This is your final discussion question. You do not need to respond to other posts in this discussion - though you certainly may do so if you want.
For this question, I would like you to reflect on this course, thinking particularly about what you have learned - but more importantly what you will do with what you have learned. The course was constructed to teach you several things during the short 5 weeks we will have together. For most of you, the wiki was a new technology; for others working together collaboratively via wiki was a new technology; several of you were able to use Wimba for the first time (certainly a new technology for online learning); for most of you - your chosen technology was new and many of the other chapter technologies in the book were new, also. So, take some time to reflect on all things new - and then share. You could look at which "new" thing has been the most exciting - has the most potential - you can't wait to share - you have already shared - you will use this fall - or anything else that you have discovered throughout the course. Your reponses will help me in tweaking the course and I look forward to hearing about your experiences during this summer session.
DISCUSSION QUESTION 4:
I learned several things - well, actually more than several, about navigating and providing content for the wiki itself. The formating can be rather buggy, particularly if you are pasting from a Word doc, other word processor or HTML editor - because they include all this extraneous code that you can't see and often can't override in the wiki itself.
So, if you are having students create content outside the wiki, I recommend that they use Notepad or other text editor that does not add any code. Then, when they paste it into the wiki, the text is clean and can be easily formatted through PB. Take a look at Millie's page, for example. While it looks correct upon first glance, notice that the fonts are different colors - some is this funky default grey color and some is black. There are some differences in sizes, too. I tried to do some editing - but that became a nightmare - whenever I changed one thing - other things decided to change, also. So, I copied the whole thing and then pasted it into Notepad, then copied from Notepad, created a new page (See Experiment) and repasted content from Notepad. It may seem like a lot of steps, but I did it in a few minutes. After pasted, I created the Table of Contents (using the Plugin) and highlighted and changed the headings to Headline 2. Except for the table - all was formatted clean in a few.
So, if you are using this for a class and want consistency - tell students, peers, etc. in advance to use Notepad instead of Word. It will be less frustrating. If they want to use Word for spellcheck, etc. - then before pasting in wiki, have them copy to Notepad, recopy from Notepad and then paste into wiki. It is one extra step, but will save loads of time in the long run.
I am not asking you to go back and make it all clean since I did not know about this at the beginning - but in the next few weeks, I will be cleaning that up for all.
Janice
I got a lot of ideas for using these tools at my Library. However, that is the topic of my Wednesday night presentation, so I won’t be too detailed here. I love Wimba and the wikis. I see a lot of potential use for them in library school graduate classes. Since there are no library school south of San Antonio, library wanna-be’s have to choose between North Texas’ online program or Sam Houston’s program that flies their professors to the valley for weekend classes. I am a product of SHSU’s program and think that using Wimba could transform their program and double their numbers. On another note, I have had a few online courses. I love the wiki’s ability to make group projects easy. In one class, we were constantly emailing back and forth to work on corrections. It would have been so nice to have a documented posted we could all work off of and still have access to all past stages of the document.
Suggestions for the future. It was hard to follow the discussion area – deciding which were original posts and which were responses. I saw where some people began indenting their responses. I would recommend something like that – some kind of format change to show which typing were the responses. It could simply be that all original posts were in one color and responses in another. Overall, though – LOVED the class!
--Laura
Yes, I too, had some trouble following the comments. Ideally, I had intended for people to post a response to a post directly below the post they wanted to respond to. (Was that confusing?) But, I don't think I said it - I just thought it several times. I like the way Marla indented, too, and it made it easier to follow. Have thought of some solutions. The original post not indented. Response to a post indented and included directly below the post responded to. Then a response to a response indented again. So we could go through several levels of indentions. Plus - every one will have their own color. We will have to try it next semester to see how this plays out. While still not ideal - it seemed less cumbersome than the bulletin board - but would like to know everyone's thoughts about that.
--Janice
I have learned a lot in these five weeks. This was my first course in the educational technology program. Everyday that went by I learned something new. I conviced my self more that I made the right decision not just in getting my master's degree but in the field I chose. I had never used wimba before and I had no idea what was a wiki. Everything in this course has been farely new to me. There is so much information, that I want to continue learning. If there is going to be a continuation of this course I would like to take it. Now that I got started I just don't want to stop. I feel this is the begining of something really awesome. I really like the work that we all have done with this book. It is full of very valuable information. The comments left by everyone on my page helped me and led me towards information that I needed to put. I would like to make my own podcast to use in the classroom when I go back this year, but really I want to use as much that I can.
Delia Villarreal
I think that I have learned a lot in these past five weeks. I have never used Wiki before, so at first I was not comfortable adding or changing information. But, I now think that it was a good experience and I am glad I took this class. There is so much information on the chapters that we had created that would be useful when I begin to teach. I hope to be able to access it later on. When I do have my class (hopefully soon), I hope to incorporate as many of the chapters created in this class into my own classroom. All in all, it was a great class and learned a lot about all the different topics.
--Janie
This class has gone by so quickly, but I have enjoyed it very much. In particular, I liked the way that each of us became the "expert" in a particular area of technology. This allowed me to not only learn more about my topic, but to have an excellent resource available for all of the other topics. I learned so much about other areas of technology, such as podcasting, gaming, streaming media and Second Life (my favorite). I can't wait to explore SL and see how I want to use it in the classroom. My husband is an artist and he also was impressed by the information on SL. He is looking into creating a "virtual gallery" in SL to show his work. I have never podcasted before, but with the information that Millie has provided, it is much less intimidating. I am looking forward to watching this wiki to see how future students improve and add to what we have started.
--Marla
Gosh-where do I begin? I was totally in the dark with this type of technology. I had heard of online learning but never thought it could be this much fun. This was my first instrucitonal technology class and quite honestly, I think it should be a requirement for all education degrees. Hearing about it and experiencing it are two different things. I have always depended on other people for the "tech" stuff--but I feel so empowered now. (I been showing off our wiki and webinar around the office.) I see so many possibilities for the high schools that I work with. Thanks to all of the great presntations (thus far), I can see that we need to put more college information on posdcasting, create webinars in "Espanol" for parents, present quick teaching strategies for teachers, create wikis regional student projects on various topics, and so much more. We have already linked some podcasts to our GEAR UP page. I am also thinking about creating a webinar for teachers on maximizing the use of the GEAR UP student planner in the classroom. Like Laura, I also LOVED this class.
---Sylvia
This class has provided me with a vast amount of resources and knowledge that I will undoubtedly carry over to my professional job as testing strategist. I can see where and more importantly how I will utilize emerging technologies such as podcasts, wikis, streaming, virtual reality, etc. I am excited to show others what I have learned from my classmates. There needs to be more online classes like this one in which application and collaboration work hand in hand in a "fun" way. This class was clearly thought out, and I know that wikis extend more possibilites as Marla has shown us in her presentation. I'm very interested to see how the next classes after us play out and what improvements were made on our wiki. Has it been 5 weeks??? Time flies when you're having fun.
---Ruby
Just when you think you know every technology that is available, there is still something out there to amaze you. I have really enjoyed researching the chapters in the Wiki. I will be using these in the future for sure. I have already begun to post some of these topics, sites and information for teacher in my district to access. Once the school starts I hope to get lots of calls about these technologies. I know it will be exciting to talk about them. I also can't believe how simple some of the technologies are to use. For some technologies I thought additional hardware was needed when it is not. I have a mission to provide as much of this information as possible to help teachers with creating new inventive ways of engaging students in lessons. If I were a teacher in the classroom, I think using these technologies would make me love going to work even more. I think the technology that most intrigued me was Second Life. I love Marketing and it was my dream to be a top Marketing Executive. I love the ability to be able to be creative in a virtual online environment. It would be so much fun to create ads and slogans to catch people's attention.
--Daniel
This has class has truly been about disruptive technolgogies, especially disruptive to my sleep. All the topics were so good, I have forwarded them on to my dean and am updating my presentation on engaging the millenial with some of this new and good stuff. I am planning on using wikis in at least 2-3 of my classes and am definitely using the webinars in all of them as additional support for the class outside of the classroom. My school is also purchasing an island in SL so it will be fun to share Ruby's information with teachers this fall as they brave a new life in a virtual world. I am glad the wiki page is staying up after this. All that had work just to see it go away would have brought tears to my eyes and my hands from all that typing. Great job to everyone for organizing all that information for each topic. My only regret was that I got so bound up in mind, I forgot to check and see what other people were doing. After seeing the presentations, I am pumped up and amazed. It's good to know we can continue to edit and post comments throughout our tenure. This class definitely opened my eyes and my mind to what we as educators and instructional designers can be using in the classroom.
--Jason
There was so much to learn, so where do I start? I really enjoyed this class because I learned how to do a podcast. I had heard of it during a TCEA conference that I attended but I never saw it in action. So it was really a true experience for me. I basically taught myself but it was not that hard to follow since there are some good tutorials that can help you create podcasts. I can sympathize with the students when they are asked to create an assignment with very little instructions. Now I can turn around and teach my students how to create podcasts so they will know what it is and how it can be used. I also enjoyed WIMBA. In WIMBA, I felt I was actually in class but no faces. You can interact well via voice or chat box. You can present your work via the blackboard but you cannot integrate it with any other programs. That is the down side of WIMBA. I also like the fact that if you are having problem with your audio you can call in and still be able to participate. Cool!
This was my second experience with WIKI but this time I really got into it. The only thing that I did not like was that everyone has a chance to input their thoughts or ideas, which is a plus, but it was hard to decipher which was which at some point in time. Also as we input our data and had to click to SAVE, I came across the problem that I had to click SAVE twice in order for the information to be posted. I don't know is this was the case for anyone else, but it was a little annoying to me. A lot of good information was shared and it looks like everyone put great thought into it. Good experience for me. Disruptive Technologies is what the future holds for us. Technology is here to stay and as it keeps growing, it is going to be very disruptive. Let us not stop it from disrupting our educational lives.
--Millie
This class was amazing. I learned so much. There are so many new technologies available for educators to use. For me, the most exciting were Wikis, Podcasts, and Open Source. I looked forward to each weekly Wimba meeting. I am not use to having voice discussions with other people in cyberspace. I hope Wimba will eventually work with webcams so that we may see the person talking. These disruptive technologies are the future and because of this class, I feel prepared to explore them further. Everyone in the class was so helpful. This course was truely engaging and thought provoking. To everyone, have a wonderful summer.
--Luis
To me this class has been very informative and exciting. It was a great experience to learn about all these disruptive technologies. When I decided to video gaming in K-12 it was because I enjoy playing games. Throughout this class I have learned so much that I didn't expect, and I think it has help me focus on a plan to use in my classroom. I definitely plan on trying at least one game this school year, who knows maybe more. Another interesting chapter I enjoyed learning about was Second Life. Honestly, I had no clue this was out there. The possibilities on this virtual environment are amazing to me. The other big technology for me was wikis. I will admit, I was VERY frustrated when formatting my chapter, but Marla was such a great help. Her chapter and presentation opened my eyes to all the innovative things you can do with wikis. All in all this class has been great. I thought everyone did a great job on their chapters, and all should be proud. I will certainly be checking back here in the near future for guidance. Thanks to everyone, and enjoy what's left of your summer.
--Kelly
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