My Learning Summary

This past semester has been very rewarding for me.  It was the first time that I was enrolled in two different graduate courses at one time, so I was nervous.  I must admit that it was a real challenge at times, but I do feel a sense of fulfillment now that the term is over.  I’m pleased with my performance and I’ve learned so much that will be very helpful to me in the future.  I look forward to sharing in this post what I’ve learned, the new things I can now do, and how my thinking has changed about technology integration since the beginning of the term.

Besides being pleased that I successfully made it through the semester, I am happy that I was able to “resurrect” my job-related blog that I had only dabbled with before.  Now I am actually posting to this blog on a regular basis, and I’m pleased that others are starting to connect to it.  That feels great!

In addition, I now have experience working with a wiki which is one of the technologies I had always wanted to use before, but I’d never had the chance.  I enjoyed using the wiki format for the basis of my digital storytelling project.  As I completed this project, I also learned about the key elements of a digital story and I believe I could now work with students to successfully complete such a project.  

As I worked through the modules of EME5050, I found a lot of very useful educational web sites.  I used my existing Delicious account to collect all of the URLs.  I’m also looking forward to working more with Diigo which was the new social bookmarking web site I learned about during this semester.  It has some features that Delicious just doesn’t.

There was another technology that was new to me during this course, and I actually avoided learning how to use it at first.  Prezi is the name of the program and I ended up falling in love with it once I took the time to view the tutorials and learned how it works.  At the time it was presented to us, we also learned about another program called SlideShare.  For the particular assignment we were given to complete, I chose to use PowerPoint, my “old standby,” in combination with SlideShare.  It was easy to do, but I wasn’t really satisfied and wanted to learn how to use Prezi.  It took determination and persistence, but I did finally become comfortable using the program and it became a central part of my digital storytelling project for EME5050.  This is another “moral victory” for me at the end of this term, and I can see myself using this program in the future.  I believe Prezi will be a great alternative to PowerPoint for students to learn to use for presentations.

Another technology that I’ve started using on a regular basis as a result of being a student in this course is Twitter.  I started using it a couple of years ago when I took my first trip to New York City.  I tried using it to keep my family and friends up-to-date on what I was doing.  That was only for a brief period of time, and I appreciate the opportunity to start using it again.  One new technology that I learned about during EME5050 was HootCourse and I’m going to look into how to utilize it with the next online professional development training that I will be facilitating.

I learned so much this semester, and I envision myself using many of the new technologies in my job as a trainer and technology integration specialist.  Luckily, many of these are free Web 2.0 tools and most of them are not actually blocked in my school district.

Culminating Project is Ready!

I am so excited to say that my culminating project for EME5050 is completed and everything can be found on my wiki which is located at  http://oneclayvirtual.wikispaces.com/.  I guess I'm so excited about having everything completed that I remembered to "hoot" about it, but forgot to post in my blog.  I hope you enjoy viewing my WebQuest for 11th and 12th grade virtual students to learn how to create a resume for one of the jobs "of the future."

Creating a Rubric to Assess My Digital Storytelling Project

EME5050 - Activity Reflection #7

This week in our graduate course on the fundamentals of technology for educators we have continued to work on our digital storytelling projects and we have come to the point of designing a rubric to use as the assessment.  If you are not familiar with the term rubric, it can be characterized in many ways.  It is an authentic way to assess how students solve real-world problems.  A rubric is built on a wide range of criteria and the students normally are given a copy to use as a guide as they complete real-life projects.  This type of assessment is known as formative because it is involved from the beginning to the end of the entire teaching and learning experience.  There are two different types of rubrics and they are called analytic or holistic.  As I read through this week’s online readings for our course I found the following definitions for the terms analytic and holistic on the TeacherVision.com web site.  “Analytic rubrics identify and assess components of a finished product.  Holistic rubrics assess student work as a whole.”  For the digital story I am developing for this particular course, I chose to design an analytic rubric.  I believe it will be the best kind of rubric to use to assess my student’s e-resumes they will be creating.  In this post I will be sharing the reflections of my experience of creating my rubric and I will share my thoughts on the role of rubrics in authentic assessment and when I believe authentic assessment is the best strategy.

I need to start by saying that my digital storytelling project has been an ever evolving process and I’ve been tweaking and revising it regularly.  Hopefully I finally have it to the point where I want it and I believe that is because I have finalized the rubric with which it will be assessed.  This is a digital storytelling project and therefore I have made sure that it is built around the seven elements that are key to a good digital story.  For this project the students will be given a WebQuest to follow in order to use web sites on the Internet to find answers that will help them create their own job resume.  Besides being Internet-based, there are other elements that also make this project digital.  Students will be asked to use Prezi and Jing to create an electronic version of their resume instead of the more common paper version.

My project is designed for 9^th – 12^th grade virtual students and I tried to make the rubric as grade-level appropriate as possible.  I also tried to make it as “self explanatory” as possible because it is for virtual students who may be at a disadvantage because they don’t have the opportunity for face-to-face encounters with their teacher.  I like the idea of giving these students (any student for that matter) the assessment tool upfront so they will know how to fashion their projects as they are being developed.  As a student myself, I like having “the big picture” early enough in the game so I can see how all of the pieces are going to fit together.  My students will be solving a real-life problem because they will be asked to create a job resume that will get them an interview for they think would be the “perfect” job for them.  There is also a dramatic twist to this project because it is built on the scenario that the students have been transported from the current year of 2011 to the year 2020 in order to help save the workforce and the future.  (Enough about that, you’ll have to watch the digital stories to see how they end.)

Creating my rubric wasn’t really difficult and I there are different reasons I can attribute this to.  First, I’m accustomed to having my work assess with rubrics and I have many examples to refer to from the two graduate courses in which I’m currently enrolled.  Also, the Internet is full of great examples, explanations, etc. on how to create and use rubrics effectively.  I have to admit I did do some tweaking and revising over the course of a couple of days, but I feel like I created a solid rubric with which to evaluate my students’ digital stories.

Rubrics are wonderful assessment tools, but there are certain teaching and learning situations for which they are best suited.  This digital storytelling project is one instance and others would be solving real-life problems and project-based learning.  Rubrics are very versatile and they can actually be utilized across all curriculums when teachers want to improve the types of projects their students create and therefore increase their overall learning.

I’d like for you to take a look at the “E-Resume Rubric” I created to use to assess the digital stories my students will be creating.  I would appreciate any constructive feedback that you have to share.  Use this link to access my wiki where the rubric I created is posted in the WebQuest my students will be using for this digital storytelling project. 

Creating an E-Resume for the Year 2020

EME5050 - Activity Reflection #6

As we have recently worked with wikis and WebQuests in our graduate course on the fundamentals of technology for educators, I have been experiencing some rather steep learner curves.  WebQuests are something with which I was familiar, but I had never created a wiki. On top of that, we were introduced to Prezi which is the “zooming” presentation software.  It is an awesome little program and it makes PowerPoint look rather linear. I must say that I have really been impressed by the currency and thoroughness of our textbook for this course.  Shelly, Gunter & Gunter presented us with a text that is filled with a tremendous selection of very valuable online technology resources.  I have therefore enjoyed reading the different chapters (yes, completing the quizzes) during each week of this course.  This past week we were given the opportunity to choose from two different activities to complete.  The first choice was to create a storyboard for the proposed digital story we will be asking students to create.  The other was to create an actual digital story like the one we would like our students to create.  I chose the latter, and this post reflects that experience as well as our recent readings from our text and online module.

This week was basically a continuation of last week as we continued to develop our wikis, WebQuests, and digital stories.  As many of my classmates have also commented, it seems like I keep finding something to tweak on my wiki or WebQuest.  I’ll have to admit that I did a little more than just tweak in the past few days.  I revised a lot of my WebQuest which then caused me to have to revise my wiki.  It pretty much became a “domino effect.”  My original digital storytelling project was going to be a culmination of the WebQuest with students using PhotoStory 3 to create electronic resumes.  That all changed this week when I decided it would be much more fun to have the students create their e-resumes using Prezi.  I say “more fun” tongue in cheek because Prezi is so radically different from the more common PowerPoint or PhotoStory programs. I really like the way I can upload and place images within my document without disturbing the text and the flow of the Prezi feels very “unique.”  I should also say that I surprised myself by choosing to use Prezi because I had previously hit a learning roadblock and not just a curve when it was first introduced.  No matter how I tried, I just couldn’t get the hang of it.  Literally I had to sit down with my laptop and go through the online tutorials and then get my hands on the software to actually learn how to use it.  Now I’m really glad I did.  I learned that when I put my mind to it, I can do just about anything.

This digital story I’m working on for our class has been “a work in process.”  In the beginning it was going to be called “All About Me,” and it was a digital story that virtual students in 9^th through 12^th grades were going to create to introduce themselves to their online teacher and classmates.  Then last week, much of that started to change.  The students are still 9^th through 12^th grade virtual Language Arts students, but they will be completing a WebQuest that will result in an e-resume that they have created in order to obtain a futuristic job in the year 2020.  During the first part of their quest, the students will explore the meanings of their names.  Next, they will continue with more self-evaluation by completing different online personality tests.  After that, they will research today’s top jobs in 2011, and then they will compare these jobs to those that are predicted to be the “hottest” in 2020.  The underlying goal of this entire process is for these students to find just the right job for themselves for the year 2020.  Oh yeah, don’t let me forget that in addition to everything else, the students will be learning how to write a good resume and then they will learn how to transform it into a GREAT electronic resume using Prezi.  Please note that I realize most resumes are only text, with no graphics, but because this is an e-resume for the year 2020, it has to have images!

My only concern right now about my digital story project idea is that I can’t stop wanting to tweak it and make it better.  I’ve been told by some that I am sort of a “perfectionist.”  That can get exhausting because I won’t let things alone.  I’ll let you take a look at my e-resume that I created as an example for students to have as a reference point.  I hope you like it, and I appreciate any constructive advice you can give me to make it better.

~Enjoy!

Ruth Paine's E-Resume on Prezi

In the Year 2020...What Will the Top Jobs/Careers Be?

EME5050 - Activity Reflection #5

This week has been a real learning process...
In our graduate course on the fundamentals of technology for educators we have been learning how to teach students to create digital stories.  This week we started putting our plan into action by creating a curriculum page for the type of digital story we would like our students to create in the future.  This curriculum page was created using a wiki of our choice, and I chose Wikispaces for Educators.  It is a free Web 2.0 tool and was a great tool for creating my curriculum page that was in the standard format for a WebQuest.  My curriculum page is "still under construction," but I'd love for you to take a quick preview.  The following is my reflection of creating my curriculum page using Wikispaces, but first, I'd like you to use this link to take a quick look at what I've done on it so far.

I started out this post by saying, "This week has been a real learning process."  It was a good learning process now that I look back on it, but as I was in the midst of it, I felt very frustrated at times.  This was probably because I felt I had to go out of town for business unexpectedly and the hotel where I stayed didn't have adequate Internet access and I was stuck in a storm for 48 hours.  I did make it through, and I'm really excited about the idea for the digital storytelling project I'm working on, but I'm really "feeling the growing pains" now.  I am also very excited about getting to share my digital storytelling idea with teachers in my district.  The first group with whom I will work on it will be the new virtual teachers we will be hiring soon for our new virtual school which is called the "Clay Virtual Academy."

The idea for the digital storytelling project I'm developing is for our future virtual students to complete a WebQuest in which they learn how to create an e-resume (electronic resume) using the PhotoStory 3 software program.  You've already had a quick peek at the project, so I believe you know how I've started structuring the WebQuest.  I am looking forward to completing the development of this digital storytelling project and to the point where I'm actually training teachers how to use digital storytelling with their students.

As I said, this week has been a real learning process.  I learned how to create a Voki which is the customized speaking avatar you saw at the beginning of my WebQuest.  The voki I created is named "Virtual Vincent."  All I had to do to add him to my wiki was to copy and paste html code.  It was really pretty simple.  Something else I am glad that I learned this week was how to use a wiki to create a WebQuest.  I've done that before using Word, but it is nice now to know how to create a WebQuest using a different tool.  One stress point was when I had a little trouble figuring out how to embed the Table of Contents at the top of my WebQuest.  When I finally "caved in" and looked it up in the "Help" section of Wikispaces, it became so clear and now it's a "piece of cake."

This week I learned how to use some new Web 2.0 tools, and I feel I'm the better for it.  I'll end with a "play of words" on my last name (which is Paine).  I can literally say, "If there's no Paine, there's no gain."

There's an App for That! (App Store Volume Purchasing Program)

EME5050 - ABC, Week 11

I can remember when Apple first came on the scene in education and they actually were putting their computers into the classrooms (for FREE)!  The first computer I came into contact with was an Apple II-e and I thought I had died and gone to “technology heaven.”  Believe it or not, but that little machine (along with my little dot matrix printer and the emergence of the Internet) inspired me to move from being a lowly little elementary school teacher into becoming a “digital diva.”  I am now an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and as we speak, I’m in pursuit of my Master’s in eLearning from UCF.  Putting their technology in the classroom (for FREE) was a genius marketing strategy back then, so when the iPods and iPads burst onto the scene, it appeared that Apple had again “given education a gift.”  This post will point out how the old saying “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” has come to apply to purchasing apps from Apple.

The reason we thought we were being “given” something when the whole iPods, iPads, and apps deal came along was because Apple said we only had to purchase an app one time, and then if we had the devices (meaning iPods and/or iPads) to put it on, we could sync it on up to 999 of them.  When we first heard this “deal of the century” in my school district, we immediately thought we were misunderstanding because it was just “too good to be true.”  We then became both curious and cautious, and because we had to know more, we consulted the “Apple rep” for our district for clarification.  Sure enough, he confirmed that it was indeed true.  Our rep told us that as long as we legally purchased an app from the iTunes Store, we as an educational institution could then sync it on up to 999 devices if we possessed them.  This was a phenomenal deal, and when you paired it with the iPod and iPad, it felt like a “marriage made in technology heaven!”  Unfortunately for us, the honeymoon was short-lived and now there has been a “wrinkle thrown into the mix.”

This wrinkle is called the “App Store Volume Purchase Program.”  Don’t get me wrong that I now think the whole iPad, iPod and apps scenario isn’t a “priceless” educational technology for 21^st century students in a 21^st century world.  It’s just the deal now isn't as “sweet” as it first was  because we no longer have the flexibility of purchasing an app once and then being able to legally sync it on up to 999 devices.  Those days have come and gone.  I’m not sure why, and I wouldn’t be so bold as to try and explain why Apple made this change.  All I will do is say that we are fortunate to be able to use iPods, iPads, and their corresponding apps to help educate our students to be well-rounded citizens in this technology-drenched century in which we live.  It is our job as educators and technology leaders to make sure we use our budgets as wisely and efficiently as possible.  I still believe Apple is providing us with an unprecedented educational opportunity and our students are going to be “the better for it.”

You’re probably curious yourself about this new program for purchasing apps in volume.  The following is a link to the web site that explains everything very clearly – Apple Store Volume Purchase Program.  As you will see, this new purchasing program is still a “sweet deal,” and it makes the old saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” come to mind.  I’ve always like applesauce myself, so I like to think of it as, “When life gives you “Apple,” make applesauce.”

Digital Storytelling for the Virtual Classroom - Part 2

EME5050 - Reading Reaction #5

As I continued to learn more about digital storytelling this week, and I was completing our course readings and viewing a host of online sources on the subject, I began consciously looking for ideas that would help me plan a digital storytelling project that would work for virtual school teachers.  Our school district will be launching our new virtual academy this coming 2011-2012 school year and I will be working directly with the teachers on curriculum and training.  It is to my delight that this particular graduate course on the fundamentals of technology in education is helping me learn how to teach others to use the power of digital storytelling with students.  As you read further, I hope you will like my ideas for the first digital storytelling project I would like to see our virtual teachers use with their students to kick off the new 2011-2012 school year when it begins in August.

If you’ve ever taken any online courses for professional growth, in-service training, or undergraduate/graduate training, you realize there can be a “disconnect” if the virtual group isn’t drawn together in a personal way from the very beginning.  That is why I’ve decided to help our new virtual academy teachers use digital storytelling with their students to create a presentation that will help introduce themselves to the teacher and their classmates in the class.  It would basically be an “All about Me” presentation in which the students share information about themselves that will help the viewer “get to know them a little better.”  As far as connecting to a specific curriculum, I think this type of project could be modified and used effectively in most any online course.  Our virtual academy will be a K-12 learning environment, so the age level of the particular students in the class will also have to be taken into consideration.  The main purpose of this project is for the students to share meaningful information about themselves that can serve as a great “ice breaker” at the beginning of the course, and can also help bring the different entities in the class together as a real “class.”  It could be made to work for any grade level or curriculum area.  For this project to be successful, I believe there should be flexibility as well as established guidelines to follow.  Our virtual school will be presented using Blackboard Learn which is our district’s LMS (Learning Management System).  The students will share their finished “All about Me” digital stories using the Discussion Board section of their specific online class.  This way they can view one another’s presentations and then can interact with one another by posting comments, asking questions, etc.  There will be three different programs available for the students to use to create their stories.  They will have the option of using either iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or Photo Story 3.  The students will also be asked to incorporate photographs of themselves into their presentations, and they will have the choice of either scanning and uploading still photos or using digital photographs.  Music and narration will also be part of the presentation and the students will have a choice of how to incorporate the two.  There will be a list of specific requirements for this project, but once these have been met, the students will have the flexibility to add additional elements if they would like.

For this training I have found some really good online resources for the virtual teachers to review in order to be able to help their students create their “All about Me” digital stories.  First, I think they would benefit greatly from viewing some examples of digital stories and I’ve found the following online resources for them:

• Scott County Student Digital Stories
• The Art of Storytelling
• Digital Story Telling

Besides viewing examples of good digital stories created by students, the teachers in this training will also need to choose which media to have their students use to create their “All about Me” digital stories.  Therefore they need to know as much as possible about iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Photo Story 3 so they will be able to assist their students as they complete their projects.  Below are links to online resources that are actual tutorials for each of the three different programs and the teachers will be able to use them to learn for themselves how to use the programs effectively.  These tutorials will also be great resources for the virtual teachers to use with their own students as they have them complete their “All about Me” digital stories.  

Online Tutorials for Windows Movie Maker:

• Getting Started with Windows Movie Maker
• Windows Movie Maker Tutorials - How to Use Windows Movie Maker 
• Windows Movie Maker 2  

Online Tutorials for iMovie:

• iMovie HD
• iLife '11
• iMovie 2 - Atomic Learning 

Online Tutorials for Photo Story 3:

• Create Your First Photo Story 
• Using Microsoft Photo Story 3
• Microsoft Photo Story 3

For this particular training I will be creating my own “All about Me” digital story to use as an example for the training participants to have as a resource.  During this training, they in turn will be asked to create their own “All about Me” digital stories to use as examples for their students when they are working with them on this particular digital storytelling project.  The purpose for using these types of teacher-created resources will be to try and help the students create the types of digital storytelling projects that were envisioned at the inception of this training.