Moodle

I was very anxious to check out Moodle and I'm thankful that it was one of our class assignments. I know a lot of teachers use it in our district and I didn't know much (if anything) about it. At first, I was very frustrated with the set-up. I couldn't even figure out how to change my theme!! Arggh! Whenever I Googled instructions I was given information that must have applied to a different version of Moodle (????). But FINALLY I discovered the Moodle Docs located at the bottom of each page and then things went much smoother!

I'm really amazed at how many features there are in Moodle: chat, forums, assignments, surveys, wikis...I can see how a teacher would find it very useful! I had a little difficulty linking to files (not sure why) but I'm sure, with more practice, that will work itself out too. I signed up for an account in Moodle and I think I'm going to set-up another course over the summer - one that I can hopefully use in the future when I become a School Librarian! I initially set up a course (of sorts) in PBworks but I think I like Moodle better.

Thank goodness the semester is over! I'm ready for a little break! And.....I have lots of projects to do around the house to keep me busy until my summer courses begin.

Classroom Website

Finally! A teacher in my daughter's school asked me to help her set up a classroom website. I'm excited to have it completed. When I met with her last week, she said all she wanted was a page to post her homework. She said she didn't want a blog because they were "illegal" in the district (hmmm???). I have to remember to get on the district's website to see if anything like that is posted. (for future reference)

Of course, I did add a few more things to her website than what she asked for. I added some links (which took quite a while to do), a letter to the parents, a welcome page, and (of course) a homework page. I also typed up detailed instructions on how to make edits to the site. She wanted something really simple because (I assume) she does not have a lot of experience with updating a website.

I think, overall, it turned out pretty good. I hope she likes it. And I hope her students like it (since my daughter will be one of them next year!). This is the link for anyone who wants to check it out: http://corna5at.weebly.com

I love Weebly! :)

All Day Kindergarten

The state of Ohio mandated that all schools move to all-day Kindergarten. The district that I live in requested an extra year before implementing this mandate. So it looks like this will take effect during the 2011-2012 school year. There are a lot of people that are not happy about this because it will cost the district a lot more money. Apparently the district will need to hire an additional 20 teachers/staff with a price tag of $1.5M (an average of $75K per teacher). As a taxpayer, I realize that this is going to be a financial hurdle that was not accounted for in the budget. As a parent, I think it's a great idea that I wish my children would have been able to benefit from.

All three of my children went to half-day Kindergarten for 2-1/2 hours a day. I'm in no way discounting the education that they received, I just personally believe that they would have received more instruction that is crucial to first-grade IF they would have been in school all day. All of my children attended preschool and (really) Kindergarten was just a "review" time for them. I honestly cannot think of anything "additional" that they learned in Kindergarten that they did not already know when the school year began. Their reading did improve, but I'm not sure that was because they were in Kindergarten or because they were home reading books with me every night.

Finally, having two children in school all day and ONE child in school half-day is really a huge scheduling inconvenience. I am seldom able to go on field trips with my two older children because I'm home with my youngest child all afternoon. If I volunteer in the classroom, it has to be in the morning. Everything that I plan has to basically take place in those 2-1/2 hours that my youngest child is in school. I'll be happy when they all have the same schedule so I can finally start planning out a full day of "to-do" items!!

District Seeking Waiver of Full-Day Kindergarten Requirement for 2010-11

Different Ways To Skin A Cat

For the past year, I have learned so much about various instructional technologies! The more I learn, the more I want to know! It's overwhelming to think about everything that is available out there to help improve upon instruction! However, when I volunteer in the local classrooms and the local school libraries, I feel saddened that very little, if any, of these technologies are even being used. I'm guessing that some of the reasons for this are lack of training, lack of school funding, lack of motivation, or maybe just plain ole' lack of interest. Yet, unfortunately, it is our children who suffer from these decisions.

How fun would it be for our children to go to school and blog with students from around the world? How awesome would it be for our children to obtain skills that would help them turn their writings and artwork into digital stories? How interesting it would be to download and listen to a podcast from an expert on a topic that is being studied in school. These are simple technologies that our children, presently, will not experience - at least, not in school.

This has been weighing on my mind a lot lately - especially since I have three young school-aged children. Because I feel powerless to change the schools - even though I have offered my help to teachers on numerous occasions - I have decided to try and reach students, parents, and educators through the public library.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an email to the Director of Columbus Metropolitan Library with my ideas for the library providing training on various technologies. After graciously reading my email and responding back to me, he forwarded the email on to the appropriate staff in his organization. Yesterday I met with, and presented my ideas to, the manager of Youth Services. Thankfully, she was just as excited and enthusiastic about the ideas as I was. We are now in the process of setting up a task force and will, hopefully, start developing an outline for presentation to upper management. Ideally, we will be providing some much-needed training on various technologies in the very near future! As my dad always said when I was growing up, "There are many different ways to skin a cat!".

After Spring Break

Whew! I am ready for my kids to go back to school so I can get back into a routine. I seem to have absolutely no time to do any of my homework these days - especially with the kids being home. I have a little bit more to do on my instructional website and I'm excited to start working on my Podcast. I know I should have already started on it, but as usual, I'm gonna have to "power it out". I already know what I'm doing it on, I just need to write the script and practice. Plus, I need to find some music. But FIRST I need to finish my taxes!!! arghhh!!!

Student Led Discussions

I'm really liking the student-led discussions that we're doing in class. Both the synchronous ones and the ones on the discussion board. I think the participation has been great and I really like the topics that we're discussing. Out of all the classes that I've taken so far, this is the first class I've been in that has done this. I think it's a good idea. Everyone has been giving really great input and I like reading about the experiences of my classmates.

Podcasting

I'm anxious to start working on some podcasting projects. I'm totally unfamiliar with it but I'm excited to start learning more about it. I'm hoping that it is something that I will find useful in my future career as an LMS. I also need to learn more about podcasting so I can include it in my synchronous discussion of mobile learning on May 3rd.

Instructional Website Design

Good Grief! What a week this has been. I finished my website design but I'm not sure it's exactly what Dr. Ingram is looking for. But, it is a start and now I know what "track" I'm on. Now I just need to find the software to develop it.

I've ran into a few snags with the classroom website designs. I need to find a website development tool that is free, able to be password protected AND doesn't have banner ads. I think tonight I will start looking around the internet for some ideas. But, hopefully my classmates can give me some suggestions. This is going to be a new learning curve for me...figuring out how to set up these websites for the teachers.

It's discouraging that the teachers require so many things of their website. I'm not really sure why they feel the need for it to be password protected when it's just an informational site. I'm wondering if they are just throwing out these "criteria" in an effort to sabotage the goal. Hmmmm......

Instructional Website Design

Yikes! I still don't have my topic yet! I've been brainstorming ideas and have come up with several but still nothing concrete. I guess I'll just have to pick one and make it work. This is more difficult that I thought. I honestly feel like I'm having a brain block or something! ha! It must be all the stuff I have going on. This should be so simple, but for some reason I'm struggling.

I've enjoyed the discussion on which software to use when creating the Website. Personally, I like the free sites that are easy to use. But, I'm willing to try more difficult software with more bells and whistles. But, maybe not for this specific project!

Instructional Website

I'm having a difficult time choosing a topic for my Instructional Website. I have a few ideas but none are really too appealing to me. I want to choose a subject that actually interests me so I can use it later "down the road". I'm just a little distracted lately. I've been busy working on a community service initiative for my daughter's elementary school so that has monopolized a lot of my time. Plus, tonight I was informed that a student in my son's first-grade class is dying from a brain tumor. Very, very sad. Such a sweet little girl with so much life to live. I guess I'll try thinking about school tomorrow. Hopefully a bright idea will hit me when I least expect it.

Wiki's and Podcasts

I've enjoyed the discussions this week on Wikis and Podcasts. I'm excited to start learning more on the podcast side of things. I wonder if I need the permission of parents to include student voices and/or images? I need to start finding some things to post on the class Wiki. I had a similar assignment last semester and I really gained a lot of useful information from it.

These last couple of weeks have been a little crazy for me. I've had slight difficulty keeping up with my classes. I usually do my homework in the mornings when all three of my kids are in school. But, for the past couple of weeks I've been helping four elementary school teachers with a water purification project during those morning hours. So my schedule has been a little "off". But now that project is on a hiatus so I can start getting focused on my studies again. whew!

Webquest

I've been working on my Webquest this week. I have also helped the third-grade students build a Power Point presentation that coincides with the Webquest. I am simply amazed at how much these third-graders know. They can whip up a presentation in a matter of minutes. They know all the little features, effects, bells, and whistles. I've actually found myself taking notes on things they do!!! It's a little odd watching them create a presentation in minutes and at the same time they're asking me how to spell "access" and "carry".

Some of the parents haven't been using the Webquest that I set up. Which one parent soon found out was not such a good idea. Her daughter did a Google search for "Bangladesh" and the second search that popped up was "Bangladesh Call Girl" (yikes!). After that, she became very interested in the links I had provided on the Webquest!

This has been a very interesting journey over the past three weeks. I've really gained a lot of insight into the preparations these teachers go through when it comes to big projects like this! I've also been able to draw on what I've learned in the few classes I've taken thus far at KSU; especially my "Designing Visuals" class (which, by the way, I loathed!!!).

I think once I get this Webquest built, the teachers will ask for my help with more! I'm excited!

Using Twitter

I found this youtube video on Twitter (or micro-blogging):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o&feature=fvw

My issue with Twitter is my life is not interesting enough for people to care about what I'm doing! lol!

But, I understand that schools are starting to use Twitter. I just need to figure out why (??). I can see that it may be useful if a professor or teacher needs to post an update - like a change in assignments. But....couldn't that be done on a blog? Or the class website?

I'm not sure, as a class, what we're supposed to Twitter about?? I'm assuming class stuff, but I'll probably put most of my thoughts on this blog.....we'll see how it goes!

That's what I love about this KSU program....learning about all these technologies, whether I like them or not.

First week of class

I spent last weekend at beautiful Hampton Beach, New Hampshire where I went to visit my new nephew. Due to family work conflicts, I was able to spend Saturday in Jumping Jack's Java coffee shop, sitting in front of the bay window that overlooked the ocean, reading "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" in front of the roaring fireplace. What a great day!!! It's not often that I get the opportunity to just sit and read - uninterrupted by at least one of my three children! I managed to get through the first three chapters (on Weblogs) before the beach started calling for me to take a walk!

I got back home on Sunday and jumped right into my classes! I'm excited to be finishing up this week's assignments. It's a little difficult to read discussions and post a thought-provoking comment with Lego Indiana Jones blaring on the computer behind me! My son has Kindergarten classes in the morning so if I don't get my assignments completed by 11:30 in the morning, I'm in trouble! I feel guilty working on my classes when he is home. If I don't try to play with him, he'll migrate towards either the television, computer, or Nintendo Advance (which he has now zoned-in on).

I'm anxious to start working on my Webquest!! I'm collaborating with a couple teachers from my son's elementary school and we're meeting tomorrow to start working through the details. The Webquest is going to be on water purification. At first I thought about incorporating the Webquest into a website about community service. But after more thought, I think I'll instead create a website on disaster preparedness. I just ran across an article that I copied out of the August 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine that will prove to be a great resource! And with the current disaster in Haiti, the website could prove to be pretty informative and useful!