Week 4 Reflection

I decided to join SlideShare for my online community building. SlideShare appealed to me because I often use Prezi to present information in class. It is a taxing task to always create digital presentations, so often I do a simple Google search for Prezi’s relating to a given topic. I then find Prezi’s that follow the structure I like, and may or may not have information similar to what I desire to present to my class. I make a copy of the presentation and then begin to edit the content to fit my needs. SlideShare acts as an additional resource for finding presentations related to my subject area as well.

I made my first attempt at using SlideShare this past week. I’m currently teaching theme and using the five elements of plot structure to help students analyze theme. I began searching on SlideShare and attempted to find a variety of resources from presentations to videos to documents. I found the process somewhat frusturating. While I think SlideShare is a great resource it was created not only the education profession, but for business, marketing, arts and a plethora of other realms. While I can select education as a filter it doesn’t allow me to narrow my search for theme within the education filter (or at least that was my experience). Thus, narrowing down SlideShares that are actually beneficial to the specifics of what I am teaching was a challenge. Also, I think there are other presentation tools that are more appealing, interactive, and engaging. While SlideShare is effective I'm not sure it is the best fit for me.

What I did find beneficial in becoming a member of SlideShare is that in the browsing process I found myself exposed to a wide range of new ideas and teaching resources. I think my original thought was that SlideShare would act as a resource in terms of classroom lesson materials; however, I found that this was actually helpful in that there are tons of slides posted to help teachers become better teachers. One in particular that interested me was a presentation on closing the race gap. Conclusions were made that helped me contextualize how I might achieve this in my own classroom.

Week 3 Reflection

Option 2:

Describe how you would adapt one traditional learning activity to the online environment. Include a complete description of the original activity. Describe the changes that you will incorporate to allow for successful implementation in the online environment. What tools will be needed for this activity? What scaffolding or guidance will you provide students?

Thus far the 521 course has challenged me to move to a more digitized format in terms of student participation in class. I have been fearful of making the transition because not all students have equal access to technological devices at home. What has enabled me to embrace change this year is setting up proper pacing that allows students at least one day where they can access the library to complete an assignment before it is due. The intent is that those that lack technology access at home will have time to complete all assignments. This week I intend to move two traditional learning activities to an online environment. 

The first is the creation of a digital portfolio. Normally, students create an organized folder where important assignments from the year are arranged in chronological order to create a display of the students’ work over the year. The objective is that students find pride in their work and also that the portfolio will help them to analyze their progression in writing over the course of the year. Taking what I have learned in the EDTECH program I will have students create a Blogger account that will act as their digital portfolio. The second assignment involves answering five, open-ended questions about student technology use. In the past I have simply asked students to write down their answers to questions on a blank piece of lined paper. This time around I will ask students to experiment with a new digital presentation tool, something outside of the standard Powerpoint that they are familiar with. Students will be asked to choose from GoogleSlides, Prezi, Popplet, or Mindmup. The objective is that students become familiar with how to use one of the specific devices while simultaneously answering the simple technology survey questions. When the presentation is finished students will post their presentation on their Blogger as a hyperlink. 

To complete this activity students will need a Gmail account, a Blogger account, an account with one of the digital presentation tools, and access to a digital device. There will be several scaffolds implemented to guide students in this process. This week we learned in EDTECH 521 the importance of active listening. My intent is to embrace the “LISTEN” acronym to help students better understand instructions. I believe the best way to guide students in this digitized assignment is to provide multiple exposures to the concepts and ideas through multiple modalities where students will be responsible to record their own notes. In the beginning I will provide instruction for how to complete both parts of the assignment via Edmodo. In the creation of the Blogger I will model for students using the projector and ask that they take notes on the steps for creating the account. I also intend to have students add to their Cornell Notes information they gather from the “Blogger Getting Started” page. For the second portion of the assignment I will post on the class Edmodo page video tutorials for how to use GoogleSlides, Prezi, Popplet, and Mindmup. Students will select the presentation tool of their choice and then watch the designated tutorial video to begin answering the technology survey questions. When finished students will then read the Blogger page that teaches users to create hyperlinks and add to their notes. 

My intent with these assignments is that I am able to gather information on student technology use through and engaging activity that also provides a meaningful opportunity for students to learn how to use a new digital tool. I anticipate hesitation from students, but I hope that the number of quality resources made available will help students to be self-motivated learners through technology.