rule. Students must have an understanding of the possessive adjectifs, mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes, son, sa, ses, notre, nos, votre, vos, leur, leurs; demonstrative adjectifs, ce, cet, cette, ces; and interrogative adjectives, quel, quelle, quels and quelles. Students must have an understanding of the definite articles in French, le, la and les and the grammar rule: prepositions de and à + definite article.

With this knowledge students will be actively involved in writing a made up story, or an exaggeration of a real experience in French, by collaborating with 1-2 partners. Students must use their knowledge of the French language and grammar rules to discuss, negotiate, justify, problem solve and creatively think about the vocabulary, adjectives and prepositional articles to be used in the story.

I invited you to have a look at a screen cast of my TPack challenge. However, be patient, as it takes a few seconds for the screen cast to load.