Over the weekend I viewed Strategies for Groups, led by Claudia Faulk and also viewed Google Forms, led by Barbara McPherson. I appreciated the insight that Google Forms could be used to help organize groups and keep them on task. I noted that the forms should be embeded in a separate document and not be listed in an announcement or main page. I like working in groups and I find value in having students work in groups, but there are challenges to effective group work. Although I don't have an online class, I found many ideas apply such as: keep... Continue reading

When I read about POT last summer I knew I wanted to be part of Cohort 3. I was not teaching online, but I wanted to explore online teaching and hoped to learn new ways to encourage students in my on site class. Everything was new to me, so it's hard to say what element of the program helped the most. It all helped me! Since I can not technically have a hybrid class (according to an e-mail I received last month) I hope to keep exploring ways of using online tools to enhance classroom learning. I feel like I've... Continue reading

Jim and Lisa's video helped me synthesize a lot of information I've stored over the year. The comment that instructive, constructive, and connective pedagogy are all ways of achieving learning objectives nudged me to exclaim, "Ahhh hahhh!" Different instructors have different gifts, and their pedagogy reflects that. It's ok to be instructive if you are charismatic and engaging in person, and its ok to structure online learning to allow learners to make connections and explore. I've been struggling with the idea of identifying my pedagogy and bringing it online, in part because I think online teaching creates opportunities for new... Continue reading

A lego brick came to mind after watching the video and completing the readings. A lego brick is made to connect with other lego bricks to build something; something creative, something fantastic, something greater than just one lego brick. Thinking of myself as a lego brick, I see the large picture benefit of sharing and being networked. But, like a lego brick, I have a finite number of connectors (in my case time). As I become more skilled and gradually develop more of a personal cyberinfrastructure I will be able to connect more with what others have already built, and... Continue reading

Had a lot of fun with this post. Download Wk 10 Education Tech and plants Continue reading

I was looking forward to this week as I am trying to bring online resources to my F2F class. So, far students are using Blackboard mostly to link to websites we mention in class. There is a lot more I can do to integrate what I put on Blackboard to what we do in class. Ko and Rossen mention having students read material available online before coming to class. If I posted content with reading links, this might enhance class discussions. I'd also like to create files for information students share that can roll over from semester to semester and... Continue reading

A lot of practical information again this week. I appreciated Louisa's comment that a course just has to be "good enough" to start out, and builds and grows with time. Her reminder to prioritize (pedagogy first) is a good one. Other points that stood out include: communicating expectations clearly in the syllabus (I like her idea of a syllabus quiz), creating a rhythm to when assignments are due, minimizing ways students can get in touch (to avoid missing communications), and having a discussion rubric (good to know she has a rubric other instructors can use). The importance of regular instructor... Continue reading

I gleaned a lot of insight from the readings this week. As I read, I found myself wearing two different "hats"; one with an online class in mind, and the other with my attempt at creating a hybrid class in mind. Currently, I am trying to encourage my students to explore and apply each week's content through online resources. I've discovered that most of my students are not online ready. I thought that because they had e-mail and talked about websites they visit, that using tools on Blackboard would help encourage them through the week. I shared before that only... Continue reading

Fair use seems like it should fall under the realm of common sense. I tend to think if I am using content for instructional purposes, and not commercial use I am safe from legal action, but in reading Chapter 8 in Ko and Rossen, it is not that simple. I can use portions of others' works, and what is a portion depends on whether I am in a face to face class or using content online. Ko and Rossen listed some specific examples, which I found helpful. For example, I can use 10% of video or three minutes, whichever is... Continue reading

Chapter 7, Student Activities in the Online Environment, offered a lot of ideas. With regard to groups, the point about icebreaking activities reminded me of how we started out S1 by introducing ourselves in our blog post. I've appreciated seeing points in the book modeled by what we do in POT. It gives me a reference for what works from a student viewpoint. I found some very practical suggestions in this chapter such as keeping groups to a workable size of four or five, the value of roles in the groups, the benefits of group supervision, as well as rubric... Continue reading

One of the joys of teaching my onsite class is seeing relationships form between students and the student initiated learning that flows from those relationships. The readings and video this week reminded me of the importance of building collaboration and interaction into the online classroom. This semester I had high hopes of students interacting and sharing ideas with each other beyond the onsite classroom. For the first time our class had access to Blackboard. It was going to be great! So far only two people have been blogging. The rest of the class has had trouble logging on Blackboard. Thankfully,... Continue reading

The importance of effective communication kept coming to mind as I contemplated the online syllabus. Currently, I am experimenting with Blackboard as a supplement to my onsite class. I give students a syllabus in class, but have noticed that everyone saves the portion that lists the topics for each week. The other portion of the syllabus seems to be forgotten after the first week. The portion of my syllabus that "stands out" to students is similar to the center page of Lisa Lane's Moodle page for her class. So, when I set up the format for an online class, I... Continue reading

While reading Chapter 3, I kept thinking I could take an entire semester to explore everything discussed. So, I appreciated Richard's comment that he had taken a class on course design that covered the Chapter 3 subject matter. I tried to synthesize the chapter around the idea that course design is purposeful planning and what we put into the course needs to align with what we want students to demonstrate by the course end. That holds true whether a class is onsite or online, so I also appreciated the insight that how a class is taught onsite does not directly... Continue reading

I felt encouraged by Chapter 1 of Teaching Online:A Practical Guide. The highlighted point," "Techies" don't necessarily make the best online instructors. An interest in teaching should come first, technology second.", stood out to me. I am learning how to master some online tools, but would not consider myself a "techie". I want to engage my students beyond my on site class, and believe online tools can help. Since this is my first semester to have use of Blackboard, I'm adding something new for the class each week. One student commented how excited she was to have support beyond the... Continue reading

When I first heard about POT Cohort 3, I thought learning about online teaching would be a way to supplement my on site classes. Although I was familiar with some on-line resources such as YouTube, I had never blogged or used Flickr to annotate photos. I had never heard of Moodle. Every week has been a learning experience for me. I appreciate that I've been encouraged to examine why I teach the way I do, and have had the opportunity to consider the importance of choosing tools that fit my pedagogy, not merely using tools because they are there by... Continue reading

I started back a December on this assignment by reading Insidious Pedagogy. Prior to joining the POT cohort, I probably would have used the default settings on a CMS, just because I would have been unaware I had other options. Of course, I know better now! (Although I have a long way to go!) via www.freetowrite.com Continue reading

I started back a December on this assignment by reading Insidious Pedagogy. Prior to joining the POT cohort, I probably would have used the default settings on a CMS, just because I would have been unaware I had other options. Of course, I know better now! (Although I have a long way to go!) The Moodle Tool Guide got me thinking more about what I would want to accomplish with a CMS. As I actually prepare some online units/supplements, I think the guide will be a go to resource to help me consider what to use to achieve my goals.... Continue reading

A lot to mull over. After reading the UT info on what is legal to use in a online class, I was still wondering what I could and could not use exactly. The checklist was helpful and I also read what Fair Use means. I enjoyed the Cory Doctorow video,as it brought a dry subject to life. Although he did not address legal specifics as they relate to online education, I appreciated the distinction between individual communication (I thought about classroom communication) and institutional communication. I'm curious if any institutions that provide online education have been sued for copyright infringement... Continue reading

I've used YouTube in class such as this video on laughter yoga. It is easy to embed and there are definitely a lot of videos to choose from! I am new to BlipTV, but found some good information from the PBS series, Healing Quest. I found many episodes that would be useful for an on site or online class. As with other internet resources I had to screen through some other offerings that were either not well produced or were not necessarily scientifically sound, but it didn't take long to find several options that I would consider adding to a... Continue reading

Another week where I sat amazed looking at resources I never knew existed before! I really like Open Textbook. I found a great site for nutritional information at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. One of the presentations I looked at on obesity gave me some new ideas on how to organize and present information. Reading about how your job can contribute to obesity motivated me to trade my chair for my stability ball and take more breaks when I'm at the computer. Project Gutenburg is a cool idea. Everything I found on nutrition dated back to 1904-1913,... Continue reading

I was really looking forward to exploring the some of the tools this week after reading the posts! Being able to post a document and have many people make changes, give input, etc., sounds great! It seems so much easier than having a stream of e-mails commenting on a document. Seeing examples in the blog posts convinced me this was something very practical and useful for classes. Last week in one of my classes we discussed food myths ( like the myth of having to eat fruit by itself in the morning). It would be great to post an example... Continue reading

I looked at both Delicious and Diigo and set up accounts in each. I spent the most time with Delicious and have bookmarks there (http://www.delicious.com/lindahargrove58). I really got excited thinking of the possibilities for sharing useful websites with students. Sometimes, students mention in class websites they like for tracking their diet and I could see social bookmarking as a way to share websites students find helpful. I also took greater notice of the URL information for websites I like. I've been comparing my RSS feeds with Tweets and bookmarking helped me discover which websites/blogs/etc. I like the most. I feel... Continue reading

There was a lot to explore this week. I set up a blog with Wordpress. It was easy to set-up, and although no one responded to it other than wordpress, I could see possibilities for students sharing ideas on a topic through the blog. I am fairly new to the world of blogging, with Pedagogy First being my first venture, and I am wondering what terms like slug and pingback mean.?? Ideally, I'd want the blog as an application in whatever I decided to use to support an online class. Lisa has a nested forum in Moodle that I thought... Continue reading