The projects that we did were very interesting. Some I liked and could definitely see myself using in my classes, others I didn’t like as much and I probably won’t use. All were valuable experiences though, helping me get more comfortable using technology- which was my goal. I’m also going to present some of the techniques to the faculty development team at my school to see if they’d like me to present some of the technologies at a workshop.
Lesson Plan- We first created a lesson plan for a subject that we used as a base for all the assignments. It gave us a roadmap and guide to where we were trying to go with the lesson. I don’t always plan lessons so formally, but it is a vital first step- especially when you are starting teaching a new class, or for new teachers. The tracking calendars that my college requires us to give our students are extremely detailed and have objectives, learning activities, assessments etc spelled out very clear on them. It’s like giving the students lesson plans for the whole semester.
Technology Survey- I really liked this activity. I teach out of 3 campuses, and they are all very different with students having different needs. Technology use is a big push, but the head office doesn’t take into account that many students do not have technology at home. If they do, it might just be a smart phone. Sometimes I don’t know that a student is struggling until late in the semester. It would definitely be advantageous to find out any obstacles the students face right away so they can be dealt with
Google Doc- I found Google Docs to be easy to use. It was my first time using it. I liked that students have an option if they don’t have Microsoft Office. Some of my coworkers told me that they have had trouble opening student work sent through Docs. I also don’t like the fact that you have to be online to use it. One thing that was a great advantage though was the collaborative feature. You could watch what another person was doing on the screen. It would be great for students working in groups that can't get together.
Google Presentation- Again, I liked that the students have a choice from power point. I didn’t think Google had as many choices as power point though.
Gradebook- This was easy to use, but had the same limitations. I wouldn’t use it for a gradebook because I have to use our online management system- blackboard.
Podcast- This was my first experience with podcast. I’m not sure I’ve even heard one before. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to do. I can’t really think of a time that I would use it because in medical there is so much visual that would go with the auditory.
Movie- I liked this activity and will definitely use it in my classes. Flipped classes are all the rage lately. Students are expected to watch the power points at home, and then do activities in class. The problem in medical is that many students just don’t understand the power points if they are just reading them. They really need explanations of pictures etc. Having the power points presented, with narration over them to explain concepts, makes them much more understandable. I was surprised how easy it was to edit also. I did struggle with the final conversion to a format that would play right away. I couldn’t figure out how to post it to youtube. My 12 year old came to my rescue and clicked a bunch of stuff and said, ‘You’re all set.’ I still have no idea what he did.
Website- The website activity was valuable to see how a website is created. It was very frustrating though. I would spend hours changing things, and it would revert back to the way it was before. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. I probably wouldn’t use this in class because our management system blackboard allows us to post a lot of stuff for students. On a personal level though, it will be valuable because I was thinking of creating a website for our family farm.
Rubric- I think rubrics are invaluable, both to the student and the teacher. It removes judgment from grading, resulting in less challenges to the grades. The formatting is what I sometimes struggle with. I liked that this website makes it easy. It also gives you words to use. In fact, I showed it to a coworker, and she immediately used it.
Quiz- I like online quizzes, but didn’t like this particular one. I found it too confining and restrictive. For our purposes of making a sample quiz, it did it’s job.
Forum- The forum was ok. I started using the discussion board in blackboard in one of my classes this semester. I think it has gone quite well, although the students claim otherwise.
Online test- I like online tests, but probably won’t use this particular one. I use eztest online a lot because it has preloaded text books with questions to choose from. I also use a lot of review questions from review books from the national certification exam that my students have to take. I’ve recently figured out how to upload eztest exams into blackboard, so the students take the tests in blackboard and the grades go right into the gradebook. It’s great. Last semester I experimented with online exams for my campus based classes. I was surprised what I found. I thought everyone would do very well, having the opportunity to look up answers. To my surprise, the students got the same grades in the online format that they did in paper format. They were also consistent across different classes. The only group that did better, were ESL students. I’m guessing because they had more time to decode the English. Taking the exams out of the classroom, gave me more class time to do other things.
Thinglink- I really liked this activity and will definitely use it. I thought it gave the opportunity to present extra supplemental information in a different, fun way. I have to explore it more though. I liked the example given with the ring of pictures, and I couldn’t figure out how to do that.
Scoop It- I also liked this activity a lot. Medical changes so fast and I’m always assigning articles for the students to read. This would give an easy way for the students to find the articles to read them. I can imagine lots of ways to use this.
One of the things that I really liked that this instructor did was put tutorials on everything in an easy place to find. I found them very valuable, even though some of the websites had been updated so they looked a bit different. It was also very helpful that she put examples of each project up so we could see what we were supposed to be doing. I liked this class so much, that I’m going to take a class that is specifically about teaching online. I’m hoping to learn even more technology then. I always felt behind the times when other instructors or students talked about different technology, and now I have things that I know that they don’t. It feels good to be more ‘cutting edge’. It does seem overwhelming thinking about using it all, so I will add things slowly, but I think it will ultimately make my teaching much more effective.