WPP Final

The issue was was in need of a solution was that a course needed to have an online platform on which students could work in teams and publish their research project.
The bigger issue was that these groups would swap every four weeks and their projects needed to be archived and the site needed to be made available for the next rotation.
This site needed to provide students a way to collaborate online as well as practice other 21st century skills.

The solution to this issue came in the form of Google Apps for Education, primarily the Google Sites feature. Google sites allowed me to manage a site on which students could work together and provide a creative way to publish their research findings. Google sites enabled both the students and teachers to engage in an online environment that could be available at any time, from any computer, home or school.

From a TPACK stanpoint, the technology made itself readily available to the teachers' pedagogy, as they were able to practice modeling and scaffold their content, and measured the students' understanding by the quality of work they published on their site as a team. It also lent itself to help teachers encourage collaboration with a dynamic group of students that would swap every four weeks.
The content and technology played very well together as students were able to use the web to research their topics. This made it very easy for the students to go by the questionnaire they were given and research from home or in the classroom. Since the topics covered varied, students had the freedom to use multiple media outlets, online and offline to compile what they found to be the best overview of their topic.
Teachers were able to put into play their pedagogy with the content as they asked questions while the students were working, such as "how is what you're doing right now possible for someone that would have the disability you are researching?" These questions re-enforced the content the students had been exposed to, and were able to create a relationship with the research.


Here is my presentation, it is an overview of the issue, the solution, what it took to put it into practice, and some of the things I learned along the way.

Thank you.

Group Leadership Project

The two major projects proposed to us in CEP812 have been wonderful learning experiences. The group leadership project was an incredible challenge that not only allowed me to think outside the box, but also work completely online, and across the world! My group consisted of Angelica Rocha in Guatemala, and myself in San Diego CA. This presented a whole new dimension in collaboration and group work. Our work together in this project is proof that with the help of video conferencing and other web technologies, it is possible to engage in great work no matter where in the world we are.

Our project was based on delivering information about Google Apps Scripts through a video medium. While we knew how we wanted to make our video available, we needed to work out what supporting technologies would make it possible. We used Skype, Google Chat, Vyew and email to communicate, PowerPoint to create slides and graphics, internet browsers to do our research and collect both static and dynamic images, Jing and ScreenFlow to create our screen capturing video walk through, and Vimeo to publish on the web. With the help of these technologies, we were able to assemble a creative and informative video.

Throughout this project I was able to learn much about team work through trial and error. While we kept in constant communication, Skype's audio, video, and screen sharing abilities proved to be the most efficient way to communicate and get much of our work done. Email, Google Docs and Sites allowed us to share slides and create our script and outline what we envisioned our video would look like, but it didn't match the level of communication and understanding that we could achieve through video conferencing.

It was challenging engaging a subject that I was not familiar with, but I am glad that I was able to be a part of it. It helped me put into practice my research and critical thinking skills. If I were to take on another project like this, I would probably like to do a series of videos. I'm proud of the video that we put together, but I think that dissecting it further and labeling it accordingly in shorter clips might be of more help to those interested in the subject. Perhaps having shorter clips could help those that are looking for specific information jump right to their section of interest. I did enjoy working on the website and having using it as a reference for our storyboard, but I would also like to develop it further and modify it so that it could be of more use to those outside of the project, and not just as reference text for those of us working on the project. It makes sense to us, because we know what direction and context we're interested in, but stray visitors might not catch on to the site right away.

Here is our video, enjoy.

GLP Google Scripts Presentation from Alex Gonzalez on Vimeo.

Professional Learning Plan

Reflecting on what I have accomplished through the knowledge acquired in these initial courses, and the experience I have gained by applying such principles at my work, is an incredible tale. I have been able to become more knowledgeable about what technologies are available and when or where they are appropriate for use in the classroom.

At the beginning of my learning at MSU, I was starting to implement Google Apps for Education at my school. In the previous months, after projects, lessons, and lectures, I have become much more comfortable and knowledgeable in the ways that these services can be better used in the classroom.
Along with that, implementing them with mobile technology has been a goal of mine. I have used some of these services on mobile devices in some classrooms, but not all. I would like to expand these practices to more classrooms, so teachers can take advantage of the technology that is already in the palms of their students.
 
As part my future plans in learning, I want to further explore the practices of TPACK. I found this to be one the most important aspects of merging technology and learning. I am very interested in putting these ideals into practice on the projects I take on with teachers. By doing so I hope to gain a better understanding of what works, and what doesn't work in the dynamic classrooms at my school. We have a very diverse population, and the students' needs differ from one another. With TPACK in mind at the planning stages, I hope to help suggest better technologies when teachers are planning their lessons. More research and practicing is needed on my part to achieve this. There are plenty of resources online that can help me understand this topic, but I think that most of my learning will come from in-classroom implementation.

With the state of budgeting for schools these days, I find it that I will be challenged further in accomplishing more with less. Thankfully, with the tools and knowledge I have been equipped with from taking these courses, I am confident that along with the teachers I support, will be able to provide incredible learning environments infused with varying technologies.

CEP 812 Personal Learning Plan from Alex Gonzalez on Vimeo.

PART D - Findings and Implications

A solution is sometimes perceived as the piece that is missing to complete something, the last few words in a crossword puzzle or perhaps the missing sock from the last load of laundry. We cannot help but feel complete and have a sense of achievement when we finally put it all together. This is the feeling I am experiencing with my WPP. After much planning, trial, error, and countless sessions in front of a computer, I have been able to design, create and deploy a website solution for the health course that required a web presence for students to work on. Along with the help in direction, vision and suggestions of the wonderful teachers and administrators I work with, we were able to create a place where students could not only carry out their research and publish it, but also develop and challenge their technical skills. We approached this solution with focus on students gaining knowledge about their mental health and wellness topics through research compiled within their groups. With collaboration in mind, we saw the web as a great opportunity to further expand their communication skills, to present them a digital canvas on which they could play around with and display their findings.

Implementing this platform was both challenging and inspiring. The first order of business was to find a tool that would be able to support multiple groups of students at various times, and different paces. Once I decided Google Sites would be able to offer us a flexible and reliable platform, we began designing how the site would work, and what it would look like. All the while we maintained a focus on how the students would be able to approach the site with familiarity and intrigue. As we took a look at the hard copy, the traditional form, of their research assignment, we worked on how these prompts would translate onto our digital canvas. Creating the structure from which the students would build upon was very important from the start. I found that creating the table of contents links with the prompts allowed the students to have an easy way to navigate through their sections and find the right place for their information and multimedia. Having this as a standard for each page made it very easy and convenient to work with and for the different groups of students. Even when there were absent students from groups, they could reconvene to where they had left off and follow along their progress with the familiar look and feel of the site. Adding and removing students from the project site was very easy and made it possible for me to efficiently manage who had write permissions. It also gave me the ability to maintain accountability for the work that was being done, and what modifications had been made. This is a feature the teachers really appreciated because they could monitor who had done what, and when they had done it.
As the project progressed, Google Sites offered a great level of scalability by allowing growth to be possible in both content and group rotations. The implementation of this project would have been possible with another web tool, but I found that using Google Sites gave us the ability to manage, deploy, and create with great functionality.

The success of this project can be measured in multiple forms, how engaged the students were with their topic, how well they used the tools provided, and what skills they developed and practiced throughout their work together. While the dynamics of each group vary by personalities and character, each one showed a level of interaction and engagement with each other and the content, that made using this platform a great example as to why , well planned and implemented, web technologies can augment to the importance and success of a well structured lesson. The foundation to a great experience with technology is rooted at the heart of a great lesson plan. Was it not for the great work that the group of teachers put into their lesson, I would not have been able to help transfer their incredible vision onto a digital version of their efforts. As students worked together, asked questions, and maintained a high level on interest in learning about their topics and the technology they were using, we felt that this had become a wonderful alternative and solution. Some students took advantage of the tool outside of class and asked if they could also work on their site from home, of course they could and did!

In our approach to this project we took a look at the lesson first, the objective, and what we wanted the students to walk away with. These were achieved as the project progressed, but one hurtle we met halfway was how to archive these projects or how to roll over with ease and efficiency. At first I had thought that templates would be the best solution, but what about the work created by previous rotations? Copying and transferring sites became a solution for this. If we were to create a similar project for another class, this is something I would need to keep in mind to address it accordingly. The rotations in this course are fairly common, so it would be unusual to see such a quick turn around in other courses, but it is still something that would need to be addressed from the start.
Working with multimedia, embedded or attached, is something that I might need to plan ahead for as well. While we wanted to have students add media to their projects, we also needed to allow them access to sites that are usually filtered by our content filter schedule. This was not a big issue, but it is something I will keep in mind to modify our filter properly to allow students access to YouTube or image hosts for them to access content.

For a different afternoon course I had to add another section that did not have similar structure to the previously created pages. This project is different from the morning course because at this point the teacher wants to allow the students to create brochures and post them instead of in form of a research questionnaire. This presented a great opportunity to use the platform differently, just as Glogster acts as a platform to create digital posters, I plan on using this Google site as a place where the students can upload or embed their brochures. While at this moment the brochures are not yet done, I look forward to blending these multiple technologies, desktop publishing and web technologies, to help create their web-brochures. This is yet another great example of how flexible and scalable this platform has been for this course, something that I will keep in mind the next time a teacher needs to do something similar.

Mobile Learning

Analyzing my use of Poll Everywhere and navigating through the discussions in Classroom 2.0 have offered me more insight into what is possible in a classroom with the use of mobile technologies. In a post at Classroom 2.0, I found a resource that I could use with smart phones to deliver tests. The resource Mobile Study provides a way to create and distribute tests tailored for mobile devices using web technologies. This stood out to me because I have been working with one of the teachers at my school in creating paperless quizzes. We have been using Google Forms to offer students a way to take these quizzes on a computer or on their mobile phones. This method has proved to be a hit with the students. They enjoy taking the quizzes online and being able to utilize their own devices if they want to. As my interest in Mobile Study grows, I want to see how flexible it is and in what other ways it can be used. Perhaps it will only work on certain web browsers, or maybe not work on all phones, I have yet to sift through those issues.

In using Poll Everywhere I found that it is limited in how versatile it can be without paying a premium. Although I can definitely appreciate the ability to use it in a live conversation during class. Engaging students with this audience response type of system can be an effective way to get everyone involved and think about what everyone else is expressing.

In my experience you can never have too many resources, especially in technology. Being able to pick and choose from all the different platforms available makes it easier to provide students an effective and engaging learning experience. With newer mobile technologies coming out one right after the other, it is interesting to see how we in education can take advantage of them without losing focus on the objective of a well structured lesson.


Here is a screen capture of my reply in Classroom 2.0

Poll Everywhere Experience

I have used this tool in the past with both teachers and some groups of students. With teachers, I have used it during PD sessions to gain some insight on how they feel about technology. It is also a tool that I have presented as a way to engage their students with multiple hardware platforms. With the rise in availability and affordability of various technologies, it has become common for students to own a mobile device that can provide great functionality.

At our school we encourage the use of student owned technology in the classroom. We see this as a positive opportunity to teach students to view the use and responsibility of technology. In order to help them appreciate the power these devices can have, we often suggest that they may use them to do research, create multimedia projects, and at times use it to engage in conversations like Poll Everywhere. In the past few weeks I have been working with a ninth grade English teacher and her class in converting the students in using Google Docs as an alternative to MS Office. I used Poll Everywhere to ask a few students what they liked best about Google Docs. Here's a chart with the results.

 

This tool offers the students to use their mobile devices to answer the question. This is a great use of technology that can come in handy if there is ever a situation where there are not enough computers, but some students have smart phones that can access the poll. It is also a neat way to help them focus on the content being taught, and preferably deter from the distractions the phone might offer form being idle. The only challenge I can foresee is having different phones that work differently. While many phones now have an operating system that is fairly standard in the way that it works and presents functions, it can be time consuming to support different platforms for a single activity.

Here's my brief survey:

http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/MjEwOTg0ODYwMg/web

PART B - Storyboard and Script

Angelica and I have made some serious progress in our Group Leadership Project, with collaborating on a storyboard and script for the video we will be creating. When we first talked about the topic we would be covering, Google Apps Scripts, I knew very little about it and felt unfamiliar with the platform. Throughout research and help from Angelica, I finally came to appreciate our tool. I needed to know what I was facing and how I could suggest and teach it to those I support at my school. In addition to our research, brainstorming what our video would look like in the storyboard and scripting stages helped to further understand not only what we were showcasing, but also how to present it from the learner point of view. This was very valuable because as we were learning, we took into account what worked and how we could improve it when presenting it.

We began the scripting portion on Google Docs, with a shared document that Angelica and I collaborated on to get the ball rolling. In it we sectioned off what areas we would each cover, she would take care of application of the tool, where as I would write the theory and ideas behind the tool. She was practical, I was theoretical, a neat combination. I wrote on what technologies power the tool, and explained them, as well as made an effort to set familiar comparisons for learners. Angelica and I began to go back and forth near the end of our scripting when we got to the practice portion of the lesson. At this point, you can say, we shared the stage in presenting in tandem during the overview of how to get scripting started for first time users.

Once we had a base for our script, we began to story board using a Google Site that Angelica created, which by the way looked great in both aesthetics and function! We had six main storyboard sections. Each covering a different aspect of the video that one of us would cover with our script, slides, and sound effects. It is on this site that we conveyed our intentions for the look and feel of the video, in a static representation of course. The sections were divided like so: Angelica and I both open up the presentation, I take sections two and three, she takes four and five, and we join back up on the sixth section to deliver an example.

Creating a storyboard on Google Sites is a great and creative idea, I owe Angelica all the credit for thinking about that. It not only offers us an easy and familiar platform to collaborate on, but it is also a very flexible vessel to convey our information and ideas through. It could also be used as together with, or as an alternative to the video.

The visual and sound ques are listed and described above each graphic, which represents a slide or section of the video. Where there are transitions, sound effects, and speaking or animations, there are text ques for us to remember what goes where.

Here is a link to our Google Site storyboard:


https://sites.google.com/site/groupleadershipproject2011/home

PART C - Implementation

Below you will find my update podcast. In it I explain some of my ups and downs in implementing this solution in a real classroom.

Also, here is the link to one of the results of using this solution:

Navigate through the disorders to see the students' work.
https://sites.google.com/a/healthscienceshigh.com/health101-2011-feb/

Here is the link to my podcast, it is also embedded in this post as a SoundCloud clip.

http://msu.edu/~gonza473/WPPPartCPodCastUpdate.mp3

WPPPartCPodCastUpdate by agonzalezojeda

I implemented Feedburner into my blog a few posts ago, here is the link and a screen capture of my Feedburner info:


feeds.feedburner.com/AlejandroGonzalezCepCoursesBlog

PART B - Application of TPACK

At my school, along with with many others, our teachers are hungry and thrilled to introduce technology into their lessons. The lesson has a strong focus on collaborative group work. To support the teacher's modeling and the disciplinary culture of the course, there is a need for collaboration to be embedded early on in the introduction of the lesson. The teachers carrying out both sides of this course, remember it is split into two rotations, have similarities in that they follow the gradual release of responsibility method of teaching, which includes an emphasis on collaboration. Using Google Sites as the platform enables the teachers to present, model, and deploy both the structure of what the project will be as well as teach students critical web technology skills. Releasing responsibility to the students with this platform will offer the teacher both the flexibility to model and scaffold as needed by their groups, as well as give the students accountability and facilitate their communal learning experience.

A teacher using this technology can present the site as an example of what their research will be structured like by showing the site's template, and how it will already list the questions just like in the handout they receive in a hard copy or a shared Google Doc. Modeling how they will work collaboratively using the site's ability to handle multiple simultaneous logins and edits, will greatly impact how quickly the student groups can work and learn together. 

Google Sites, by association and origin, brings with it the ease of web integration. With its multiple connections to widgets and other web 2.0 resources, it allows for a teacher to show students how to integrate their research into their project. As students are working on their laptops, in whatever topic they are assigned, the teacher can bring up an essential point: "How are the tasks you are performing right now, thinking, processing, outputting, designing, planning and compiling onto a website, be different for those with the disability you are researching?" By implementing a mix of both web and physical technologies, the teacher can influence the students to think outside of their norm. Utilizing this web technology, students have the ease to access resources on the web and apply them to their project on the go, or store them for later review. Since the site does not necessarily need to go live just yet, the information stored in their topic's page will not be public to anyone other than those who have edit privileges to the website. Supporting the content covered in this course with the use of laptops, web services like Google and perhaps multimedia hardware to facilitate student created videos will help in both representing some of the essential content covered in class by the instructor, but more so it will inspire students to synthesize the culmination of the content, skills and creativity explored in the course.

The PC connection in this solution is something that I will work out further with the teachers I work with. Since my role as technology coordinator has so far been in suggesting, planning and implementing the technology side of it, I still need to meet with the teachers and understand how they plan on teaching with the technology, and how to address certain issues. My take at this point is that many of their strategies will be applied but modified to accommodate the integration with technology and deep integration of collaborative group work. The content being covered is primarily by lecture, through both slide presentations and videos. At that point the students are being exposed to an overview of what the disabilities are, and are then geared to their research to fully immerse themselves in their topic of interest. Experiencing the content will be different in this course as it revolves quite a bit on their research and collaboration. While they will gain knowledge through the lectures and modeling of sorts, the students will mainly be exposed to content through their research. The teacher's role and pedagogical methods will be in-line with facilitating this. So that the students gain responsibility, individuality and collaboration skills as they make progress.

PART A - Brainstorm Session

Untitled from Alex Gonzalez on Vimeo.


The video clip above is a recording of my group's web-conferencing brainstorming session. As mentioned in my previous blog post, it was a neat experience and the platform we used is something I will keep in mind when thinking of suggestions for educators I support.

We went with Vyew as the platform and had our ups and downs during the conference. The advantages of this platform were plenty. It is a free service, it offers a fairly straightforward interface, and allowed us to use audio and video to communicate, as well as some basic collaboration features including the shared canvas. I would say that these are essential to achieving progress in a web-conference when collaborating on a project. The neat thing about this service is that it is all in one. While we could have used Skype, we wouldn't necessarily be sharing a screen, unless we were sharing a Google Doc at the time of the session.

One of the disadvantages was, perhaps just for us, the inability to find how to record our session to be able to share it. Since we were not able to find how to record it, we used ScreenFlow to capture and edit our session, and then published it to the web with Vimeo. Since our session exceeded the YouTube time limitations, Vimeo allowed us to upload a longer clip. We adjusted to the situation and were still able to capture our session, but it would be nice to figure it out, perhaps next time we use Vyew we will come across that feature.

Web-Conferencing

This week my Group Leadership Project partner, Angelica Rocha, and I participated in a web-conferencing session using the Vyew online service. Angelica initiated the session and shared the link with me so that I could join in. This initial session was focused on what our GLP would be based on. We discussed a few tools and Angelica suggested we take a look at Google Apps Scripts, a resource that could help educators using Google services automate some of the more repetitive and mundane tasks of some Google services.

This was the first time I had experienced Vyew's service, and I found it fairly easy to use and functional. The interface seemed familiar and simple. Though I couldn't find where to initiate the recording feature to be able to save our session's activities. Perhaps it was on Angelica's interface since she initiated it, but I don't think it was an easy find. That is part of the learning process though, next time we use this service, we can dig deeper and try to figure it out together. For the time being, I used ScreenFlow on my laptop to capture the activities onscreen.

The audio quality was fair, and I could hear Angelica just fine. There were some moments throughout our session where she couldn't hear me too well, but that didn't happen too much. Near the end we finally turned our webcams on and faced each other. It was nice to meet the person on the other side of the keyboard, miles away.

This experience was a great reminder of how great these tools can be in collaborating and communicating with peers, no matter where they are. In a classroom environment, I could suggest some of the teachers I support to utilize this as one of their collaborative group work activities. Vyew offered a basic yet functional platform that fit our needs. It will be interesting to see if it is a suitable platform as we progress with our project. As I mentioned earlier, the next time we take part in a session, I would like to find out more about the recording capabilities.

PART A - Description of Need or Opportunity

Background:
Currently we teach one course that is split into two, developmental disabilities and mental wellness. In this course the two swap students every four weeks. Each will have about 20-30 students. These students are then split into research groups, in which they will compile information about their assigned physical disability or mental health issue. After the four weeks, the groups will swap, be assigned to new research groups on a new topic covered in their new rotation, and again compile their research data and findings. The research project is based on a questionnaire that will cover FAQ's, daily living information, and information on advocacy groups for the disability.

The issue:

How can the projects be compiled in a collaborative group setting, published in a single place (platform), archived for later review once the groups swap, and be rebooted for the next course rotation?

This issue is more commonly expected at the end of a normal course semester, when the instructor or an admin archives and re-establishes course templates in an LMS or CMS type of environment. Our situation is different as we don't currently use an LMS or CMS due to budget, though we do have access to Google Apps for Education, and the student rotations are fairly often in this course.

The solution(s):

With cost, available resources, and time in mind, I plan on using Google Docs, Video and Sites as the platforms on which students can collaborate to collect their research, store notes, and publish their findings. Docs will be used as place where they can access a questionnaire shared by their teacher with their group. In Docs, the students can also store resources such as links, and other notes regarding their research. Docs allows group members to work on a document simultaneously, from different computers. Google Video will allow those students that wish to use videos they have found or they have edited themselves and uploaded to the school's Google Video account. Finally, Sites will be the final compilation of their efforts, showcasing what they have learned, and their skills in using various technologies.
The supporting technologies would be a laptop cart to enable student research, flip cams to allow students to film if they decide so, iLife software to edit the videos, and the student's school assigned Google accounts to enable access to the online tools.

The Sites tool will host a site created and designed by the teacher. It will contain three main sections, a home page with a description of the site's purpose, developmental disabilities, and mental wellness. The latter two are the two that will swap student groups. These two main categories will contain sub pages listing their appropriate disabilities. It is here where the students will publish their work. Enabling the site to become a central resource containing all of the information regarding any topic covered in the course.

The students will be granted edit rights to the site, that way their group can make edits to corresponding page. Sites will allow multiple users to make edits simultaneously, this is optimal for this type of project, where there are different groups, in different classes, at different paces. The course will run every four weeks. The way to reset the website would be to create site and page templates that can be applied to the site to start fresh. In order to keep an archive of the work from a previous rotation, the site can be copied entirely onto another with a different URL, thus enabling the work to still be accessible via a descriptive URL. The main site that will be rebooted every four weeks will maintain the original URL. To provide students an easier to remember URL, a URL shortening service, such as Bit.ly, will be used.

Every four weeks, this process will be repeated, using the Google Apps for Education platform. The plan is to provide training during the second week of their research on how to edit the site, this will provide students some knowledge as to what to expect once they are ready to publish. I should be able to implement the project within the duration of this course, CEP812. As the course will rotate at least twice during this time.

As the project is implemented, I will analyze how the students collaborate in assigning roles and infuse creativity into their topic page using different types of media.

Thoughts and expectations:

While I have some experience with Google Apps at our school, this will most likely be the more intensive project because of the time restraint, and the number of different student groups that will need to be supported. The success of this plan will be measured in the interaction that the students experience with both each other and their research content. I have piloted individual portfolio websites for our ninth grade class, and that has shown promise as they have added their own content. Though this will be a true test as many different content from different perspectives will be housed under a single site.


Resources:

Here are some links regarding Google Apps for Education, and some examples of Sites in use.
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/
http://edu.googleapps.com/
http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=153055
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRYRbPCHTck

Funny Thing Happened With Technology

Technology in the classroom is a great way to support student learning. In my funny moment, shared in the link below, I like to think it helped focus a student's attention to be more productive :)




Podcast link: https://www.msu.edu/~gonza473/funnymomentcast.mp3

Here it is embedded, to play from this site.

FunnyMomentCast by agonzalezojeda


You may also subscribe to my podcasts via iTunes. Copy the following link into your iTunes, or other podcatcher:

feeds.feedburner.com/AlejandroGonzalezCepCoursesBlog

Short Biocast

In this first week of session one of course 812, we were exposed to the many different types of casting. Here is a link to my short bio in form of a video cast. I used a mix between Garageband for audio recording and editing, ScreenFlow to record my cast, and Mozilla Firefox for the webclips.
I went a little overboard with the transitions, but only to show some that are available in ScreenFlow.

Here is my clip, enjoy.


http://msu.edu/~gonza473/ScreenCastSession1.mov

CEP 811 Reflection

Robert Wechsler, School desk, chrome rear view mirror, 2004

CEP 811 opened up my eyes to different aspects of teaching with technology. Incredible insights into effective teaching strategies were shared with us and gave me the ability to practice some of these in implementing technology with the teachers I support. The theories and guidelines that have made an impact in my approach to integration, have been with initially assessing what the needs, objectives and goals are of the lessons and outcomes for both the teachers and students. With the UDL guidelines, I learned how to open up the lesson plans to a wider audience, and in doing so providing students with different learning styles to take advantage of the content in a way that best fits them.

Along with UDL, web technologies have offered me a way to better evaluate what is best for different students and teachers. Having used the various platforms such as social networks, blogs, glogs, wikis and webquests, allows me to better suggest a platform for teachers depending on their content and overall style of teaching. Getting to know these platforms, along with the different teaching strategies, empowers me to know how it is best to deploy in a classroom depending on the class demographics. 

With these things in mind and newer knowledge about best practices and expectations, I have been equipped with more resources that have furthered my understanding about edtech strategies and tools than when I first began this course. As a main support for technology at the school I support, It has been very valuable to me to acquire to benefit both my students and teachers, and the overall improvement of the school's learning environment.

By taking these new methods and strategies, I would like to keep advancing my understanding of lesson design. I think I can improve as a resource for teachers if I have a better understanding of how they expect their lessons to unfold in their classrooms. I would like to plan some more time to meet with teachers and assess their current lessons and activities, to see how I could help improve them and learn from their experiences with successes and failures.

Tools and Functions

Ethernet Noose by Dan Solo http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsolo/2855854548/

My experience so far with applying technology in an educational environment has lead me to the conclusion that in order for the technology to impact the student's learning, it needs a well structured lesson plan and adequate supporting content for it to stand on. While technology plays an important role in what is used to interact and engage the students, it is not necessarily the motivation or the how and why it is used in a specific content area. The class and content goals would dictate the latter. With that in mind, it is easier to narrow down the options of what technologies are able to help us achieve these goals. It would help determine which online or offline tools will help in innovating a lesson that will motivate the students into cooperating to achieve learning.
As a technology coordinator, my role has been to study the different arrays of technologies available, and help facilitate instructors in incorporating the appropriate one into their lessons and help improve the students develop their skills. So far my contributions have been in multiple content areas, each requiring different functions from technology. One size does not always fit all, therefore I keep an open mind when suggesting technologies, but maintain objectivity to ensure the lesson's goal is not blurred by the bells and whistles of the "tool".

Each of the resources mentioned in the Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Experience Guideline have offered me, at one point or another, a platform on which to help teachers plan engaging activities in their different content areas. Wikis and electronic portfolios have been the two that I believe have been more effective. Wikis, in my experience, have been a great way for students to participate in collaborative group work, where they engage their content directly by doing research, organizing content, and publishing their cumulative work. This has specially been helpful in science courses. The electronic portfolio has been a way for students to publish their best and strongest proof of their work. Using Google Sites has facilitated this at my school, allowing each student to initiate a log of their work from when they enroll, until they graduate. Currently this is implemented in ninth grade, where students incorporate work from various content areas, although it primarily promotes literacy and reinforces knowledge taught in their English course.

Through the use of wikis and electronic portfolios, teachers can practice a multitude of strategies. Scaffolding is an important part of wikis, where students are made to think further about the topics they are involved in, and synthesize from their research and experiences. It is also a great way for students to work on similarities and differentiation from their research, a great way to help them compile their final thoughts on a topic. In helping students design and create their online portfolio, modeling and independent instruction are prevalent as teaching strategies. Modeling to the class by either metaphoric or by hands-on example are common ways to broadcast the information to large groups, while independent instruction is more effective for those target students that need additional attention. Both are teaching strategies that are familiar to non-tech teaching.

I am not sure that there is a specific resource listed that would be harder to implement from the other. Each online resource has a different function and might not fit all required aspects of a specific content. Since I float around from one content area to another, I have to assess the strengths and weaknesses depending on whichever content I am focused on at the moment. Though for all intents and purposes, I would say that online projects in general offer obstacles. Whatever the platform, wiki, online research, online simulations, or interactive online collaborations all offer their own characteristics that can come with obstacles that can make it hard to incorporate initially.  Planning how to educate the students on their proper uses and practices would be a key component in deciding which tool is the more difficult to implement. By focusing on the needs of the content area, it is more possible to better choose the right tools for the job. Hence, not allowing to get wrapped up in a technological noose over instruction.

Wikis

Wikis have become an incredibly popular term in the ed tech community, and at first it was a something that educators steered their students away from as valid references, because of the lack of authenticity. Though as time has passed the security measures taken to ensure that the information is valid, have changed the way some educators look at these resources. While the wiki plays two roles at once, a collaboration platform and an information resource, it also promotes some much more important principles, honor and trust. The ability to be, if I may, "open-sourced", makes the users rely solely on trusting one another with both their work, and their credibility.

I personally use wikis as both a source of information, and a way to allow students and teachers to work together on common projects.

Here are a few screen captures of this week's labs:

The university I attended before MSU had a focus on computer science degrees, though they have now expanded their academic reach by opening a charter high school with curriculum centered around technology. I visited the university's wiki page, and saw that there were no links to their new venture, so I added it under "External links". Here is a link to the page: Coleman University's Wiki

Without link

Wikipedia's "Edit Page" interface

New "External link" added

I chose to create a new PB workspace as I have used it a bit in the past. Hopefully I will keep adding more material to this new one. http://mrgonzalezedtech.pbworks.com

UDL

Learning about UDL this week was an incredible mind opening experience. I particularly loved how we dove into how the brain works and how it processes different types of information and how it is vital that this is taken into account when creating a lesson plan to engage a diverse student population with varying learning styles and disabilities.

I enjoyed revising my lesson plan and seeing where it could improve to provide a better experience to these diverse learners. Here is a link to my check list listing where I think the lesson is strong and where it lacks strength.

http://msu.edu/~gonza473/GuidelineEdChklstAGonzalez.doc

Evaluating MERLOT Resource

Original image acquired from: Flikr with appropriate sharing rights. Question mark added.

No, not the wine. Although, there is much to indulge on in MERLOT, it is in digital, not liquid form. MERLOT offers a single interface that houses a repository from its collectively open community of resources from contributing educators. The site offers educational resources submitted by its registered users, for both educators and students to access and gain knowledge about the subject.

While searching for resources that I may learn from for my StAIR project, I came across a submission of the very popular Common Craft video series, focusing on Google Docs.  Here is a link to the MERLOT posting: Google Docs in Plain English.

The presentation of the video by Common Craft follows their signature style of presenting concepts and theory by use of paper cut-outs to create animated videos. This specific video presented the concept of Google Docs and how it works. The presentation and content of the tutorial were valid in their own right. It followed a well crafted flow of information and modeled the use of the subject technology in an efficient manner. The video had a level of educational value in various ways. The verbal explanations were clear and focused, and the accompanying animations depicted in sync with the narration. This video would be a great resource at the explanation level of a lesson. From a student standpoint, I would expect the content in the video to be quite engaging and introduce the use of Google Docs at a level in which students should be able to synthesize or at least explain what the processes are for Google Docs. While it being a multimedia video, it could be used in various settings, for example in an online classroom, or as part of a teacher's presentation at the beginning of a lesson pertaining to Google Apps, by default being a benefit to be able to be readily incorporated into the curriculum. The videos clear objectives can be appreciated as it visualizes them as it introduces them verbally, allowing for learners to grasp onto the goals and consume the content. From this video a lesson could incorporate assignments in which they use this video as an accessible resource while they review the use of Google Apps in accessing and creating their own online documents.

This resource is linked to the YouTube version of the video, not Common Craft's official website. This can be both a benefit and an issue. While the familiarity of YouTube is something that can add to the ease of use of the software to access the content, it can also cause some issues. If the web filtering policies for the school district are set to filter traffic away from YouTube, teachers and students might not be able to reach this resource. If access to YouTube is allowed, teachers might have to ensure that the focus is maintained on the desired content and not non-related content that is hosted by YouTube, which could lead to learners getting lost or distracted from the initial content. While there is no feedback or extensive documentation, it presents information in a familiar and engaging way that is flexible through its online nature.