Incorporating Various Media Types (EDT5410, Wk. 6)

Toledo Zoo, September 2, 2007

We had a great time visiting the zoo with our daughter! We watched this baby monkey for almost a half hour; s/he had just awoken from a nap and was full of playfulness.

I used the surpressed flash mode on my camera and got great photos through glass.

The baby giraffe had been sleeping in the grass and Mom and Dad were up close near the water, but as soon as baby started to stir from napping, Mom and Dad both quickly went to his/her side. As with all good parents, they are ever vigilent and watchful.

Did you know that if a Giraffe gets a "kink"/misallignment of the vertibrae in its neck (as humans often do) it can be fatal?



I use Picasa by Google to manage my photos on my computer and by simpling selecting a photo (or more than one) and clicking on the BlogThis option I was directed to my Blogger login page. Once logged in, I selected my desired layout and viola, I was in the blog edit mode.

Since I love kittens and cats, I chose the following video from YouTube.

And, last but not least...a map indicating the Toledo Zoo from maps.google.com

View Larger Map

Once I realized that Blogger has an "Edit HTML" tab that I must select BEFORE pasting the HTML code from the source page, embedding various media types was a snap.

Tip for beginners (myself included): to ward off frustration, save your blog between each step; that way if something doesn't come out just right, you can go back to the previous version. Also, preview you blog before publishing it.

And, now I'm taking Michael VanPutten's challenge and embedding a game! Mini golf anyone!?!



Play Games at AddictingGames

Influence of the Internet and the World Wide Web in Educational Settings (EDT 5410, Wk. 6)

In the K-12 environment the extent to which the Internet and Web have a positive impact on learning is directly related to quality and continual professional development for teachers. It is unrealistic to expect teachers to self-learn the advantageous aspects of the Internet for classroom use and then to integrate its use into their curriculum and lesson plans. Teachers also have to be willing to learn new tools and change their methods of delivery; too often new adaptations are thrown at unwilling teachers only to be abandoned after a short time (this wastes everyone’s time, and precious funding). Additionally, administrators and curriculum leaders must understand the value of integration of the Internet and Web; if they don’t, resistance will come in many forms.

In higher education the Internet and Web can be very powerful tools; tools that can save the college or university a significant amount of money. Once instructors learn on on-line delivery process and software and courses are developed, considerable time and money can be saved through on-line course of delivery. And, what better resource exists for research purposes? I believe the higher education arena presents the scenario with the most potential for positive (major) impact, especially with on-line course delivery. On-line and distance education programs require a certain higher level of self-discipline and motivation in the learner as there is no instructor “physically” present to oversee activities and monitor progress. To date, I feel the biggest challenge to this method has been acceptance by the business world, and society at large; many do not place as much value on distance education as they do on traditional coursework; I believe that this opinion will change with time.

We’ve already seen that the Internet and Web have had a significant impact in business, government, and military settings; especially for delivery of training.

I think eventually the Internet and Web will (and already is) greatly impact all aspects of our lives, and I am dismayed at the slow pace at which education seems to be responding to the Internet’s value.

On-Line Photo Sharing / CH 2 ID Concepts (EDT5410, Wk. 5)

Photo Sharing Ideas and Concerns

My first concern with on-line photo sharing services is protecting the identity of students (name, location, age, and image). If access to the account is to be kept private or limited to school staff, students and parents that eliminates some of the threat to student privacy; additionally, photo releases would need to be on file for each student in the event that a class photo or event were posted. As with any web based activity, teachers and parents must be ever vigilant in their efforts to protect students form inappropriate and/or illicit material; this can best be achieved through carefully structured lessons and directions/rules, as well as good (and constant) classroom management during on-line activities.

At first my thoughts regarding photo sharing as a classroom activity or lesson found little value; however, as I read what others have done I realized that there are some really creative ways in which to use a photo sharing service in the classroom. For example, a photo field trip…the teacher assigns a search word (or words) for the activity and student search photos with that tag; then write about what they found, how they felt it applied to the subject matter, etc. I thought photo sharing would be a great way for students who are traveling to keep in touch with the class; they could post their photos for the class to discuss. Another great way to integrate photo sharing into a literature lesson would be to select a poem or short story then have students find photos to go along with it; or use photos in conjunction with Google Maps to create visual depictions of historic buildings or places. (Richardson, 2006)

NOTE: Flickr link in the bottom left corner of the blog, at the page level.

Chapter 2 Thoughts

I have found that the process that I use to build training sessions follows very closely the ADDIE process of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation, which has been very validating for me. Specifically the fact that the instructional design process is iterative and self-correcting (Reiser and Dempsey, 2007); I often find myself changing my delivery or activities in response to the group.

The current paradigm of learner centered instructional design may, on the surface seem to be a new concept, but I think really good educators have been employing methods to support this model all along by providing one-on-one assistance to struggling learners, and preparing more advanced activities for those who are excelling. I think the trend in the business world toward embracing instructional design methodology in their efforts to strengthen the skills of employees is excellent, and hopefully will lead to an American workforce that can compete with global competitors. Both business and educational entities could learn from each other; schools have centuries of experience in educational design and delivery, while business deems a team work approach valuable…yes, often grade level teams work together to prepare lessons, but business takes it to another level with subject matter experts, instructional designers, project managers, and production personnel. Actually, teachers typically have to fill all of those roles.