Digital Portfolio

http://mrsfoxcca.edu.glogster.com/digital-portfolio/

I decided to use glogster to create my digital portfolio.  I wanted to create something that I could share with my students at the beginning of the year and with a few changes I will be able to use this in my class.  I’m not a very “wordy” person.  I like everything short and simple.  I feel that using glog represents this more than the sample websites.  In my glog I’ve included a sample assignment that is a tic-tac-toe board, I also included a digital story that I created.  It is designed to be shown to students before they start working on their graduation projects to get them excited.   I also included links to my blog and the wiki that I helped create during my Project Based Learning class.  I declined to include a link to my facebook account.  I did not feel facebook would add anything to my professional portfolio. 

Self Eval

5-Collaborative effort

5-Visual Appeal

6-Organization

10-hyperlinks

14-Original and intelligent wording

14- Spelling/Grammar/Punctuation

35- Assignment criteria met

89/100

I used this rubric to grade a wiki that I had to create with a group for my Projects Based Learning class.  I took a lot of points off for the visual appeal because the wiki has no visual appeal other than our culminating project.  I also took points off for organization.  We made this wiki in December of last year and at the time it seemed to make sense however looking at it now I can’t remember the point of it.  If this were a wiki that we planned to share with coworkers or the general public they wouldn’t know for sure what they were looking at. 

 Overall I liked this rubric and I think it could fit for several wiki assignments.  I think the “Assignment Criteria met” category is a too vague.  If I were using this rubric in my class I would put the specifics under this category.  I do like that it has the optional but beneficial wiki traits.  I think this gives the students a better idea of what they should include.  I think this rubric is a great starting point and can be used for many wiki assignments.  All it needs is more information in the assignment criteria category, which that can be as needed per assignment. 

Cell phone digital story

Creating the cell phone digital story was very interesting.  I’ve used my smart phone to record video but it is usually just because I do not have my real camera available.    I could not get correct lighting when I filmed inside so I filmed outside.  There was a lot of background noise that I could not get rid of.  I found an app called splice that allowed me to edit my clips on my phone.  It was pretty easy to use but it did not have a lot of options.  There is music available on the app however when I added it to my video it overpowered the video and was too distracting.  I included pictures in my digital story and my plan was to have the pictures visible and hear my voice.  I could not figure out how to do this on splice so they are awkwardly placed into the story.  There were transitions available in splice but this interfered with the sound quality of my video.  Personally I’ll stick to my video camera and computer to make digital stories.  I can see how my students would like using their cell phones better though.  It was pretty easy to use and I’m sure my students will find it much easier just navigating their cell phone instead of going back and forth between camera and computer.  When I assign digital stories in the future I will give them the option to use their cell phones. 

phones in the classroom

For this project I interviewed my husband, Jason, who teaches 9^th grade US History at a brick and mortar high school.   In the past few years he has begun letting his students use cell phones in his class on a limited basis. “I do allow my students to use their phones for certain activities. Apps like Google Earth and Dictionary can increase student interest and involvement. They can also use their phones for research. Whenever applicable, I give them permission. They must ask and there is absolutely no texting. If they text, I confiscate the phone. In private discussions with my principal, he supports these activities, as long as my rules and expectations are made very clear to the students and I am consistent. However, if any problems developed in the class with cell phone use, I am sure that the school policy would be enforced. The administration is thinking about allowing cell phone use throughout the day and a ban on use only during instructional time. It would allow teachers to decide whether cell phones can be used in class and under what conditions.” Currently his school has a very strict no cell phone policy.  Students are allowed to have cell phones but they must be turned off during school hours.  Jason found that it is more time efficient to allow his students to use their phones.  There are laptop carts available for him to use but not every lesson warrants the use of a laptop for the entire period.  Sometimes the students just need to look up definitions or quickly find research.  It takes 10-15 minutes to distribute and boot the computers.  He found that a majority of students have their cell phones with them and it only takes seconds for them to access the information.  If a student does not have a phone they can use a computer or sit with someone who does have a phone. 

 

He does not have parental involvement when he uses the phones.  He does not make it very public that he uses the phones since it is against school policy.  Jason has found “that the majority of parents text message their children throughout the school day even though they are aware of the school policy. I think that many parents understand the policy but are willing to break it.”  He has gotten positive feedback from the students.  Using their phones makes them more interested in the material and they are more comfortable and work faster when they use their phones instead of the computers. 

“The major challenge is enforcing a policy that many students and parents are willing to break. Most parents do not view using a cell phone as misbehaving and therefore see is as a very low level and acceptable offense. Technically, there is an issue of students gaining unpermitted access to the school WIFI. This, according to what I’ve been told, may be in violation of state law. It involves something about equipment using school servers being monitored for proper use and viruses. Also, the time factor of teachers trying to teach and monitor proper cell phone use is an issue. Many teachers have been very adamant that they do not think that cell phones belong in school at all. They feel that they will just be used for cheating and distractions. They also think that the easiest way to prevent texting is to ban cell phones from the school.” 

I learned a lot from the interview.  I had been against cell phone use in the classroom until I started researching the different sides.  It seems that it is a losing battle to prevent students from using their phones.  But why should we prevent phones?  We should use and embrace phones as educational tools and teach our students how to use them responsibly and constructively.  Jason is successfully utilizing phones in his classroom and the students are better off because of it.   

The link to my webcast:

http://www.connectionslivelesson.com/p32lg2ljh3n/

Webcast

I attended a webinar that discussed how to incorporate projects into your class.  I liked that the webinar included video; it kept my attention.  Some weaknesses were that some of the participants who chose to talk had a difficult time with their microphones or sharing their screen.  I found it just slowed the program and I lost interest when this happened.  I think I would participate in these in the future.

 It isn’t the same but I allow my students to research a history topic and then teach a lesson  for extra credit.  The participants are the other students who completed the extra credit.  The recording is then available for all of the students to watch.  Most of the students really like doing this.  They find it exciting and different.  I think it would be neat if I had my students create a webcast as a class project and then share the webcast with the same class in different states.  I could also incorporate webcasts into my lesson for the students to watch.  I haven’t explored very much but I’m sure I could find some history webcasts that are at my students’ level. 

Overall this was not a new experience for me because at my school most of our professional developments and faculty meetings are done in this format.  I think I will still attend webcasts because it is a great way to hear other teachers’ experiences and ideas.  It is always refreshing to hear new ideas and perspectives.

Social Networking in the online classroom

One area that I have the most difficulty teaching is my end of the year research project.  I am unable to work with all of the students individually to make sure they are on the right track.  I spend a lot of time correcting mistakes and having the students redo projects because they did not understand/follow the directions.  I have message boards and lessons that explain each step of the project but some students find these boring and most do not take full advantage.  I think if the students were able to work together in small groups in a skype room with me they would greatly benefit.  I currently have “open office hours” in which the students can come to my online classroom at schedule times to ask questions and I am also available all day for phone calls. The students usually work one on one with me in these situations and they sometimes feel intimidated.  I think that working in a skype room with peers would take away some of the stress.  I could schedule specific times to work with small groups of students.  It would be an informal meeting in which the students could discuss with each other in real time how their projects are coming along, how they stay organized, challenges they are having, etc. 

 The project is for my 10^th grade US history class.  They have to pick a topic that we studied during the year and explain the historical significance of the event/person and why it is important to learn about the topic today.  The students can either put their research into essay format, powerpoint/glog, digital story, or any other approved format.  Each format is worth the same amount of points but has a different rubric. 

The group collaboration will receive a participation grade.  My overall goal is that the students work together to brainstorm ideas for their project.  I will be there to facilitate the conversation and to answer any questions they have.  My hope is that they will have a discussion on their own and rely very little on me.  I want them to articulate their ideas with other and help each other strengthen their projects. This will also give me a better idea of who needs more help and I can contact them privately after the group discussion.  I think this will prevent a lot of confusion about the project and the students will be able to manage their time in a more meaningful way. 

Prezi.com

26.5/32

I had visited prezi before but I had not created an account and actually learned how to use the tool.  I was very surprised on how easy it was to use.  I like the final product that is created too.  It seems like it will be better for the visual/spatial learners since they can see the progression and pathway of what the presentation is about.  The site lost points in signup/contract area because students must sign up individually and their account is not connected to the teacher account.  The site also lost points because only the basic version is free.  There is not a mobile app available for this site although there is an app for an iPad.  Prezi also lost points in the final products area.  The final product is extremely educational however in the free account you have to view and save it online.  I also deducted points because students can search published prezis and they might find inappropriate material there.    

Other positives about Prezi:

Very easy to use

Awesome tutorials in text and video

Livebinders.com

I found this website while searching for web 2.0 tools.  It is a virtual binder that can serve many purposes.  As a teacher I can organize all of my information into the binder to give to the students or I can have them organize information for me to view.  This website earned 28 points on the rubric.

Students must create their own account and they are not linked to the teacher.  There are currently no apps available for this website.  I think teachers would have to be creative when using this website for groupwork.  The group would have to have a shared username and password. The final product is extremely educational and can demonstrate mastery however it can only be viewed online.  There are no ads on this site.  Students are able to search other published binders and may find some binders that are not age appropriate.

Other positives about livebinder:

Free

No personal information is required

Can be used for multiple grade levels

Enhances curriculum

Superlame.com

24/32

Another website that I discovered was superlame.com.  This site allows you to upload photos and add comic book bubbles and other effects to them.  This would be a fun way to add some excitement to presentations.  There is no login required and no personal information is given.  The website is free to use and does not require any software to be downloaded.  There is no mobile app available.  Once a picture has been edited it can be saved and emailed to others or put into a presentation. Depending on the picture that is uploaded and the captions that are added Superlame.com can enhance curriculum.  There were advertisements on the bottom and on the side.  The advertisements contained material that could be considered questionable and not school appropriate. 

 Human Filters

I am very fortunate that I have access to several professional learning communities.  I learn the most from my peers in my classes here at Wilkes.  Through discussions I always learn about new technologies and new ways to implement previous technology.  We share what is happening in our classrooms and improvements that we would like to make.  I always leave my classes with a lot of new ideas to try that I learned from my peers in these classes.  We all share a common bond of wanting to improve ourselves and our classes.    

The third group that I benefit from is the colleagues that I work with, specifically the ones that I share an office with.  I work closely in my office with a group of 25 teachers who vary from kindergarten to high school teachers.  Even though we all teach different subjects and grade levels we share in the unique challenge of educating students in a cyber setting.  We are able to share websites and tools with each other that we have found successful.  We are able to work together to build lessons the incorporate new technology and ideas.   

The third group that I work with is fellow Social Studies teachers.  I’ve meet these teachers in a previous school that I taught at, my husband’s co workers, and friends that I met in college and at conferences.  We are able to share ideas about how to make our lessons better and ways to make our lessons have more impact.  We all share in a common challenge of trying to make history interesting and relevant to young adults.   

Improvements

I sent an email to livebinders asking them to consider making an account in which groups of people could contribute to a binder.  I think this would be very helpful for students who are completing group work to organize their information and materials.  

CC Websites

Here is the link to my stack of EDIM514-CC links

CC Your Work

I selected the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.  With this license others are free to share and copy my work.  They are also allowed to make changes to my work.  If they do share or make changes to my work they must give me credit for the original work and it cannot be used for commercial purposes.  I chose this option because I do not mind if others use my work or even make changes to it.  I picked noncommercial because I am not comfortable with a large company or anyone else making a profit from my work. 

I would encourage students to use whatever license they felt most comfortable with.  I think a benefit of allowing students to pick their own is that it exposes them to the different types of licenses and makes them more aware of fair use when they are researching. 

EDIM 514 Intro

Hello, my name is Lauren Fox. I am currently working on my masters in Instructional Media Technology. I am currently taking this course and Inquiry Based Learning. After these two courses are complete I have one class and I will be finished with my masters! I have enjoyed my time at Wilkes but look forward to the completion of the degree.

I am currently teaching 10^th grade US History at Commonwealth Connections Academy. I have taught there for four years and in VA the previous two years. I love teaching history and I always have a lot of new ideas to incorporate into my class when I take these classes.