Week 9 Assignment #1

The article on "The impact of using blogs on college students

reading comprehension and learning motivation"

was very interesting and surprising to me. I would have

thought that using blogs would have more impact on improving

reading skills, reading performance and motivation but it did not.

It did however, affect the retention rate of students withdrawing

during the semester.  Less students withdrew from the class and

the instructors believed that this was because the interaction

among students in the blogging groups was much greater than

in the control group. It was interesting to see that students who

did not feel comfortable expressing their opinions in class tended

to discuss more controversial issues on blogs and in the classroom.

So the blogs became an equalizer enabling all kinds of students to

express comprehension and share their opinions outside of the in

class discussions. The blogging students would also use blogs to

explore conversation topics that were of concern. It helped some

students with assignments, school learning, life as a college student

and friendship and family issues. I feel like this enhancement and

interaction is something that not only pertains to college students

but even younger grades as well.  When I was younger, I was always

afraid to ask questions, so I believe blogging would have been a

great benefit. For me, the important thing to take away from this

article is how teachers perceived the blog and were not really ready

to embrace everything that the technology had to offer. Professional

development is definitely needed to help integrate technology into

the college context and college teachers need to have the

technology skills and pedagogical training that is necessary. It would

also be interesting to redo this study in about 5 to 10 years to see if

using blogs has increased in the college classroom and what the

outcome on students will be. 

Digital Story Project and Voice Thread Assignment

Here is the link to my voice thread assignment.

Here is the Youtube link to my Digital Story Project

UDL Book Builder Project

Here is the Link to my UDL Book Builder Project

Week 7 Assignment #2

Second Life

Teaching ELA with multi-modalities

Many teachers have students Talk about their Learning:
For example: Think-Pair-Share. When students talk and use
their own language to make sense of learning, they are
incorporating new information into prior knowledge.

Some teachers have the students Create Visual
Representations: Students are asked to create a mural of a
chapter they've read. This strategy for creating and using visual
representations assists students in synthesizing new information
in a meaningful way.

Write in Many Modes: Ask students to keep reader response

journals or blogs online.

Week 7 Assignment #1

Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education

Literacy instruction has changed due to multimodal texts and tools.  This article
implies that teachers need to take on a new role in the classroom.  Visual
images and texts in books have changed the way that teachers practice their
literacy curriculum.  Teachers need to manage the print resources, help
construct knowledge, and provide meaningful feedback to the student.  It is
all beneficial to the students of course, because it gives them more
opportunities to explore, make meaning, and be imaginative. When students
engage in multimodal experiences in the classroom, they become critically
oriented to the evolving digital media and multimodal forms. When teachers
use open-ended activities in response to multimodal text, they are creating
a world for students that will help them honor linguistic and cultural differences
amongst the students in the classroom. Students will become more imaginative
in the classroom, construct knowledge jointly through conversation, collaborate
better, and become better designers. All of these social activities have a positive
benefit for students in classrooms today. 

Second Life in the Classroom

I think the concept of using Second Life in the classroom is beneficial

because it will allow better collaboration and it is more authentic. Since

SL resembles the real world, instructors can design more authentic activities

and the learners can explore better, solve problems, derive meaning, and

collaborate with other learners in a better way.  I think a big challenge with

using this concept will be that the users have to have the proper equipment. 

In many cases students are taking online classes because of budgetary

reasons and if they cannot afford the equipment for an SL class, then this

type of learning becomes a challenge.  Also, this is a very new concept that

has to be accomplished with caution and some expertise. The instructors 

really need to know how to design an SSL virtual environment that would 

ensure that a student is learning. So, the knowledge of the instructor is 

important and that instructor needs to realize what this type of virtual 

environment means to the student. I don't believe that every single type of 

online class would benefit from an SL activity. Additional research needs to 

go in to successfully designing an SL class and how can be implemented

effectively. 

Week 6 Assignment #2.2 Edmodo

EDMODO  Class Code: ztt4s8

Edmodo

Managing Members: Edmodo allows teachers the ability to manage members of their groups
and monitor group membership. Click on “Manage” in the Members section on the right-side
of your group page. You will see all members who have joined your group. You can manage
members individually or as a group.  You can change member passwords, view the member
parent code, award the member a badge and/or remove member from your group. You can
set individual or all members to have different access levels (read-only or contributor).You can
access the Parent Code Spreadsheet to see all of the parent codes associated with members
of your group.You can see members who have recently joined your group.  You can create a small
group within your group..

Group Settings: Allows you to: Edit the Group Name,

Default all new members to “read-only”- Selecting this option means that new members will not
be able to post to the entire group, they can only post messages directly to the group owner/teacher.  

Moderate all Posts and Replies- Selecting this option requires the group owner to approve all posts
and replies made by group members before they can be published to the group stream. 

Edit the Grade/Range 

Edit the Subject Area 

Archive/Delete Group- At the end of the class, semester or year, you may want to archive your
groups

Postings:

Teachers can choose to post a note, alert, assignment, quiz or poll by clicking on the corresponding
link in the post section. For notes and assignments, you can attach files and links from your computer
or Edmodo library.

To Post Content: 1. Choose the type of posting you wish to post (the default post setting is “Note”).
2. Type your post in the post box and attach file(s)/website(s) if you want. 3. Type the name of a
student, teacher, or group(s) into the “Send to” box. (Edmodo will provide auto-suggestions as you
begin to type based on the groups you belong to).

Multi-Group Posting Edmodo allows you to post to multiple groups at the same time.

Reply to Posts To reply to a post, select the “reply” link located below the post. A text box will appear
where you can type in your reply, then select the reply button when you are ready to post it. The reply
message will appear below the original post.

 Sending Messages to Parents Teachers can send messages to parents by typing the note into the
post box and in the “Sent To” box, either type the parent’s names OR type the name of the group
and select the Parents option from the auto-fill suggestions. 

Posting Assignments: To post an assignment: 1. Select the “assignment” link located above the post
box. 2. The post box will change to allow you to fill out the details of the assignment, including: 
Assignment title, Description of assignment, Due date (set by clicking on the calendar icon),
Attachments (files, links or library items that supplement the assignment)  

3. Once the details are complete, enter the name of the group or group members who should
receive the assignment in the “send to” field and select “send”. 4. Once an assignment has been
posted, students can use the “Turn in” button located next to the due date to submit their assignment. 

5. Once the “turn in” button has been selected, students can attach their homework and provide
a comment/message with it. 

6. You can see how many students have turned in that particular assignment by looking at the
“Turned in” button located on the assignment post. You will also receive an alert in your notifications
section any time a student turns in their assignment.

7. By clicking on “Turned in” teachers can view a list of all submissions.

Calendar:

Share events, announcements, assignments and reminders with your groups or individual members
with the Edmodo calendar. To view your calendar, select the “Calendar” link from the top navigation
bar in your Edmodo account. 

Create an Event To create an event, select a date from the calendar. A pop up box will appear where
you can add a description of the event, change the date (or add a date range) and select who you
want to send it to. You can send events to yourself, an individual, or any of your groups. By sending
the event to them, the recipient will be able to view the event in their calendar.

Remove an Event To remove/delete an event you’ve created, click on the event and select the delete
link within the event post. (Note: You cannot edit calendar events once they have been created. You
would have to delete the event and then re-create it.)

Library:

The Edmodo Library allows teachers to store and manage files and links in a wide range of file
formats, with the ability to access these files anywhere and share them with group members. 
Add Content: You can add any type of file (photo, video, document, etc.), in any format, or add
web links to your library. Create Folders: To help stay organized, you can place your library content
into folders. You can organize and share folders.

Using Edmodo for ELA Instruction:

 I believe teachers can use Edmodo for ELA instruction in Writing. Teachers can use it to model
good writing, demonstrate skills, and monitor a student’s progress.  A teacher can show a student
how to plan their writing using Edmodo and folders that they can create. Inside the folders, there
can be storyboards and graphic organizers that the student can choose. There can also be
folders with good writing examples for the students to look at. Next, a teacher can then model or
provide examples in Edmodo of “drafting’ their writing.  The teacher can revise the assignments
and provide feedback through Edmodo. After editing, students can share their group work using
Edmodo and revise as needed. Teachers can also post youtube videos and helpful hints to help
the students with their writing and revisions along the way.

Week 6 Assignment 2.1 Reader Response

Reader Response on Social Networking

The use of social networking sites is very important and worthwhile for introduction

to today's classroom and learners because the features of these sites enable social
communication and help motivate students throughout the learning process. 

Students opinions and thoughts can be shared with teachers and peers. In the study

of the photosynthesis lab, the social networking site allows students to observe each

other's projects and provide meaningful feedback. This helps the students to develop

a new perspective on scientific ideas and extend their learning beyond the confines 

of school and continue discussion outside of the classroom.

The design and choice of using a social networking site needs to fit in with the lesson

planned by the teacher and provide the right amount of exchange of information,
communication, and monitoring between students and teacher.   One of the sites

mentioned Edmodo allows students to send direct messages to their teacher which

can then be viewed by the teacher and also allows parents to be involved in their

child's learning process.  Parents can view any correspondence submitted by and 

communicated to their child.

Another advantage of using various ICTs is the powerful functions they provide, many

of them are free, and because they are considered cloud computing are easily 

accessible anytime and anywhere. Being able to collect and share digital resources is

a powerful strength of social networking sites.   Teachers have now begun to flip 

classroom instruction to the home where students can view videos online outside of

class.  This makes it possible for teachers to differentiate teaching for students who 

have diverse learning needs and they can repeat the video instruction outside of the 

classroom.

In addition, social networking sites offer all students equal opportunity to ask questions 

and share learning experiences. Social sites have advantages because of their

versatility. They can be used to modify assignment instructions, remind students about
important events, or express thoughts that they may not have had time for in class. 

These sites offer an abundance of features that will capture students attention, facilitate
instruction, assignment submissions, and provide a real-time gauge for parents and
administrators of students progress. 

 The results of the study were very positive, the teacher was able to understand 

students working in different ways beyond the classroom environment. Students used

 the social networking site to share ideas, collaborate, support, and share investigation. 

They were able to start conversation among classmates and address each other's 

questions. It allowed the students to develop and evaluate explanations that they may 

not have been able to do on their own.  The social networking sites allow the students to 

use multimedia resources and ICTs to demonstrate their scientific inquiry. Their work

can be posted, viewed, evaluated, graded and archived.  It was a very positive study

with good outcomes and did not limit the students form of expression.

Week 5 Assignment #3

Link to Video Game Scenario

Week 5 Assignment #2

Gaming and Game Design Philosophy

I believe as a teacher, that using games in the classroom is very important 

and can help to develop many skills for students.  Game playing and game 

design helps with critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and good

 sportsmanship.  Students learn a process by playing games with others and 

how to communicate rules to each other.  While practicing or playing a game, 

students are picking up important and new vocabulary.   Some games increase 

a student's creativity, and can increase their attention span. From the teacher's

 point of view, it is a great way to teach students how to collaborate, work

 together, and is a good way to introduce them to project-based learning and

 problem solving.    A teacher can introduce a lot of content and curriculum 

through games and reinforce previously taught lessons. From the students 

point of view, students are learning skills while playing games that are going to 

help them for college and the workforce.   Students are developing a variety of 

connections that will stand out in their memories and at the same time they are

 learning vocabulary and structures. Games also provide a variety of sensory

 experiences for students.  For many reasons, I believe that using games and game

 design in the classroom is a plus for both students and teachers. 

Week 4 Assignment #3

Literacy Video Lesson