Evrim shared some interesting ideas and valuable resources for our work with blogging. I am hoping that students will be able to add some resources to the online discussion on blogging this week.
Morgan got us started with podcasting and also shared some resources on this topic. I believe that we will have a follow-up session on podcasting from Andrea that will focus on elementary applications. Since Morgan is in secondary science, this will be a good combination.
Major topics for the evening included why Logo?, blogging in education, and metacognition. Taken together, these topics suggest the focus in this class on active, learner-centered computer applications.
I am enjoying the group and the opportunity to get to know students from different disciplines. I am confidant that we will continue to form a community of technology using educators.
Let me be the first to "tag" this blog by talking about the reading. Although I read the material, I am personally having a hard time relating them to one another. I do believe the "delicious" piece of the readings is a great way to get the conversations going. I also want to thank Morgan for the information about podcasting. I listen to some podcasts and had no idea that it was that easy to do it. I would be really interested in learning about video podcasting as well as audio podcasting with power point or other mediums.
ReplyDeleteOur class does seem somewhat hesitant when discussing the readings from the previous week. I am not sure why this is, but the blogging information we talked about was a good activity. Everyone enjoyed creating a blog and trying to personalize it. I was unfamiliar with blogging but definitely understand its usefulness in classroom activities.
ReplyDeleteKeeping a good discussion in a large group is a difficult task. as Dr. Thompson suggested we can have small group discussions where people would feel more comfortable in expressing their thoughts. We can also have some alternative discussion formats and activities.
ReplyDeleteI like talking about blogging as a blogger. I really believe the importance of blogging in terms of personal development. Instead of keeping a private journal, I prefer sharing my ideas within a community. Maybe I should try keeping a blog in English as well.
This my first semester in USA. Each class is exciting for me. I am looking forward to lively discussions in class,which will be quite different from what I experienced in China. I read the material, got interested in a few paragraphs and I wanted to share with others, but in a 21-student group, I would feel a little nervous, just like giving a speech, not a discussion. I prefer sharing my ideas within a smaller group, and I am eager to know other people's opinions on the material.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Bear. I would prefer to share my opinion within a small group, probably I'm not a good English speaker. Blogging activity is a new thing for me as well, but when I created my blog, I feel excited. Now I know why people blogging.
ReplyDeleteI love the 'delicious piece of the readings' idea. I believe everyone in class "read" differently even though we are all reading the same pages. Being able to hear interpretations from a different aspect is in fact inspiring. Look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteAs to Podcasting, here's the site where you can create, listen and watch postcasts free. http://www.podomatic.com/ You just need to register to enjoy! One thing though, you probably need to share the site with caution for students in K-12 because it's an open space and the postings are not strictly screened. Enjoy!
I agree that in a class of 20 students or so, large group discussions simply do not work. I teach a class of 25 students, and I often put the students into groups of three or four because otherwise no one says anything.
ReplyDelete"Delicious," "luscious" or "gustable" piece of reading sounds very yummy :) I think it would be great if we shared and discussed our 'culinary' reading secrets in small groups. Maybe people will then become less hesitant and reluctant to speak in class.
Small group discussion will be good, I agree, and class discussion in general should pick up now that people are looking for specific things in the readings. It may be good to organize the seats differently for each class...not only is it hard to get to and from your seat, but the open space in the middle seems intimidating and not conducive to discussion (we have to speak across the room).
ReplyDeleteIn general, I like the way assignments, such as the resource reviews, are meant to be useful and applicable for all of us when we teach.
I am starting to enjoy the class more as I have been able to learn about different technologies that I will be able to use in the high school setting. I agree with Collin with the room arrangement. I believe that we find it hard to discuss items when we are all looking at each other waiting for a response.
ReplyDeleteI'm start to enjoy this class as well. I like that the things we do for class can be directed to how we are going to use them in the future. I think I will be able to use a lot of these ideas in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also like this class. Hopefully this class will make me more confident with using technology in my future classroom!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the idea of improving discussion and participation. I think small groups will work very well.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying what I'm learning so far in this class. I especially liked the blogging activity that we did last week. I immediately thought of ways I could incorporate blogging into my own classroom. What a great way to stay connected with my students' parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles - you name it. It's a great way to keep these people informed on what is going on in their loved one's classroom. I'm looking forward to learning more in this class!
ReplyDeleteI think we may have a number of people in this group that are not as used to an environment of discussion and a more constructivist environment.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed annotating my texts in order to help connect with "delicious" pieces of reading. In this case, I went with adding post-its to my text. I noted on the WebCT discussion board a point from Richardson that I wanted to give another plug--I need help finding a way to remove that "Next Blog" button in Blogger!
Regarding room arrangement, I don't think it will matter as much in the large group setting how the tables are arranged--ultimately we each have to be willing to approach discussing, willing to to approach the readings and knowing we need to pull something from them to discuss. I like having an open view of everyone for class discussion.
I continue to marvel at Papert's connection to Piaget. He hobnobbed with Piaget! What was that like?! I'm curious if anyone else experienced what I did with the "mathophobia." Though interesting, I thought Papert's text was a bit dry until I encountered this. Suddenly it was as if Papert knew me.