Oh Say Can You C?

Two down and one to go. You have made it through the most tedious part of the course and only really have two big project: Movie & TaskStream to complete. We have a scanning assignment, EdTechProfile post, and attendance & participation!

This weekend we will work on the Movie project, which will revolve around the achievement gap and begin writing the TaskStream narratives.

Note: If anyone has a digital (DV) video camera, it would be a great help if you brought it on Saturday. The goal is to plan the video on Fri, shoot, capture and edit the video on Sat! Also, I want the first narrative for TaskStream written by Sunday evening and a request for feedback. You will be collaborating with your peers to ensure you are on the right track with your narratives!

I look forward to another productive weekend. . .see you tonight.

This week's question: What is your current favorite teacher movie and why?

Have You B-B-Begun Your Work for 422B?

I had a great time last weekend getting everyone ready to take on the content for 422B. I hope that you all feel confident to complete the course over the holidays. I just wanted to update you on a few things:

TaskStream: I have finished a new set of instructions and posted them on webCT. They are designed to get you to TaskStream for the first time and all the way to uploading your first artifact and requesting feedback!

Journals 6-10: Don't forget that 2 of the journal entries are the Software Review and Web2.0 (the number doesn't matter). For the other three entries, you are free to search L&L, T-H-E Journal, and Edutopia (all linked on the blog) for appropriate articles around issues of education and technology. PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TITLE AND THE FIRST LINE OF THE ENTRY.
IF YOU ARE A 422B STUDENT: Get me your blog address ASAP so I can get it on the blogroll!
For those who do not want to think over the holidays, I offer the following suggestions:
Database Bells and Whistles: Organizing Data for Whole-Class Use
by Jessica Kahn
vol. 25 no. 3
Fulldome Video: An Emerging Technology for Education
by Linda Law
vol. 34 no. 3
Coding (and Consulting) Kid-style with Scratch
by Dian Schaffhauser

(this would be a good follow-up for those who read about Scratch in 422A)

Please try and stay ahead of your work and email me with any questions.

This week's questions: What is your favorite holiday tradition? Explain.

Why I am getting nervous?

It's Monday evening and I have graded everything that has been submitted so far. . .which brings me to my fear. . .Many of you have a lot of work to complete this week. It's not that I don't trust y'all, but I am a bit worried some of you are underestimating how much work you need to do this week.

Do me a favor and communicate with me by leaving a comment on this blog and/or an email on WebCT if you haven't already to let me know how you are doing.

For the Newsletter: I had asked that the newsletter be saved and submitted as a PDF. Many of you may not know how to do this, so I included a link to a free PDF converter under the links section. Click on it, upload your newsletter and it will convert it to a PDF for you! PDF, or portable document format, is the most universally recognized file type for sharing across the Internet and beyond. Everyone can download a free Adobe Acrobat reader, which allows you to open all PDFs.

422B: We will be meeting Fri and Sat this week. I want to ensure we can get a handle on most of the assignments, as we don't have a lot of time for this section and most of it will be over X-mas! I hope we can finish a few assignments during class time.

PowerPoint Tutorial

Here's another PowerPoint tutorial from YouTube

PowerPoint Assignment Intro

Okay, I have been trying to use a new software (new to me) called Camtasia to produce a recording of the PowerPoint. . .try this link to view the PowerPoint Intro.
In the comments section, let me know if it worked!

Argh!

Hello everyone. . .I realize that I have been a bit behind keeping up with everything. I hope that I haven't caused anyone too much stress. Like I said when we met, the due dates for the assignments are not set in stone. . .you can be a few days late and you will not be penalized. I just put the dates out there to help you organize your workflow.
Speaking of workflow:
Assignments that should be completed: EdTechProfile, Intro Letter posted on blog with peer comments (and I finally updated Ashlee's blog address!), and the Excel assignment.
Assignments you should be working on: newsletter, PowerPoint, Social Bookmarking, and Journals 1-5. I will still try and get some better directions posted for the newsletter and Powerpoint. If you are waiting for the instructions, you can do the social bookmarking assignment as the directions are most recently updated. I promise to get the newsletter supplemental directions posted by Turkey Day!

Journal Articles: I believe I told everyone that you are more than welcome to go to the iste website and search L&L for any article that you might be interested in. However, if you are just too busy and want some suggestions, I'll give you some:
Journal 1 (your Intro letter ;-)
Journal 2: "The Threat of Security," by Robinson, Brown, and Green. From the Sept/Oct Issue of the 2007 L&L. (click on "past issues" in the column on the left.
Journal 3: "Nailing digital Jelly to a Virtual Tree," by Serim and Schrock
Journal 4: "Sowing the Seeds for a More Creative Society," by Mitchel Resnick
Journal 5: "Social Justice: Choice or Necessity?" by Swain, Edyburn. It's from Vol 34, Issue 6 (March 2007).

Please let me know if you need anything or there are any questions you might have about the course. I believe we have until Dec 12 to complete everything, right? Don't forget that I am on campus at least one day a week and would love to help anyone who needs it!!!! I am in University Hall, Room 271 from around 4:30 - 9:30 every Wednesday night (except this Wed, Turkey Eve). Tawn and Asha have been frequent welcome visitors!!

This week's question: How do you like online learning? Give me your pros and cons (what's good and what are the challenges). Click on comments and give your answer:-)



Check out this definition of argh from the urban dictionary (Definitely an adult reference tool)

Intersession Overload?

Welcome to the Intersession Educ 422. As of Thursday, I only had seven students enrolled in this course. All seven are enrolled in A, B, and C, so I will use this one blog to cover the entire contents of the course.

I will usually update the blog weekly to discuss what you should be working on and to post journal topics. We will go over the course expectations and meeting times on Friday evening.

I will also leave you a question each week to comment on. It is a way to build community, get you involved in thinking about education, and also to let me know that you read the blog. It will be a part of your attendance/participation points for the course.

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.