Monthly Archives: August 2010

Reflections on “We Teach as We are Taught”

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Just read the following blog entry by Karl Kapp:

http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2010/08/we-teach-as-we-are-taught.html

Quote: “As schools adapt to new technologies and hardware and software, curriculum changes need to reflect more than just the inclusion of technology; changes needs to impact methodology, approach and instructional activities….Teachers and professors (who often don’t have formal instruction on how to teach) teach in ways similar to how they experienced teaching during their own schooling and hold beliefs based on those experiences (Borko & Putnam, 1996; Thompson, 1992).”

Reflection: This is why it’s so important to have training included with introduction of technology.  Without a pedagogical framework included with a technology, the user is left to experience to apply it.  As I think back to my days in the secondary math background, I can see the constructivist approach being encouraged in the use of graphing calculators and laptops.

Quote: “…simply adding computers to a traditional classroom without a corresponding change in instructional delivery or strategy doesn’t work.”

Reflection: Students and educators need to understand why a technology is being implemented before they can truly embrace it and make it effective.  There needs to be a larger conversation happening and reasons highlighted for successful adoption.

Jing v. Screenr My observations

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This may not be a timely subject for many, but I wanted to say a few words of my own and hope to get some feedback on others’ thoughts.  What sparked these thoughts was the following discussion on facebook:
View image

As a classroom educator I had heard about jing and how it would be a powerful tool for teaching, but I just didn’t find the time to use it.

While teaching OL 2000, Julie Laubach, a fellow instructional designer extraordinaire used jing to clarify how to do a few things in ANGEL.  I was inspired by her use of the tool to get my feet wet, and now I use it constantly with faculty.

While at the Distance Learning conference in Madison, WI this summer, I had another one of those moments.  For awhile, I’ve been wanting to use Screenr since it is supposedly easier to use than Jing.  Instructional Designer, Terence Armentano, from Bowling Green University was showing how he used Screenr to create how-to’s for tasks in Blackboard.  I have meant to get into this, but Julie and Shannon’s discussion got me back on track.

I like Jing because I’ve been using it consistently for over a year.  It is easy to use and gets the message that I need across.  There a few things that I don’t like:

  • I have to change the setting for my display every time I use Jing to a lower resolution so that my captures fit in the screen.  I also have to unplug my second monitor.  This may sound trivial, but it does take time.
  • If I haven’t used Jing for awhile, I have to go to my applications folder and open the application.  Again, this may see small, but it still takes time.
  • I had to download software to my machine.  I personally like browser-based solutions so that I don’t have to worry about upgrades and the like.
  • I need to purchase the pro version to embed the videos I create.

This morning I went into Screenr and was able to overcome all of the issues that I have with Jing.  Here are two examples of practices that I created:

Jing
http://screencast.com/t/YThhOGE0Y

Screenr

Machinima Making

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While in Madison for the 26th Annual Conference onDistance Teaching & Learning on August 4-6, I attended a session on creating Machinima.  The presenter were Joe Tojeck, Principal Learning Architect and Peter Lindner, Media Course Developer from Next Generation Learning, Capella University.

The results of the session were several news pieces in which presenters wrote, produced, and acted out a script in 2nd Life.  It was a fun and engaging process.  Here are my take aways:

  • You need to have a virtual studio coordinated with several powerful computers.
  • You need a head director to coordinate all of the camera angles.
  • Don’t expect a professional product without making many mistakes.
  • Making machinima can be fun but requires concentration.

I feel like I need much more work in this area to feel at all comfortable putting together a machinima project.

Here is a list of tips taken from Karl Kapp’s blog about making machinima:

http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2010/08/machinima-tips-from-learning-in-3d.html

Coming Up for Air II

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Fall 2010 officially began August 23.  And my course teams got everything done!  I was thinking about how summer started.  I was glad to have Patty and Brad comment on my entry on ‘Coming Up for Air.’  But I can’t say that I actually improved the process for preparing courses for fall.  In fact, if it’s possible, things were even more hectic. 

For one thing, I was out of the office for 2 weeks for a conference and training.  I’ve never been so appreciative of being in the office before in my life :).  So if for nothing else but to remind myself: don’t ever do that again!  Seriously, I have never been more overwhelmed in my life.  But the good news is that everything got done because of the great people that I work with and adrenaline, and I am going to do something about it.  My first agenda item is to make a master plan for Spring ’11.  Once this has been created I plan to run it by a few people.  Then I’m going to put down milestones on my shared calendar to keep things in order. 

I’m hoping this works because I need to show some progress or will be disappointed.