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So, last week we worked on designing a lesson module for e-learning that used the Iditarod as the primary content. It was fun to “get our hands” dirty with classmates and start to create an e-learning product. Specifically, it was useful to aid in applying the theories and techniques that we have discussed in class. In researching these, I came across a few webquests that did just this.
Two years ago I attended a workshop that taught teachers to build effective webquests at the Camden County ETTC. These projects, for those of you outside of education, provide students with a generally inquiry based approach to understanding a topic through internet research. All of the sites used are generally assigned by the teacher, giving the students guided instruction. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, I have been absent from the blogs/discussion boards this week because I have been working on a machinima for Visual Design using Second Life. For those of you who have not tried yet, Second Life is a virtual environment that works similarly to a Social Networking site, however all interactions are controlled by 3D avatars.
My group decided to use NOAA’s island in the program in order to teach the viewer about Tsunamis. The video was created by Faisal, Jenn Morinn, and myself and can be found here. Looking at Gagne’s 9 Events, as talked about in class this week, this video would make a nice hook to pull the students into a lesson on Tsunamis, or possibly as the 4th event to present content. Read the rest of this entry »
Sorry that I missed last class…family commitment. From listening to the archive and speaking with Amy, it looks like the presentation went well.
For the past few months, I have been one of a few “SmartBoard Cheerleaders” in our district. Many of the staff members have become technology laggards at best and really do not see the need to add “more work” into their day. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey everyone,
As you can probably see, I have been using this blog for three semesters with Amy. If you are interested, all of the previous entries met Dr. Ackerman’s requirement for blog entries. I often attach pics and documents in order to flesh out the blog and make it more of an organic dialogue, but these don’t seem to be required this week.
Sorry not to get this up sooner, but I’ve been sick this week. Seems my daughter brought home a bug with her and I’ve been out of work since Thursday…today’s the first day back.
As I said on the Bb posting, I felt that the first class was successful, though the syllabus was a bit daunting at first. Read the rest of this entry »
Well I missed our chat online on Monday since I was at the Philadelphia Zoo with my wife and daughter. This summer we became Members in order to get a family season pass and try to go whenever we all have some time off from the usual grind. We had a great time playing around on the rides and seeing all of the animals. Her favorite things to see this time around was the new tiger kittens that they have recently allowed the public to see…we must have gone back to the Big Cat Falls area at least a dozen times.
Another week and another blog…
In my last entry, I had mentioned that my family and I were taking a trip to the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, PA. We had a fantastic time listening to Celtic music and dance, browsing the crafts and other items, eating traditional food, and watching “Highland Games.” The event spanned 3 days and had a reported 270,000 people in attendance from across the country. The music was fantastic featuring bands that included The Glengarry Bhoys, Munnelly Flaherty Masure, and many others. My daughter loved watching the traditional dance competitions and did her best to dance down the aisles. The food was interesting to say the least and I tried some haggis, pastys, and shepherd’s pie. Finally, for the shopping I had to buy myself a black kilt from AmeriKilt’s stand and, of course, my daughter had to have one to match. (more on AVID and Video Games after the break.)
Today’s class opened up many ideas, and honestly fears. When thinking about the application of current assignments to my current classes, the options seem horribly immense and daunting. Instructional technology and its design has become a huge part of my classroom as I was offered the instruction of two of the school’s computer classes for the 2007-08 school year. This wasn’t surprising as I have been teaching the technology clubs after school; however, it is more than I was previously prepared for.
After reading the first chapter of the text, I began wondering what the view on this topic was throughout the internet. As I tried to figure it out, the first place to look into the topic seems to be Wikipedia as it is an internet database edited by whoever has the information available to them. The articles for Instructional Technology and Instructional Design can be found here. I found the information on those pages to be a bit more “bite-sized” than that found in the text. Also, if you draw your attention to the bottom of those pages, you can see a few links that we may find useful in future classes.
