Digital Badge #L-Chapter 6

Designing Successful WebQuests- Reading about this topic in this chapter was actually really interesting. I feel as if we covered all of it in class. The book gives a great explanation of the purpose of a WebQuest and what questions everyone doing a WebQuest should be thinking about while doing theirs. I never had a clue what a WebQuest was but had heard of it before. Being able to create one in this class I think will be challenging, especially not having a good amount of time to do everything it should include. On the other hand, I think making one of these on my own will definitely be a great advantage for myself and good learning experience I can keep forever. This will help me in my teaching career as well as current student. 

Interactive Videoconferencing- Videoconferencing can be such a great learning experience and very helpful as well. It allows anyone to be in places where they can't be or visit. This is so helpful for our students or teachers. For example the day one of the girls from our class who could not be present because of a family emergency, videoconferencing made it possible to still attend our class. Not physically but it was as if she was there being a part of the class, which is cool too because she was able to finish working on a class project with her group due to this awesome invention. Videoconferencing is not only helpful in schools but it also allows people who are in the military to see their loved ones who they have not seen in a while for whatever circumstances. I find this so amazing because I have gone through this with my Fiancé, and thanks to the opportunity of being able to do a videoconference I was able to see him and communicate while he was deployed in Afghanistan, rather than just talking on the phone and listen to his voice which was not possible anyways because he was out of the country and could not use his phone. I have also been able to see family members from a different country who I have not seen in a while and have been able to participate in conversations with my cousins like the good old days when we were all together.

Photo Credited to: bhagavanpabbu on Flickr.com

Debates over Virtual Schools- This topic is well described in the chapter. I am more than positive it can be discussed in more than half a page. Personally I stand in the middle, I don't think virtual schools is either good or bad. If I had a child and I had to pick between sending them to school or allowing them to do virtual school I would choose going to school. Not that I think allowing my kid to do virtual schools is bad, but to allow them to experience the real world first and if an issue occurs later on, than I would consider my second option. The book did a great job at giving many positives for virtual schools which I agree with them all, but it also gave some negatives which I also agree on. I think with all the crazy situations that have been going on in schools like the shootings virtual schools gives parents the great opportunity for their children to keep learning but most importantly keeping them safe from all the danger. I would say the statistics of students attending virtual schools now to back then are a lot higher than it has ever been. Once again, I love this opportunity for students and myself, and everyone is welcomed to pick their side. All I know is that it has been a great invention for anyone in need of this great experience. Like I have said before, we could not have done this without technology, this is why it is so important !

Resources: Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2011).Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Digital Badge #K-Chapter 11

Digital Portfolios for Students: Building a digital or e-portfolio to begin with is so much easier than  creating in a paper-bound portfolio. I think this would be so beneficial for students trying to become a teacher, or that would like to be a teacher in the future because it shows a process. You would be able to be as creative as you are while putting all that you have learned about that would benefit you later. Not only would one person could see but the whole world. Although a little disadvantage I find in this is that there could be people that could copy or steal your same ideas but that could happen in paper-bound portfolio period. The accessibility and portability you have creating an e-portfolio is the best advantage because your able to access it whenever you want no matter where you are. How about the fact that you are less likely to loose it? Thats just awesome !

Online Surveys for Preassessment: I think this is a great strategy for teachers to use to identify skills and knowledge their students have as well as the knowledge they need about a lesson or topic they are about to teach. This online survey allows teachers to see where students stand while allowing them to see what student they have to work with a little bit more. This class has actually been the first class where I have experienced this. From experience I could say it has a great advantage. Not only was it fun for all of us in the class to participate in but it was also good for the teacher to see who knew more, which then she could group us in the right groups. I really think every teacher should do this, it shows students teacher care a little bit more while it is also so easy for students because they could log in from their devices or computers in class. There are many ways you could use online surveys, point is that they are very useful.

Changing the Classroom Experience: Using clickers in class can change the classroom experience. Teachers are able to ask inquiry and opinion questions while students participate as a whole to answer them. I have never experienced this as a student in any of my classes in the past or now, but the way the book described how a teacher could use them in a classroom, sounds really interesting and active. Classroom participation allows us as students to have the opportunity to experience a different type of classroom discussion. If students are  graded also by their participation in class, this will allow them to join the rest of their classmates while making the class enjoyable and not boring. I would have loved to use clickers in my class, especially in math class where I would always raised my hand, instead I would use a device that could get my answer to the board faster. Another class that would be interesting to use clickers in would be psychology, a lot of hands go up in that one. Instead we could have clickers in use, this would be wonderful when we do quizzes as a class or in groups.

Photo Credits to: g3ict.org on Google

Resources: Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2011).Transforming learning with new technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.