Sports update.....Browns gave me false hope that they would turn the corner after winning Monday night. Than they played Sunday against the Redskins and looked terrible. Ho hum, such as life as a Cleveland sports fan!
A lot of great talk continuing about Free Speech online as well as the copyright issues. People are providing some good resources that I like reading. Free speech online is even more difficult to regulate because websites that are run overseas, such as China, do not have the same laws as here in the US. This is kind of like the Wild West in that there are no law. I guess we have moved to an age where we need a cyber-Wyatt Earp!
One last note. I had another group project in another class, and this was by far the worst one yet. I basically did most of the work. Three other people were in the group. One did a good job contributing as well. The other did two contributions, one was quality. The last person basically did nothing. So they made out great, probably getting an A/B on the project for doing nothing. The ITEC program at KSU seriously needs to consider a moratorium on group projects in online classes. I doubt it will change, but I am expressing my Freedom of Speech right online. (Great way to tie in a current issue, huh?)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Copyright
Hopefully the Browns do well on Monday night. OSU was lethargic, but a win is a win!
The topic for this past week was copyright. What an interesting topic this was to me. I brought up the quote "It is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission" That holds so true with copyright issues. Especially if you can justify the materials that you are using as educational. I wrote a lot on the discussion board about this, I also covered it in my paper as well.
I really wonder if there will be any concrete laws that are passed anytime soon that specifies copyright. It seems like this will be such a complex issue to legislate. With the information that is available today, regulating it is very difficult. Makes you think.
Not much to talk about this week. A very busy week ahead with all of the work to do in my other classes. Friday is NEOEA day, so I get a day off. Spend that whole day doing school work. I really hope to put a huge dent in my assignment load. My goal is to have everything done by Friday night for a relaxing Saturday and Sunday!
The topic for this past week was copyright. What an interesting topic this was to me. I brought up the quote "It is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission" That holds so true with copyright issues. Especially if you can justify the materials that you are using as educational. I wrote a lot on the discussion board about this, I also covered it in my paper as well.
I really wonder if there will be any concrete laws that are passed anytime soon that specifies copyright. It seems like this will be such a complex issue to legislate. With the information that is available today, regulating it is very difficult. Makes you think.
Not much to talk about this week. A very busy week ahead with all of the work to do in my other classes. Friday is NEOEA day, so I get a day off. Spend that whole day doing school work. I really hope to put a huge dent in my assignment load. My goal is to have everything done by Friday night for a relaxing Saturday and Sunday!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Defending the Lab
Well, what an easy sports week. Browns do not play and the Buckeyes won a close one Saturday night. I was able to get some work done!
This past week was spent writing issue 3 for class and I choose to take the side of the lab for computers. The scenario was the elementary school had acquired 20 new computers and what would be the best way to distribute them. I felt that changing the routine of a student, a set lab use schedule, having a centralized facility, and providing teacher training can help both students and staff feel comfortable with technology in the lab. I really feel strongly that the best benefit to the student would be the lab setting. I found a lot of great sources talking about lab set-up, state standards and ways to acquire new technologies. I even was able to refer to a book that I am using in another class because it had a great reference! Hopefully, I was able to defend the side of lab use for those computers well.
This week will be on to Issue 4 and it looks like copyright issues. Oh fun.
This past week was spent writing issue 3 for class and I choose to take the side of the lab for computers. The scenario was the elementary school had acquired 20 new computers and what would be the best way to distribute them. I felt that changing the routine of a student, a set lab use schedule, having a centralized facility, and providing teacher training can help both students and staff feel comfortable with technology in the lab. I really feel strongly that the best benefit to the student would be the lab setting. I found a lot of great sources talking about lab set-up, state standards and ways to acquire new technologies. I even was able to refer to a book that I am using in another class because it had a great reference! Hopefully, I was able to defend the side of lab use for those computers well.
This week will be on to Issue 4 and it looks like copyright issues. Oh fun.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Group projects
Almost forgot to do the blog this week! Glad to see the Browns won, finally! Ohio State as well. Indians finish the year 81-81, could have been better.
This past week I have spent a TON of time trying to work on and complete issue 2, the first group project of the year. This is the fourth group project that I have been involved in for an online class. Quite frankly, I do not like them at all. Most people, myself included are taking online classes for the flexibility they provide. Since most of us are working professionals, we have such busy schedules the chance to work on the school work at our time is a premium. Doing group work, my schedule may not match up with their schedule because of committments. Trying to communicate online is sometimes difficult as well.
Now, this has nothing to do with grades, because I have done well on the projects in the past. It also has nothing to do with the people I work with on these projects. It has more to do with the application of group work conflicting with the premise of online classes.
Just my thoughts on that topic.
This past week I have spent a TON of time trying to work on and complete issue 2, the first group project of the year. This is the fourth group project that I have been involved in for an online class. Quite frankly, I do not like them at all. Most people, myself included are taking online classes for the flexibility they provide. Since most of us are working professionals, we have such busy schedules the chance to work on the school work at our time is a premium. Doing group work, my schedule may not match up with their schedule because of committments. Trying to communicate online is sometimes difficult as well.
Now, this has nothing to do with grades, because I have done well on the projects in the past. It also has nothing to do with the people I work with on these projects. It has more to do with the application of group work conflicting with the premise of online classes.
Just my thoughts on that topic.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Grading and Constructivism
This has been on my mind as well, in the last week, and that is grading as it relates to constructivism.
If the process is just as important as the final result, evaluating that process may be in certain terms a bit subjective. It would be hard for a teacher to evaluate all that goes on in the different groups, unless there is a record of it (wiki, group discussion). That may not be workable in a setting such as a school. If you had each student evaluate each other, that could be disastrous in that you will not get a true evaluation because of social issues.
I thought of this topic because I am concerned that I see teachers take off points in a student's grade if they misbehave, for forgetting the date, writing in pen instead of pencil, not formatting it correctly. I saw a student get a B+ on a paper, instead of an A- because they forgot to date the paper. To me it is not measuring their congnitive abilities and the teacher could find a better way to take care of that problem. It is something that just bugs me.
If the process is just as important as the final result, evaluating that process may be in certain terms a bit subjective. It would be hard for a teacher to evaluate all that goes on in the different groups, unless there is a record of it (wiki, group discussion). That may not be workable in a setting such as a school. If you had each student evaluate each other, that could be disastrous in that you will not get a true evaluation because of social issues.
I thought of this topic because I am concerned that I see teachers take off points in a student's grade if they misbehave, for forgetting the date, writing in pen instead of pencil, not formatting it correctly. I saw a student get a B+ on a paper, instead of an A- because they forgot to date the paper. To me it is not measuring their congnitive abilities and the teacher could find a better way to take care of that problem. It is something that just bugs me.
Monday, September 15, 2008
ETA and Constructivism
Time for my second post. First, what a bad weekend for being an Ohio Sports fan. The Indians get pounded by the lowly Royals. The OSU Buckeyes get embarrassed by USC. Finally, The Browns lay an egg versus the Steelers. Ho-hum, such is life as an Ohio sports fan! I am able to post now because school was cancelled today from all of the power outages.
Now back to the topic. It has been bugging me for over a week since Constructivism was introduced as a topic in this class. It bugged me because it seemed SO familiar from my undergraduate at KSU. I FINALLY remembered it and it is similar to the "Ecological Task Analysis" which is an approach used in teaching Physical Education classes. Here is a link to the book and it just gives a brief description of the ETA. I took a few classes from Dr. Davis at KSU.
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?isbn=9780736051859
Now, the definitions may be a bit different between Constuctivism and the ETA approach, but the application of each is very similar. Students find their own way to meet the goal. Hence, the process is just as important as the end result. I found this very unique and have drawn comparisons between the two. I actually feel comfortable with Constructivism because I have been involved in it previously.
Now back to the topic. It has been bugging me for over a week since Constructivism was introduced as a topic in this class. It bugged me because it seemed SO familiar from my undergraduate at KSU. I FINALLY remembered it and it is similar to the "Ecological Task Analysis" which is an approach used in teaching Physical Education classes. Here is a link to the book and it just gives a brief description of the ETA. I took a few classes from Dr. Davis at KSU.
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?isbn=9780736051859
Now, the definitions may be a bit different between Constuctivism and the ETA approach, but the application of each is very similar. Students find their own way to meet the goal. Hence, the process is just as important as the end result. I found this very unique and have drawn comparisons between the two. I actually feel comfortable with Constructivism because I have been involved in it previously.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Ok....this is my first blog post. I have created this blog as part of my class for "Current Issues in Instructional Technology". Today we are discussing Constructivism. Interesting because this is a type of philosophy of learning. To me it is giving students open ended problems with a variety of possible answers. Communication and working together to solve the problem is a huge factor involved in this. A lot of hands on learning.
Since this is my first blog posting, I will keep it short and sweet.
Since this is my first blog posting, I will keep it short and sweet.
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