Reflecting on CEP 812

I think the biggest thing that I learned in CEP 812 is that web-based technologies can have very diverse applications. For example, social bookmarking is an excellent collaborative research tool. However, it can also be used as a presentation tool (Like we did for our SIG presentation). In a social studies classroom it can be used to track current events, grading students on their awareness and insights to the world around them. It’s a great structuring tool for exploratory activities.

In the past, when my technology tool set was a bit smaller, I used to fall in love with specific technologies and think that I could use it for every application. Now that I’m completing the certificate program, I think I’m getting better at identifying specific attributes of applications that will be the most effective for a given problem of practice. I initially started my TechQuest on feedback because I fell in love with Jing. While I still think that Jing is a very effective tool for providing student feedback, I’ve learned that it will most likely be more efficient to combine it with Google Docs. I guess to sum up; I’ve learned to use the tools instead of letting the tools use me.

My goal when I started this course was to learn how to better use Web 2.0 to engage students in my classes. My SIG helped me to discover how to use collaborative technologies to promote socially constructed learning. Not only that, but I myself have become a better collaborative learner in the process. I hope to stay in touch with my SIG members and continue to grow our community of Collaborators ;)

My new goal is to finally APPLY all that I have been learning. I think I’ve thought more critically about education recently than I did when I was actually in the classroom. When I finally get back into the classroom, I want to continue to evolve the strategies I’ve developed in the certificate program.

Best of luck to everyone as we go our separate ways. Hopefully we will continue to follow each other’s status, and perhaps even work together on future projects.

TechQuest Project Evaluation

Before I get to my evaluation, I wanted to share my first attempt at giving feedback using Jing. As part of our paper swap, Shawn and I utilized screencasting to provide each other with feedback on our TechQuests. Click the image below to view my critique of her work:

It was great to finally implement part of my TechQuest. Although it wasn’t on student work, I believe the premise is the same. I really learned a lot by receiving Shawn’s feedback in this manner as well. Namely, teachers will need to be taught how to create their screencasts.

I experienced this as well. How a teacher would normally speak to a student in a one-on-one conference will not translate well to screencasted feedback. The ‘umms’, ‘ahhs’, and pregnant pauses are no no’s. However, it would also be ineffective to script a screencast. So really, a big challenge of mine going forward will be iron out a technique that best integrates screencasting into the grading/review process. I realize that many of my issues can be better addressed once I’m able to implement it in an authentic situation but it never hurts to think ahead.

What stinks about how I created Shawn’s feedback is that she can only listen and watch me interact with her paper. Especially in a format like Google Docs or Word, it may be more effective to use the comment feature to directly tag specific areas of the document. This way, changes could be made immediately rather than watching/listening to the screencast and then making a whole batch of changes later. This would ensure that all areas of concern are addressed individually rather than being buried amongst others.

Most likely this could save time on the teacher’s end as well. Why mention grammatical mistakes in a screencast with it would be much more effective to just put in a comment tag saying “consider revising” or something more specific to the situation. When communicating a more complex idea, the teacher could create a short screencast and then link the student to it via a link in a comment tag. I believe this would better help the student because it’s directly connected to their actual document.

Establishing this process will have obvious growing pains initially because I plan to implement the feedback loops as soon as I get back to the classroom. It needs to be implemented from day one to have the most effect and this will be overwhelming. Personally, I foresee having an urge to downscale or even do away with providing feedback via screencast if I get frustrated with the amount of time I’m spending on it. For the sake of the project, it will be critical to continue to innovate rather than give in.

In the future, I think I’ll approach my TechQuest’s from the viewpoint that I will never quite finish them. Much like all things in education, my TechQuest will need to be constantly revised in order for it to continue to be advantageous to myself and my students. Therefore, when selecting a future TechQuest it will be important to pick serious on-going problems of practice.

Getting help and advice from peers/colleagues is invaluable as well. My SIG group members offered perspectives that made my project better, and hopefully more adaptable from teacher to teacher. Replication is a very important part of lesson planning to me. So in the future I will want to keep in mind that I’m not only designing strategies like this one for myself, but for my colleagues as well.