Technology is only as good as the person using it. So we need to be to know to use the technology before we can use it to teach others. It’s like golf or bowling, you have to know the technology is supposed to do before you use it. Or it can be used and tested before selling the equipment. If the technology is used in the wrong ways then the education that was supposed to happen with that technology would not be complete.

Engaging students in the learning process is a major part of education. Students should be engaged with everything that they do, but we know that it is hard to do that with a classroom of 30 students. However, it could be possible to engage everyone all at once. Teachers just need to come up with ways that will get students to think and use the knowledge that they have already acquired and learned. Grades are not always motivation. Some students are content with getting A’s and B’s and do not have to work very hard to get them, however there are some students who try to get the higher grades but just cannot seem to get them so they stop trying and their motivation decreases. So if teachers can assign projects or have little “competitions” between students and even the students and teachers, that will motivate the students to get answers quicker and think faster than their peers and even the teacher. I know that some students like that idea because I have actually tried that with my students and they love it, especially when they get the answer before me. Teachers could also challenge knowledge and have students answer questions that are related to topics that they have already learned, or the teacher could relate the topics to things that students like to do.  

In the classroom, teachers can only go so long on the “hold your nose and just eat it” routine. If teachers do the same things over and over the students will become bored and not want to learn. I think it would be like eating the same things everyday. It becomes too routine and with the fast pace of life these days, routine does not really go well with life. It becomes dull and boring. So in the design of the classroom, teachers should change things up some so students don’t get too bored. Also if things are changed up then the students will become more engaged and want to learn. Maybe the teacher could ask students for input on what the teacher could do in order to engage them in activities and learning.

I think that when designing a course it would be better to start out with a few tools and then incorporate other tools as the course progresses. The better the teachers’ knowledge and skill of the tools are a big part in the design of the course. However, the design may not stay the same as when the course was created. With the addition of tools and the advancing of knowledge with the tools can change the design of the course.

After reading the posts on the tools, I think that the toolbox can be unlimited. It doesn’t really matter what is in the box as long as it serves the purpose that the teach intends for it to serve. But if I do have to list a few things to put in the box then I would choose blogs, wikis, podcasts, tappedin, SecondLife, and of course the MUDs. I think that with all these tools students, teachers and parents can all stay in contact and learn about the technology as well as the subject that is being taught and a few others, like communication. I think that the best educators can always come up with some way to help students learn.

Ellumniate is software that allows teachers to record lectures for students to listen to. The question was asked is there a benefit for keeping you in your seat and quiet while someone lectures to you in real time, and I think the answer is yes. It may not be like that all the time but for some lessons it might be a good idea. I am one of those people who likes to make sure that people actually understand what is going on and it is kind of hard to do that when there is only one of you. I think that this software would help with that. If the teacher could have the software lecture while the actual teacher walks about the classroom making sure everyone is paying attention then it would enhance the learning. It is also known that in most classrooms the teacher has to repeat themselves several times before the students understand what is going on. So if the teacher already has a lecture prepared online then that would cut down the amount of times the actual teacher has to repeat. I think that would be beneficial because that frees the teacher and allows them to help students individually while the lecture continues.

They sound like weird commands, but they are actually terms for interactive sites. Students and teachers can use these sites for educational purposes. They mostly contain games that students can play interactively with other students. Those students could be in their own classroom or somewhere across the world. Depending on the lessons that are being taught the teacher can find a game or create their own game that helps students retain the information for future use. Being able to interact with other students is helpful because then the student gets a perspective from someone their own age who is learning the same concepts. After looking at the sites the games kind of remind me of those that you play for Xbox or playstation. You can hook those games to the internet and interact with others who are connected in the same way. The only difference is that the games on the MUD are educational and the ones for Xbow are just for entertainment.

Skype and the GizmoProject are two forms of technology that help us make calls to others around the world. These two programs are online telephones. Students or teachers can make calls to people around the world cheaper than they can using a landline. I’ve read two posts about Skype and the GizmoProject, one from Remote Access and the other from David. I think that these two programs are effective and useful. I think that if the students are taking a history class or especially a foreign language class then these two programs would help the students learn more efficiently. Students would be able to talk to other students from across the country and find out about their economy and how they live and how they are different from the U.S. If the student was taking a French class then as an assignment to teacher could have the class sign on to one of the programs and hold a conversation with a person that is from France or some other French speaking country.

As I was looking through the feeds, I found one on OLDaily that caught my eye. It is a site that does online tutoring for higher education tests such as the SAT and ACT. It is called eduFire (www.edufire.com). The site offers live video instruction for each test. The students who visit the site see a list of tutors along with a picture of each and they get to choose which tutor that they want to set an appointment with. The prices range from $10 – $40 per session, and students do not have to pay until the session is over. The company takes 15% of the cost per session to pay for the site.

This site gives us another example of distance education. The students get to interact with the instructor and learn what is necessary to achieve a good score on these higher education tests.

In chapter 7 they discuss what it takes to create an online class. The site has to have several things in order to make it a successful course. These things are also needed in the regular classroom as well. The first thing it needs is form and function also known as usability and aesthetics. Users should be able to input information using several methods, use the site at their own pace, and easy for the user to correct any errors. The course should also have documents that students need to be able to access in order to know what the class is about and what is expected of them. Those items would be a syllabus, a lesson plan, and a study guide. The syllabus tells what the course is about, the lesson plan tells the students what is expected of them for each lesson and the study guide helps them learn the material and study for tests. But these materials are also good resources to have in the regular classroom setting as well. Some other qualities that an online course should have are: content, pedagogy, motivation, feedback, coordination/organization, usability, assistance, assessment, workload, and flexibility.

Life what can I say, it happens!  It’s been a long week so I am catching up on some readings and postings. I just started using a blog when I started this class and have never used a wiki before. I know how they are similar but not sure of the differences. I know that with both the blog and the wiki you can write your ideas and then others can leave you comments about them. When I did research on the wiki I found that changes can be made to the posts by other people not just the original author. Also after reading Amy’s post about wikis I learned that they can also erase what others have said and others can add images and tables to the pieces. I think that it would be a good idea to use these in English and math courses because then papers can be peer edited and if there are any errors in the math problems corrections can be made through the wiki.