Week 1

Greetings all,


My name is Chris Fisher and I am in the process of finishing my Masters in Instructional Technology and earn an Elearning certificate. After learning about the Elearning certificate, I realized that this is the future of technology. I am a Middle School technology teacher and I realized long ago that I need to stay current with the new technologies because it is the way to engage my students and try to keep them current. I have many students who believe that using the computers involves myspace and searching for music and youtube. There is so much more out there and I want to show them what is also out there. My class is mostly set up with the students completing projects independently by reading directions on web pages. This has worked well in the past but now I realize students need to learn how to be more self motivated and be willing to complete more assignments outside the traditional classroom.

My previous experience with online classes has been varied. I was in the program 10 years ago and we created an online class using webct. I found it to be difficult to create projects and the software wasn’t there to help. I have also helped with an online class for the JASON Project but it was mostly helping with the discussion board and it was not that rewarding. This is my third term coming back to the ETEC program and all of my classes have been pretty much on line. I have created blogs that have been posted and responded to. I have participated in discussion boards. Skype was a great resource because I was able to interact with the different students and discuss different topics. Last term I created a Moodle class for my students and tested it the first 3 weeks of this trimester. That was a great experience. Now I am ready to learn more.

Interactions:

Learner-Content:

Connecting with the content is always a challenge. This class has a textbook so that will be interesting to see how the text written in 2005 will interact with the technology of today. I understand that the methods are the same but the technology has driven many of the changes on how things are done. I like the format of podcasts and transcripts as well as questions put forth by the instructor. The use of blogs is very important because it gives me a chance to reflect on what is being said. I do like discussions with other students and instructors about the content. The use of videos has been great resource to share the content. I have been researching a lot of information on youtube when I need some help with the content or computer software. I have also used Twitter to discuss ideas about content with different people.

Learner-Instructor:

Discussions with the instructor are very important. I know when I did the Moodle class with my students I focused on how I would like to interact with the students and respond to their needs. I liked the format of podcasts because they had the chance to hear my voice and relate to me. I used blogs with my students and had them post their assignments on Moodle to be graded and I could post comments. Even though we were in the same class, I had them participate in chats. I told them I was not in the class and the only way they could communicate with me was through email or using the chat. That was powerful for me because I could see how the use of words needed to be focused to relay their message to me and I had to answer it concisely to help them.

I am looking forward to talkshoe because I know I have used Skype and that helped because we were able to ask questions and discuss.

Learner-Learner:

I think learner-learner interaction is important to help us learn and discuss what is being shown. I have responded to blogs and discussion boards. I like the format of Skype with the chats and discussions. Last month I started using Twitter and have been interacting with many of the people that I met at a conference. Twitter allows me to ask questions and see what other people are thinking and sharing different links. I have also signed up for several Ning groups and trying to figure out how that works. It is exciting to interact with other educators and see what other people are dealing with and researching.