Reflectives on Week #8

Here it is the last week of this Assessment class. It sure has flew by. It does not seem that the last of my Final project is finished and it is onward to my next classes. We were asked this week to give our assessments on improvements for the class as well as thanking everyone for their contributions. It has been a good class for me and I have learned a lot of new types of assessment tools that I will use in the future.
I turned in my final draft of my project and am officially done.

Here is the link:

www.northstargreen.blogspot.com

Reflection on Week #7

This week we focused on the rough draft of our Final project. I thought this was a lot of fun and a bit challenging. I liked to look around at technology that is out in the market place and trying to decide if it is something that I should use or if the price is right. Many of the programs that I choice to write about, were tools that were free at the start but if one wanted to be able to upgrade to more software it would cost additional money. If they were something that I would use for an online class, I would definitely purchase these products. I used Jing.com which is a part of Screen Cast.com to be used for online demonstration and direction, Survey Monkey for the times when the teacher wants to know the pulse of the class, Live Journal which utilizes online communication, and Blogger which is a blogging site that lets the student utilize communication via a website. I really had a good experience utilizing these tools and had a lot of fun.

Reflections on Week #6

This week we worked on developing a precourse survey for a class. I used the program surveymonkey for my project. I thought that I had done the project correctly but did have difficulties with linking the tool into an e-mail form. After some trial and error, I was able to publish the document and was able to move on. Using this software, made it very easy to do different kinds of surveys from multiple choice to essay forms. This tool was valuable and something that I will have to get better at but it is something that I will use.
I did some work on discussing cybercoaching though an article that was published by our instructor. We were to compare some of the aspects of journalism from Casey's view and our teachers view. Each using different aspects and tools Dr Datta uses discussion forums, Surveys, collaboration, etc to let the student discover for themselves the ways to learn in an online forum.
We are in the process of preparing for the upcoming Final project for this class and I need to work on this to make it good.

Here is a link to my precourse survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VHH8MRX">Click

Reflections on Week #5

This week we learned about Bloom's Taxonomy. This is a system designed by Benjamin Bloom for the characterizing of levels of abstraction. It provides useful structure to ask question within a particular level so that the appropriate strategies are followed. As I the start of this activity, I had a hard time understanding what I was really supposed to do until I got started and to look deeper into the project. It did help me understand and clarify the material that was in the article and help me to work toward structuring it so that I could understand it better. I had a little experience in this model in my educational training so it was good to get back into trying to understand it better and use in my future classes. I think that it is a good model to follow and will learn to understand it better as time passes. This week was a struggle but I hung on.

Here is a link to the Taxonomy assignment:

Bloom's Taxonomy Chart

Bloom's Taxonomy

Knowledge: arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce state.

Comprehension: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate.

Application: apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.

Analysis: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.

Synthesis: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write.

Evaluation: appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose compare, defend estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate.

Reflection on Week #4

This week we were engaged in a group project using different kinds of online assessment tools that can be used to help with communication and information. It is a challenge to communicate to other individuals in an online format. The group really needs to be focused on the task at hand in order to make the project successful. In my group the communication was very good but I have been in other groups that have not been up to the task and because of that, much of the load must be placed on a few individuals so that the task can be done. If everyone is pulling together, the task is much more manageable.
There were times this week where I thought about this activity and did not think that it would get done. The group pulled together and got the project done. If all group activities ran like this maybe I would not be so much apprehension about that task of group work. The more times I do this the better they will get.
My part of the presentation was to research Live Journal software and it's application. There are so many uses for this software that my research did not even come close to the capabilities. It is a social networking package that comes with e-mail, journal construction, communication and much more. I do not know if I will use it because I am more of a private person, but it is free to use.
In our presentation we looked at other packaged such as Adobe Acrobat (Breeze) and Zoomerang. Both look good but there is a cost to having these packaged. I will need to look these over more to see if they are something that I may want in the future.
This week has been a good week considering that this week the midterm was due and it was a group project.

Onward I push on!!

Reflections on Week #3

This week we learned about Concept Mapping as a Assessment tool for Education. I did have the opportunity to use this before the class, so I did have some experience with the software. In the limited amount of time that I have been using the software, I am encouraged by the strong capabilities of this tool. It improves the brainstorming concept that I have used before and help expand ideas into directions that one may not have been before. Looking at other classmates, I can see that there are many kinds of creative aspects of this tool. I really liked looking at the other student's projects.
This week, I have been in the process of getting a different internet service, so there have been challenges in that aspect of the classroom experience. I hopefully can get going in the correct direction and be able to respond to my classmates in an expedient manner and not have the frustration that I have had in the past. I am starting to do some research on my topic for the jigsaw assigment for this class and am working on it to make it happened. Hopefully, my group does not get too upset with my absence. I am working on it to make it better.
There are many different kinds of technology that I read about in the Dr. Curtis Bonk article. The article is a little dated but never the less gives a clear view that technology is growing and that the envelope is being pushed into more and better kinds of technology. There are so much out there that the teacher can use to improve their class and help lighten the load.
This week has been challenging but I have come though it and will continue to push on until completion.