Processes

Understand processes such as change, design, development, and learning.

Click here to see artifact.

Introduction/Context

In the second and third EDTEC 700 courses titled Podcasting and Tools for eCollaboration, I produced a final artifact at http://liebke0809.edublogs.org/ which I feel is my best representation for the EDTEC standard, processes.  The assignment was to set up a blog, wiki, or podcast for use in our classroom in the future.  Using the web 2.0 tool, edublogs.org, I set up a class blog that would enable students to review study tools that I had set up for my Medieval World History class.  Specifically, I use this site for students to review videos related to the unit we are studying.  They will also set up blogs for my class and the links to each student’s blog will be posted to this site.  Part of our project included, in addition to the site we created, a video “tour” of our artifact.  For a five minute demonstration of my artifact, click here (Note:  There is a 30 second time delay before the video plays).

Connection to Standard

The process of change was demonstrated through the creation of this project.  My employer, San Diego Unified School District, has enabled teachers to use Moodle to set up our classes for students.  While Moodle has the capability to upload video and allow students to respond to blog prompts, it has a very limited space capacity.  In addition, student work will be lost once the course is complete and I wanted students to be able to keep their own digital portfolios.  I found out quickly that my goals for my course site were beyond Moodle’s capacity, and my edublogs.org site enabled me to change the means with which I utilize course learning tools.  Since my students are accustomed to using Moodle, I concluded that edublogs.org would be ideal for uploading videos and enabling students to create their own blogs.  Therefore, l still use Moodle as a course reference, but links to each page of my edublogs.org site are inserted in my Moodle site when needed.

The next processes were design and development.  I love the edublogs.org web 2.0 tool because it makes design and development relatively easy.  I knew, however, that I needed to choose a design that included three columns and an editable header so that I could insert an image related to my course content.  I chose the design scheme Anubis 1.0 made by Nurudin Jauhari because it contained the template I wanted as well as a color scheme that represents my taste.  In the first column, I added a calendar widget so that students could click on dates to locate the appropriate assignment.  In addition, I included links to each page of the edublog site.  There are some introductory pages that I developed with instructions for students to build their own blogs.  The remainder of the pages are indicated by unit.  Each unit page contains a video that gives an overview of the unit.  This design enables me to build upon these parent pages so that the site is essentially a work in progress.  I will create posts for each unit parent page that students will comment on throughout the year.  The middle column is designed for students to view content.  In the third column, I included my avatar, links to pages titled by class period where students will find links to all classmate blogs, and external links related to history and/or student resources.

Problems/Opportunities

I experienced the process of learning throughout the month it took to develop my edublogs.org site.  During the learning process, I also encountered some problems.  Every time I made progress on the design of my site, it seemed there was another tool I had to learn.  First of all, learning to use edublogs.org took some getting used to.  I wasn’t able to get all the results from my blog that I desired.  I overcame this dilemma when I learned that there was a difference between creating pages and creating posts.  I used the parent company, wordpress.com, to create this portfolio site and was able to begin designing this site with the understanding of pages vs. posts.  I also wanted to insert videos into this website.  After uploading just two videos, I already received warnings that I was surpassing my space capacity.  Then, I learned of edublogs.tv which enabled me to upload video and embed the videos into my edublogs.org site (see example here).  This enabled me to upload all the videos l have for my history units.  Finally, another valuable tool I learned was how to convert audio from my iTunes to mp3 format.  I have the entire Holt book, World History: Medieval to Early Modern Times, on audio.  I wanted students to be able to access the audio text at home and edublogs.tv enabled me to provide podcasts for students, too.  My learning can be evidenced here:  http://www.edublogs.tv/play_audio.php?audio=2264.

Reflection on Growth

My http://liebke0809.edublogs.org/ site demonstrates my ability to learn Web 2.0 tools and develop them for classroom use.  I spend a solid month devloping this site and gained confidence in my own trouble shooting abilities.  The final part of the project was to complete the video discussed above.  This project really helped me learn that I have great ideas about how to develop tools for social studies.  I began to think in terms of technology integration in classrooms as being content specific after taking this course.  Finally, I feel that this course converted me from being a digital settler to more of a pioneer.