Final Project Evaluations / End of Semester

It was nice to get various perspectives on my project as well as some productive critiques.

I learned a lot from viewing my colleagues' projects in terms of how to deliver instruction with the various tools available. There was so much creativity inherent in these projects that I have to use those ideas in my next instructional designs.

I really enjoyed this semester as T.J. and Terri worked side-by-side in designing the instruction. I really enjoyed the online resources introduced in 572 - I even started sharing them with my colleagues at school.

540 really helped me to break things apart and analyze each component and then bring them all together again.

Academically, I think I could have applied myself a bit more but I had a little difficulty at the beginning of this semester when my wife broke her elbow and she needed a little bit more help and attention. I didn't realize how much help and attention she needed as I found I had less time for everything else including these classes. Thanks Terri and T.J. for the encouragement and flexibility. I really enjoyed the phone calls - they were very helpful! It's nice to know that your instructors really care about your success.

Video (Part 1)

What should the content of my video be? I had a few half-baked ideas the first week the project was assigned but nothing solidified. I wanted my video to be useful as well. When Terri Linman and I spoke on the phone, we came up with the idea of creating an introductory video for my classes. What better way would there be to introduce the rules and content of the class to my middle school students? I'll keep it light-hearted and also get the point across.

After successive revisions, I am still not satisfied with it. I think this video will go through some tweaks before the end of this semester.

The tools of choice included iMovie, images from the Internet, and a mp3 audio file from Free Play Music @ http://www.freeplaymusic.com

Thanks Terri, for the great ideas and encouragement!

Sharing Online Resources

When I began the COMET program, I wanted to share things that I learned with my school. Anyways, I began sharing the online resources with my fellow teachers and have received plenty of positive feedback. This is certainly encouraging; I'll continue sharing resources when I have the time.

Musings on Emerging Tech Tools

I had an opportunity to check out some interesting online resources. In fact, I kept changing my mind of what online tool to present as I explored the other tools.

First I checked out Comiqs.com which appears to very similar to Plasq's Comic Life software that comes as a software bundle with Macintosh computers. With Comiqs, you can integrate pictures from your Flickr account as well as utilizing the library (not sure where these pictures are from - perhaps from subscribers?), or from your computer. Sharing your creation is a forte of Comiqs which unfortunately also happens to be a weakness. After perusing the archives, I noticed some questionable content in both pictures and text - most inappropriate for middle school students.

Next, I checked out Animoto.com which allows one to create a video from photos (more like a slideshow with music) selected from your accounts on Flickr, Facebook, Smugmug, Picasa, and Photobucket or retrieved from your computer. Music can be added from their small library or uploaded from your computer. A video with music can be completed in three easy steps within less than an hour. I couldn't come up with any ideas on how to use this in the classroom.

Finally, I perused Teacher Tube. Similar to You Tube, the focus was on instructional videos and most of them were from created by educators. I really liked the idea of being able to share instructional videos with like-minded educators as being able to communicate via email and blogs. This was definitely something I could utilize in a instructional setting.

Cyber Safety

After much discussion with teachers, parents, and students, I have observed that there is a growing concern and need for educating not only our students but parents in the safe use of online resources. More specifically, those of social networking websites and chat sites.

The idea in keeping safe online appears to be a common sense issue. For example, don't post a personal picture of yourself or friends and family. If you do, then make sure that only your friends and family can access these or that you not include any names. Don't include any information that may divulge your identity and location. I have noticed that slightly over a majority of middle school students actually follow these common sense recommendations.

In my discussions with parents, I ask if they know what websites their child visits. Again, slightly more than a half of parents knew this information.

I think that this is an important enough issue that as educators we need to take a serious look at this. Perhaps I'm overreacting? I don't think so. I think we need to educate our students and parents. If we teach our children how to be safe in the physical world then it makes sense to teach them how to be safe in cyberspace!

Technology and Social Responsibility

Students are more technically savvy than ever. Sometimes their technical knowledge is much more developed than their social consciousness. As an educator teaching computer technology to middle school students, I feel I have the responsibility of instilling a sense of accountability in their use of technology.

In the use of discussion posts and email communication for example, I've had students write things that they would never otherwise say to a person's face or discuss in the classroom. My reaction to that is to teach them that posting their thoughts in a discussion or email is a big responsibility that carries certain consequences if abused. They need to remember that real live beings may be affected by their writing.

Spring Semester 2008

I must say that the second semester of the COMET program has me more hyped than ever. It's exciting and a little daunting to explore these new resources on the Internet. It's exciting in the sense that, "Wow, I never knew that these existed." Daunting in the sense, "How can I practically apply these to fit my curriculum?" After feeling a bit overwhelmed, I remembered that the objective of Terri's course is to first teach us how to use the new resources and then apply them to our classroom. I just have to remember to do "one thing at a time." Okay, I'm off to explore. Until next time...