Not working directly in education this chapter was a little hard for me to swallow. Since I couldn't really relate to some of the messages the biggest thing I picked up was systemic change and how it is so hard and takes so long. This really hit home with my experiences at Western as I have recently attended training through Crossroads, a non-profit Chicago organization dedicated to dismantling systemic racism. The basis of the training is trying to provide a long term anti racism transformation in your designated group. For this class the purpose was transforming WMU. They planned to do that by developing commitment within the institution to dismantle institutional racism and to establish an anti-racist purpose within the institution's mission statements. It was really interesting to see how they have targetted and planned to fight something like racism that has been around for centuries. It makes you realize that eventually change will happen but only over the course of time.
While the chapter was not about such a hot topic such as racism the chapter did include some good case studies on how systemic change has worked in educational settings and how they were transformed.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Google Maps
My map on Great Lakes Shipwrecks.
View Larger Map
Great Lakes shipwrecks
After touring the area last summer I realized how the maritime history of Michigan is an area that is not really covered. From the map you can see that I have plotted some of the larger shipwrecks in Lake Huron, it amazed me the amount of wrecks in one area. My lesson plan would have the students research and plot other shipwrecks in the area or in Lake Michigan. Also another side project could be doing research on the ship that wrecked and how many people perished in the crash.
View Larger Map
Great Lakes shipwrecks
After touring the area last summer I realized how the maritime history of Michigan is an area that is not really covered. From the map you can see that I have plotted some of the larger shipwrecks in Lake Huron, it amazed me the amount of wrecks in one area. My lesson plan would have the students research and plot other shipwrecks in the area or in Lake Michigan. Also another side project could be doing research on the ship that wrecked and how many people perished in the crash.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Week 8 Reflection
Technology based training- currently at my place of work we not only use training cd roms but also there are numerous web based training programs for anything from sexual harrasment to use of the university purchase card system. Currently in the Mid American conference we have actually gone to a video conferencing system for certain conference calls where they are presenting videos or graphics. All these kinds of things would not have been possible if not for a greater use of technology in the workplace.
Distance learning/education- I think that not only would it not be possible to do things such as this class but also in the workplace. With the cost of gas still pretty high telecommuting has become more acceptable in many workplaces. The more I think about that the more it amazes me where people can actually sit at home and use their work computer like they were there. Productivity will be higher and the worker loves it because they can make their own schedule and work when they want to.
I believe the assignments for this class are a lot more thought provoking than any of the two other classes I have taken in the in the Educational Technology realm. I feel like these assignments are actually thought out and have a purpose rather than in my other classes where they were merely the next assignment in the book. Being a person who uses technology on a daily basis I can say that for the most part the assignments have not been overly hard but hard enough where I have to spend time and do some actual thinking. I think the group as a whole has been great with supporting each other in this class but I will speak for myself and say that it has grown tedious for me to review and give an opinion on others work. I realize that part of the online experience is doing that but I find no joy in that. I believe that all the work for this class is relevant and can be put into place in the workplace and if I had the opportunity at my job to use any of it I know I could.
The only negative thing I can say and this is not about this class but the program in general is that I feel like too much of the material is covered in every class. I mean how many times can you create your own website or upload pictures. I understand that some students take classes in a different progression but it seems like all of my classes have really covered the main topics over and over again.
Distance learning/education- I think that not only would it not be possible to do things such as this class but also in the workplace. With the cost of gas still pretty high telecommuting has become more acceptable in many workplaces. The more I think about that the more it amazes me where people can actually sit at home and use their work computer like they were there. Productivity will be higher and the worker loves it because they can make their own schedule and work when they want to.
I believe the assignments for this class are a lot more thought provoking than any of the two other classes I have taken in the in the Educational Technology realm. I feel like these assignments are actually thought out and have a purpose rather than in my other classes where they were merely the next assignment in the book. Being a person who uses technology on a daily basis I can say that for the most part the assignments have not been overly hard but hard enough where I have to spend time and do some actual thinking. I think the group as a whole has been great with supporting each other in this class but I will speak for myself and say that it has grown tedious for me to review and give an opinion on others work. I realize that part of the online experience is doing that but I find no joy in that. I believe that all the work for this class is relevant and can be put into place in the workplace and if I had the opportunity at my job to use any of it I know I could.
The only negative thing I can say and this is not about this class but the program in general is that I feel like too much of the material is covered in every class. I mean how many times can you create your own website or upload pictures. I understand that some students take classes in a different progression but it seems like all of my classes have really covered the main topics over and over again.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Week 7
Podcasting
Quickanddirtytips.com (It's not obscene like the title sounds)
After looking in Itunes for a good educational worthy podcast I came across Legal lad's quicky and dirty tips for a more lawful life. In the Itunes educational section I would say 90 out of the top 100 education based podcasts are foreign language instructionals, not to say they aren't interesting but it's not my thing. While the podcast is not exactly based on educating students its very informative for just curious people. Legal lad is actually a real lawyer and the information given in the brief podcast is in response to questions asked by people who listen and email in questions. This weeks question is on the possesion of handguns or mace. While I don't know how much I actually value the opinion of a lawyer who does podcasts, I do however think it is worthwhile though for broad subjects such as file sharing or what is a grand jury. The podcasts are very quick at around ten minutes a piece and has very little dead time. I think that podcasting is a great tool but I think in an educational setting you would want to have some kind of restriction on content. Itunes is a great resource but I would take the time to at least read some reviews or listen through the whole podcast before I would give it as an assignment. Podcasting would have a great benefit in my workplace in athletics because it would allow people from other schools and other conferences to share information in a clear and concise manner. The best part about that is that a person with very little technical skill can produce their own podcast.
Chapter 14 reflection
I think I might be one of the only ones who has a different point of view of the subject of HPI or human perfomance improvement. My point of view does not come as an instructor but as a coach. The example I keep coming back to is in football if your team gets loses a close game 22-21 the next week you come back to practice and you focus on why you lost the previous and not for your next opponent. The results are counter productive you must move on and keep going forward. Now you don't forget about the game completely but you have to get back to basics and why the fundamental approach you took didn't work. Maybe your pass defense wasn't as aggressive as you would have liked it to be so the next week you work on pass defense drills. Maybe your punter couldn't kick the ball to save his life so you have him punting all practice. Each one of these examples is of how the whole team was not the cause of the loss but each individual unit played a role in the process.
Quickanddirtytips.com (It's not obscene like the title sounds)
After looking in Itunes for a good educational worthy podcast I came across Legal lad's quicky and dirty tips for a more lawful life. In the Itunes educational section I would say 90 out of the top 100 education based podcasts are foreign language instructionals, not to say they aren't interesting but it's not my thing. While the podcast is not exactly based on educating students its very informative for just curious people. Legal lad is actually a real lawyer and the information given in the brief podcast is in response to questions asked by people who listen and email in questions. This weeks question is on the possesion of handguns or mace. While I don't know how much I actually value the opinion of a lawyer who does podcasts, I do however think it is worthwhile though for broad subjects such as file sharing or what is a grand jury. The podcasts are very quick at around ten minutes a piece and has very little dead time. I think that podcasting is a great tool but I think in an educational setting you would want to have some kind of restriction on content. Itunes is a great resource but I would take the time to at least read some reviews or listen through the whole podcast before I would give it as an assignment. Podcasting would have a great benefit in my workplace in athletics because it would allow people from other schools and other conferences to share information in a clear and concise manner. The best part about that is that a person with very little technical skill can produce their own podcast.
Chapter 14 reflection
I think I might be one of the only ones who has a different point of view of the subject of HPI or human perfomance improvement. My point of view does not come as an instructor but as a coach. The example I keep coming back to is in football if your team gets loses a close game 22-21 the next week you come back to practice and you focus on why you lost the previous and not for your next opponent. The results are counter productive you must move on and keep going forward. Now you don't forget about the game completely but you have to get back to basics and why the fundamental approach you took didn't work. Maybe your pass defense wasn't as aggressive as you would have liked it to be so the next week you work on pass defense drills. Maybe your punter couldn't kick the ball to save his life so you have him punting all practice. Each one of these examples is of how the whole team was not the cause of the loss but each individual unit played a role in the process.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Week 6
Based on the reading I think that the best way I can explain to the reader my experience with internet based education. I realize i'm only touching the tip of the iceberg with this but in the fall of 1999 my high school paid for me to take an internet based class through Michigan State University. It was your basic evolution of telecommunication and communication theory class nothing special. The class had no frills other than a classroom discussion and grade program there was very little human interaction. Fast forward to today where we have a full user interface and alot more personal interaction. In the grand scheme of things it is baby steps but it is really amazing to me how far internet based education has come. It is in always changing environment, having taken my last college class in the days of Windows XP I have already fallen behind the times in the use of Windows Vista. As far as teaching goes it will take time for more teachers to be acclimated with intergrating different mediums into their lesson plans, eventually though it will become commonplace. The use of podcasts and video conferencing are becoming more commonplace in class rooms. I know some classes at WMU have started to use video podcasting for lectures so if a student had a question or missed a class they could just watch the video podcast and not have to worry about getting someone elses notes. As you can see from these examples the possibiltiies are infinite it is just going to take more administrators and teachers to put these concentrations so that all students can experience multi media learning.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Reflection
I think photo sharing could be incorporated into an educational activity by allowing the students to learn from another medium. Words can only express so much to a student. It's hard to explain the Mayan ruins but to show a student pictures is a great way of letting pictures doing the talking. Not only does a picture say a 1,000 words but it also breaks up the monotony of a student hear an instructor lecture.
The main concern with students using images is first of all copyrights law and that the student has no ownernship of those images. Then I think you would have to live in a hole not to realize how many adult websites there are on the internet and how easily students can access them. As a result of that I think any instructor has to take a hard look at an assignment where students must find any type of images.
A great benefit of image services would be reaching a wider variety of students. I know as a high school student myself as much as someone explained something to me it really didn't make sense until I saw a picture or diagram. So for a visual learner it makes learning that much easier.
I personally have never created a lesson plan so this was a little out of place for me. However, the ADDIE process really stuck with me because it can be taken out of this context and use elsewhere. Even taking it into an athletic realm that I work on ADDIE is a great tool. For example lets say the athletic department wanted to create a new regulation making it mandatory for all student athletes to take 16 credits. The first step would be A analyzing and deciding why the need for student athletes to produce more academically was needed. Then there would be a D design on how this new system would work and still allow the student athletes to have practice and travel time. Then D for develops there would need to develop new regulations on how student athletes would choose majors and minors. Then would be I the Implement process and that is when this program would be implemented and how soon it would be implemented. If the process is stopped before the implementation it would produce no results. Finally the last process would be to evaluate after the process has been implemented and that is really the best way to analyze if your process has worked.
The main concern with students using images is first of all copyrights law and that the student has no ownernship of those images. Then I think you would have to live in a hole not to realize how many adult websites there are on the internet and how easily students can access them. As a result of that I think any instructor has to take a hard look at an assignment where students must find any type of images.
A great benefit of image services would be reaching a wider variety of students. I know as a high school student myself as much as someone explained something to me it really didn't make sense until I saw a picture or diagram. So for a visual learner it makes learning that much easier.
I personally have never created a lesson plan so this was a little out of place for me. However, the ADDIE process really stuck with me because it can be taken out of this context and use elsewhere. Even taking it into an athletic realm that I work on ADDIE is a great tool. For example lets say the athletic department wanted to create a new regulation making it mandatory for all student athletes to take 16 credits. The first step would be A analyzing and deciding why the need for student athletes to produce more academically was needed. Then there would be a D design on how this new system would work and still allow the student athletes to have practice and travel time. Then D for develops there would need to develop new regulations on how student athletes would choose majors and minors. Then would be I the Implement process and that is when this program would be implemented and how soon it would be implemented. If the process is stopped before the implementation it would produce no results. Finally the last process would be to evaluate after the process has been implemented and that is really the best way to analyze if your process has worked.
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