It is amazing the accomplishments that I have achieved in the last two weeks, while starting two Educational Technology grad courses.
MY TOP 10 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1. Took part in three ETMOOC sessions.
2. Was able to navigate into Blackboard Collaborate. This seemed to work easier on my Mac laptop than on my IMAC due to some downloading issues with Java.
3. Started using Twitter, unlocked my account and began sending tweets.
4. Signed up for SoundCloud and did my first audio recording that didn’t require a tape recorder and cassettes. The bonus about SoundCloud is finding heaps of new music at my fingertips. I linked my recording to my blog, twitter and Facebook.
5. Created a blog on the EDCI 515 website through UVIC. Posted and retrieved comments.
6. Took part in two online lessons with my EDCI 515 professor, Valerie Irvine.
7. Learned about the benefits of Hootsuite and Tweetdeck.
8. Took part in a Google hangout session with my prof and another student. This was frustrating at first because it took me about 30 minutes to sign up and get connected, but in the end it was fun.
9. Learned about and looked into Evernote and Mendeley.
10. Read other blogs on the ETMOOC hub and used Google Reader. Commented on one blog called “Talk about Music”. This took some time as I had to be connected to Edublogs before I could comment.
During these accomplishments, mainly online, I nursed myself back to health after having the worst flu ever in my life and the worst cold sore, encompassing about 20% of my face. The shear size and looks of it had some of my grade 8 students convinced I was turning into a zombie. I also, managed to get 8 hours sleep a night, to get out for one major walk and partake in two romantic dinners (yes, with the same person) at a fancy local seafood restaurant, Captain Hardy’s.
My Learning:
During the ETMOOC’s orientation Alec asked two poignant questions: How are we making our learning visible and how are we contributing to the learning of others? In the past, my connections have been low-tech: I have mentored student teachers, participated in Professional Development, coordinated workshops for modern languages, and conducted outreach to elementary schools. Now, I am starting to use technology to leverage my ability to connect with a wider audience. Through blogging, twitter, and ETMOOC I have begun to learn and share with local colleagues and, even more amazingly, with people from around the world. These connections are leading to my own media and digital literacy. Furthermore, my knowledge in educational issues is increasing through ETMOOC and other social networks. It is a bit of a learning curve and I identify with the ski jumper in this Youtube clip as referenced in ETMOOC’s orientation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV_DKgb264E
In my case, I’m jumping into the world of digital education.
Another great reference in the orientation was Larry Lessig’s Youtube clip called “Laws that Choke Creativity.”
This a great clip about the youth of today and the way they remix using technology. As witnessed in my 10 top accomplishments, I am beginning to become competent at using online resources and I hope one day to be able create resources and remix as well. I still have many hurdles to overcome, even with simple things on twitter such as favorite tweeting, but with these two courses and online networks, I am looking forward to becoming much more proficient at learning, sharing and teaching with these new tools.
My Reflections:
On the positive side, I have made many connections already and have gained so much. Once I posted my audio clip, I was hearing from friends in Japan and teachers from the lower mainland. Each one was sharing with me some information that may be valuable to my studies.
On the negative side, the amount of information coming at me is a bit overwhelming. I do find that many of the comments during the ETMOOC sessions are quite distracting and many times not related to the topics. It reminded me of PowerPoint presentations that contain too much information in too short of time.
The time issue is one of the most important factors for me while considering the use of online and connected learning. With the possibility and accessibility of staying constantly connected to information, overload is bound to happen. People’s time is precious and I don’t ever want to waste people’s time during online chats or posts. I also want to keep some sacred quiet time for family and myself. This includes a couple of nights per week or at least one day on the weekend when I am not connected to phones, emails, tweets, and Facebook. To stay balanced, I need to be spending some time in nature or listening to or creating music. I am not willing to give that up. Arthur Black wrote recently in the Courier- Islander, referring to a Newsweek article, about nomophobics, people who have “no-mobile-phone phobia”. They are connected over 38 hours a week on their devices and their brains are changing as a result. Here’s a link to the article:
http://199.71.40.195/courierislander/news/opinion/story.html?id=c5f051bf-d9b6-4756-9ac4-980b37a10a87&p=2
As with everything moderation is key…
Hi Stacia
I have a feeling our comment field on Edublogs caused confusion based on your comment “had to be connected to Edublogs before I could comment.”
You don’t need to have an Edublogs.org blog or be logged into an Edublogs account to post a comment on an Edublogs blog unless the blogger has set their comment moderation settings to “Users must be registered and logged in to comment”
This isn’t the case with http://talkaboutmusic.edublogs.org/ and you can comment as a logged out user.
However, we don’t allow people to add their website URL unless you are logged into an Edublogs account. I think that is the aspect that may have caused the confusion and we’re really sorry
We’ve had to restrict ability to add your website URL to logged in users as some spam commenters were adding links to really inappropriate adult content websites and making them look innocent. We can’t allow students to exposed to that type of risk.
If you have now got an Edublogs.org blog you just need to go to Users > Your Profile inside your Edublogs blog and add the website URL for your edtech @ UVIC Sites to the URL field to have your comments you post on Edublogs link back to your blog.
I agree there is so much information and it is a bit overwhelming. As a presenter I couldn’t keep up with the chat or the Whiteboard. The easiest solution is to Save the Chat and the Whiteboard at the end of the session so you can refer back to it later when you are able to focus.
Best of luck!
Sue Waters
Edublogs Support Manager
@suewaters
Thanks Sue for the advice on how to link my UVIV site to edublogs. Stacia
Really enjoyed the story of your journey into digital literacy, teaching and learning. I agree wholeheartedly with your comment about overload and chat distractions on Blackboard Collaborate.
Your list of accomplishments is impressive for its scope. Perhaps one way to deal with the overload is to take time to “drill down” into some of the accomplishments. Ask, what can I do with Evernote? Who did I meet on BBC and how can I learn more about their thinking on topics that interest me?
Good luck.
Thanks Dennis for your words of wisdom of “drilling down” into some of the accomplishments. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Accomplishments, Learning, and Reflecting | staciajo's blog | Learning, Teaching & Leading Today | Scoop.it // Jan 20, 2013 at 12:29 pm
[...] "It is amazing the accomplishments that I have achieved in the last two weeks, while starting two Educational Technology grad courses. MY TOP 10 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:1. Took part in three ETMOOC sessions. 2. Was able to navigate into Blackboard Collaborate. This seemed to work easier on my Mac laptop than on my IMAC due to some downloading issues with Java. 3. Started using Twitter, unlocked my account and began sending tweets. ….." [...]
I too had never heard about soundcloud until you mentioned during the elluminate session. I am thankful that you did mention it because it connected to my classroom on Wednesday. My class is currently following the Canadian astronaut Chris Hatfield https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield on twitter. He even took time to send us a tweet last week, we were so excited to get a tweet from outer space! But another of his tweets was his soundcloud account https://soundcloud.com/colchrishadfield and my students were able to listen to various sounds of space (including the toilet flush – which was the favourite). I hear your argument about being too connected but without these types of technologies students in my class would miss so many opportunities. As with anything self-regulation is the key, teaching students to be strategic in their thinking may become one of the most important 21st century skills we teach our students.
Just wanted to share.
Thanks Sarah for your comments. I agree with you about being “strategic thinking”. Wow, that is interesting about the sounds in space. I’ll have to check it out myself. Also, if you ever want to do exchanges “tech” for “writing” you’ve got yourself a deal. Though, I am not a perfect writer either, I hope by blogging I will improve and increase my vocabulary.
Hi Stacia,
Reading your reflections is mirroring the conversation going on in my own head. It’s nice to read that others are considering such things as “digital burnout” and the non-relational impact these new technologies will have on the human race. A couple of things I have come across this last week you might be interested in. One was sent to me by a friend working on his Masters of Clinical Counseling, maybe he thinks I need this, maybe he’s right. http://youtu.be/U1Xonak-3XI (to find this video again I Googled Shinrin Yoku and of course lots of information came up.) The other thing that I discovered while doing some work for our project on curation and also looking for tips for avoiding overload. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/06/5-tips-to-prevent-digital-burnout-and-maintain-good-mental-health-159.html
Although I know you are doing many things to avoid burnout, it is a good reminder or a nice affirmation.
Looking forward to really digging deeper into more focussed areas with you, maybe you can help keep me accountable to some nature time!
Hey Melissa
I like the Japanese forest youtube clip; I’ll have to share that with my Japanese class. We’ll also have to take a field trip into the local forests and live the essence of this video. Yes, it is so important to maintain balanced lifestyles. Yoga for two hours, walks on the beach, and unplugging for a day a week sounds good to me.
As far as our curation project, I curated a whole list of photo websites that can be used, without copyright issues, by teachers and students.