Thursday, December 19, 2013

Final Blog Post - Educational Technologies

www.quickanddirtytips.com

“Quick and Dirty Tips creates and distributes digital content that offers short, actionable advice from friendly and informed authorities that will help you succeed at work and in life.”
Carla McMillan posted this website back in the early weeks of our class and I haven’t had much time to look at it until this week and I have to say I really like it! I chose this site because of the business and career tab that it features and the information that is provided. There is a plethora of ideas and advice that will be great for my business students. Just a few of the stories that I looked through are: How to write a great resume, office etiquette, email etiquette, public speaking, ways to succeed in sales, how to be the office newbie, and how to prioritize. This is just a small sample of the information available in the careers section. There are also sections on small business, legal, communication, networking and public speaking.
I would definitely incorporate this site into my classroom. Students could take to looking up two or three items every week that interested them or that pertained to the topic that was being studied and reporting about what they learned from each section. I would also use it from the educator’s point of view and choose my own topics from the site and use those topics for group work in the classroom.

www.blogspot.com

I believe it was David Dodd that chose the blog as an emerging technology. Others might have also but David’s post is the one that I remember seeing. A blog as we have all learned this last eight weeks is like having our own personal chalkboards where we can post information that is relevant to the work we are doing in class. When I first started this class I can honestly say that I may have read a blog, but if I did, it certainly wasn’t because I was looking for one. I have to say, that once I figured out why I was having so much trouble with my blog and posting to it, (and I will never tell because it is too stupid to even admit to), that I love the blog idea! I actually can’t wait to have students of my own because I want to give them a blog assignment. I think it is a creative way to speak about important topics in class. I also want my students to create a page that reflects their ideas and personalities. My idea for the use of a blog would be to have my students create a business plan by sections (similar to the way we did our emerging technologies grant proposal) and post their sections to their blog for review by their colleagues. I would use it somewhat like a discussion board and ask my students to comment on each other’s blogs with helpful ideas and constructive criticism. In addition to the students using their blogs for business plans, I would use a blog also to post helpful tips, ideas, links, resources, and class announcements.

www.symbaloo.com

Symbaloo was introduced to us by Terri Hock. Thank you Terri for giving me one more small glimmer of hope that I can organize my online life! Symbaloo is a fancier more colorful version of www.delicious.com. Symbaloo is a website that allows the user to make a compilation of the websites they use the most or just websites that they have a use for. It has a home page that consists of the user’s Webmix. “A webmix is a compilation of tiles. Here you can search for webmixes created by others, or add an empty webmix to start building one of your own.” In the center of the webmix is a google search area. I chose this site because I love the way it is set up and I believe it is a great way for the typically run-ragged college student to organize their thoughts and information sources. The really nice part about this site is that you can share your webmixes with other people. So, as an educator, I could set up a webmix collage for my students with all of the relevant websites they will want and/or need to use for class. I can also add pages to it that are discovered throughout the semester. I think I would use Symbaloo in a similar manner as I would use the blog but I would have my students use this site a little more liberally than the blog site and allow them to use it for a personal outlet also. By sharing their webmixes with each other, students could get a glimpse of each other’s personalities and share their interests with each other.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Digital Citizenship



Digital Citizenship


Tech Check is a resource website that is intended to help educators integrate technology into their classrooms.  On the left hand side of the website there is a long list of topics that educators can click on to find numerous web links, activities, articles, quizzes, etc.  The reason I chose this site was due to the vast amount of information.  There are specific links for digital ethics, Internet basics & safety, information literacy, and online tools.  Within each of these topics there are several subtopics that allow the educator to venture out to different helpful tools to enable them to better teach their students about proper online use.  For example, if you click on digital ethics, there you will see links for netiquette, blog and wiki info, copyright, email etiquette, activities and lessons for students, social networking and plagiarism.  Each of these subtopics has links for several different references that are suitable for all different age groups. 

I think it is important, no matter what age group you are teaching, to make sure they have at least a basic understanding of how the internet works and what kind of do’s and don’ts apply in different areas like email, online shopping, social media, literary references, etc. It is especially important in adult education because there is a good chance that you may get an older student in your class that is possibly information illiterate.  If so, a good place to start would be the link to 21st Century Learning and/or Internet Basics & Safety.  Both of these links include the basics of the internet and how to navigate and participate safely.  I would use both of these links in my class and have my students work through the different subtopics gathering information.  Another link that I thought would fun and informational is under the Digital Ethics section.  There is a jeopardy-like game that students can play and another section called That’s Not Cool.  Although the content is a little high-schoolish for adults, the message is clearly stated and important to learn no matter what age you are and would also be helpful for parents of school age children.



From the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, comes a group of professors, researchers, research assistants, and interns that have put together a project webpage called New Media Literacies: Learning in a participatory culture.  The website includes resources for educators to use in order to teach students about the online world.  The link above is for a resource on the website called Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World.  Our Space is a collaboration of The GoodPlay Project and Project New Media Literacies. This is an exert from the introduction of the casebook: 

            “Our Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments. Through role-playing activities and reflective exercises, students are asked to consider the ethical responsibilities of other people, and whether and how they behave ethically themselves online. These issues are raised in relation to five core themes that are highly relevant online: identityprivacyauthorship and ownershipcredibility, and participation… Our Space was co-developed by Project New Media Literacies (established at MIT and now housed at University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism) and The GoodPlay Project (Harvard Graduate School of Education). The Our Space collaboration grew out of a shared interest in fostering ethical thinking, and conduct, among young people when they exercise their new media skills (New Media Literacies Research Group, 2013).”

Again, although this website says it is geared towards high school students, I feel that it is just as applicable to adult students.  In each section there is an overview of the section and learning objectives stating what students should learn after completing each section. Then it gives lesson instructions for the educator about how to teach each section. They touch on a lot of great subjects and truthfully there were quite a few things on there that I have never heard of or heard anyone speak about.  For example, I had no idea what a “flamer” was.  Come to find out, a flamer is “a person who gets into arguments and, instead of having a reasonable discussion, insults people or states his/her opinion in very blunt or insensitive ways.”  Really?  I always just thought that was an idiot or a jerk!  Who knew they had an official online title?  Not me!  Needless to say, there are 474 pages of great information and I would greatly encourage my students and even fellow educators to take a look at this casebook and see what kind of information they can learn from it.  I have put the link in my delicious.com account for later review because I know there are things in there that I need to learn. 


New Media Literacies Research Group (2013). Our space: Being a responsible citizen of the digital world.  Retrieved from http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/our-space-being-a-responsible-citizen-of-the-digital-world/

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Open and Distance Learning




The description from their website states, “Academy Bridge has thousands of learning modules covering all business subjects.  The content originates from leading business schools, universities, and corporations.  Everyone can benefit from this free on-line educational resource.” 

The reason I chose this site is because I was very impressed with the amount of information that is provided and the number of subjects it covers.  The information is relayed to the learner through video and each video is equipped with a comment section below it where students can engage in discussions about each topic.  There are also different levels of information.  The site suggests that students start with the 24 hour business school and then move to the next level.  Here is the information from the site on each level:


24h Business School  In 24 hours of viewing the Academy Bridge user community can get all the information needed to begin their business education. Most content items are 5 minutes long. All important business topics are covered. When viewing the 24h Business School content, it is recommend that you watch videos in the order they are presented. Bringing your cursor over individual video titles allows you to see the content of that video (pop-up box).
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf


Academy Welcome to the Academy. A large share of Academy content originates from the world’s leading business schools. The depth and detail of content goes beyond just delivering quality information. The Academy supports knowledge accumulation. Knowledge is the last step before achieving mastery (Master Class). The Academy will require from you much more perspiration in comparison to 24h Business School. “Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration” ~Thomas Edison (Thinkexist.com).
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf


‘Understanding business’ was the goal when designing Master Class. Depth and detail are provided primarily in a lecture format. Master Class content originates mostly from the world’s leading business schools and Universities. Master Class course quality is enhanced through the use of virtual textbooks. The majority of content in Master Class is in the form of academic lectures, however, because we have not identified lecture series for every topic you will occasionally be viewing a compilation of videos within a section (Social issues).
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf


The main driver of economic growth and jobs in our world is the small business sector. Small Business Academy is a resource to support small business growth and internationalization. The personal development of current and future small business owners will benefit the world.
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.gPuh7Yw3.dpuf


In each section there is literally hundreds of videos that cover the following subjects:  sustainability/responsibility, innovation, marketing, economics, finance/accounting, organization/ethics, leadership/management, entrepreneurship, international business, strategy, technology, law, business history and biographies.  Students can choose to view any section or all sections depending on what they would like to focus on. 

In addition to the educational videos, the site also has two more sections called my development and food for thought.



My Development is the ‘coach’ for all Academy Bridge community members. Self-improvement and the realization of each community member’s dreams is the ultimate goal. However, My Development also recognizes everyone’s duty to support the development of others.
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.heO70HSS.dpuf




All Academy Bridge community members can benefit from ‘out of the box thinking’. Food for Thought provides the mental stimulus to look beyond a problem or challenge and discover new meaning. Food for Thought also reminds us of our obligations to others.
Read More >>
- See more at: http://www.academybridge.com/department/#sthash.heO70HSS.dpuf

This site has literally covered all aspects of the business world.  As an educator, I would definitely use this site as an enhancement to the subject matter I am using in class.  The videos can be used to help students get a deeper understanding of the business world that may not be covered in textbooks.  Also, I would have my students use the my development and food for thought sections to explore topics that they may have never thought related to the business world but actually do.  These videos would be a great addition to the classroom and could easily be used to for group discussions or journal entries. 





This link actually connects to a blog written by Christopher Pappas.  The reason I chose it is because Christopher has written this particular blog about free educational technologies for teachers.  I liked it because he has listed 8 different links that connect to www.eLearningindustry.com. These links include guides for teachers and how they can effectively use Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, gamification, keeping students safe online, Flipped Classroom, blogs and Wiki.  The guides are very helpful and show teachers how they can use each of these ideas in their classroom. 

Considering that I plan to teach online courses, I think these guides will be a great addition to my classroom.  My grant project focus has been on gamification, so I would definitely use the gamification guide to help come up with different gaming ideas for my students.  In addition, I would like to incorporate the use of Twitter and Facebook as means of enhancing the distance learning aspect of my classroom.  The Twitter guide alone includes 15 different ways to use Twitter in the classroom as well as 17 videos on how teachers can use Twitter.   These 8 links along with the various other tools on elearningindustry.com have great potential for helping teachers enhance adult learning. 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Virtual Environments for Learning


Gazillionaire is a cross between business strategy and Wall Street in wonderland. It's a wild game of buying low & selling high. You'll run your own company, trade exotic goods, get rich, and expand your empire.”  I chose this game because it is a fun way for business students to learn the basic business skills needed to buy and sell commodities.  Players create a company, buy a vehicle and then stock their vehicle with the products that they buy.  Then they research different planets and find out where their products will sell the best based on the availability of that product on different planets.  Then they fly to each planets to sell their products.  The demand of the product on the planet determines the price that it will sell for.  It is a simple case of supply and demand. 
I like this game because it is able to be played alone or with multiple players.  Students can practice their business skill alone or they can play it with fellow students in the classroom.  The business building skills that can be learned would be a great advantage to beginning business students that are looking to advance their knowledge of base level business practices.  I would definitely use this game in the classroom and would have my students journal their progress each time they participated in the game. 


“Business Tycoon Online (BTO) is one of the most favorable browser games from Asia. It reached 1 million concurrent online players in Asia and became famous among all the MMO browser games. Player who starts from scratch will act as an entrepreneur to fight in Liberty City. Through hard work, he will constantly expand his business territory and raise social status until he becomes a prominent socialite.”  I chose this game because of the detail that it displays to the player as they set up their own business.  Once they choose the type of business they want to run, they get to go to a particular section of town and decide where they want their business to be located.  The player is able to look at other businesses in the area and see where they think their business will do best. 
This game stood out to me because there is a history behind the game.  The designers actually wrote a background for the game so the player feels like they are delving into a real life story.  I also liked the game because it enables the player to pick the gender of their player.  I think it shows positive encouragement to young female entrepreneurs.  It encourages females to learn the world of business which I feel is very important.  Many young females lack the confidence needed to jump into the business world and I feel like Business Tycoon would be a great addition to my classroom.  The student not only gets to pick their business but they also get to pick their own secretary and employees.  Each secretary has their own profile and they each come with their own attributes that can help their “boss” better develop their company.  Each potential employee also has their own profile and the player can pick what type of employee they wish to have work for their company.  I think this game would be a wonderful addition to the classroom because it strongly resembles real like business and the students get to emulate real business owner.  It would be a perfect game for mid to advanced level business students.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Mobile Technology

Educational Technologies Blog



The iPad is a tablet style computer that can connect to the Internet through wifi or a cellular type connection.  I have chosen the iPad as a mobile learning technology because I use the iMac at work, I have an iPhone and I also have an iPad Mini.  With these devices you are able to use iCloud so you can access items from one device to the other.  If you have pictures on your iPhone you can get them on your iPad using iCloud.  I also have a Samsung Galaxy tablet and use Windows 8 on my home laptop.  I am still trying to get used the Windows 8 because I find it somewhat confusing.  Therefore, my choice for mobile learning is the iPad.  With that being said, I have chosen two websites that I would integrate into my classroom that I believe could enhance adult learning.


“Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers by engaging their classrooms with a series of educational exercises and games.”  I chose this site because it is an interactive way for teachers to quiz students and for students to get immediate results.  Socrative allows teachers to design their own quizzes or to import quizzes from other locations. Students then join the class by entering the teacher’s classroom number and the students use their smart phone or tablet in order to take the quiz.  The results are tallied and appear on the teacher site as an excel file.   Socrative also includes a game called Space Race.  Teams of students compete against each other as they answer questions to see who can complete the race first.   Another feature on the site is called exit tickets.  This is a way to check your student’s grasp of the subject matter that you worked on throughout the class.  Each day the teacher can set up a scheduled exit ticket, for example, to be available the last 5 minutes of class.  Before the students leave they fill out a ticket on their mobile device that answers, “Today I learned… and Tomorrow, I need….”  The responses from the students are again put together in a report for the teacher’s review.  I think this is an excellent way to get quick feedback from your students and really find out what they are taking away from class each day.  It is also a good way for the students to relay what they may be struggling with and what items they need help with or maybe just further explanation.            As an educator, I would use this entire site.  I think every feature could be useful and I love the idea of group work playing Space Race.


“Educreations is a global community where anyone can teach what they know and learn what they don't.”  I love this website!  I think this is the neatest idea and what a fun way to teach and to learn!!  Teachers can create lessons and their students can play them on their Mac or PC or on the Educreation App on their iPad.   I think this is a wonderful idea for distance learning.  Teachers are able to record their lectures as well as use the whiteboard.   
I think the best part about this site is that if educators use it for their students, the students can go back at anytime and replay the lesson.  I know everyone has probably had a class where they were taking notes and trying to follow the lecture and either forgot to write something down or wrote something down and don’t remember what it means or why it was relevant.  Through this website, all those types of problems could be solved. In addition, there are lessons on the site on a variety of subjects for students to browse.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Another Link

Helpful links for teachers:

http://www.coolcatteacher.com/dropbox-organization-teachers/#menu

Week 3 Assign 1

Educational Technologies Blog


Facebook is a social networking site where people go to connect with friends, family, co-workers, and fellow students.  I am a firm believer in the world of Facebook and what it has to offer.  I use it every day to stay in touch with my friends.  The reason I chose Facebook is because I believe it is very easy to use and I have witnessed the learning power that is available on the site.  Facebook enables people to connect with each other on many different levels.  There are personal pages as well as the ability to create pages for businesses and groups.  One way I would use Facebook for educational purposes is for a group setting much like the online blackboard in our class.  You can create a private group page that can be used for a classroom and no one can participate in it other than those in the class.  There, students would use the page to share class material and ask questions.  It is a way for students that only meet in class once or twice a week to connect with each other outside of the classroom.  In addition, students could share announcements, links, ideas, thoughts, pictures, etc. with the members of their class and myself.


Twitter is also a social networking site where people go to connect with friends, family, co-workers, and fellow students.  However, the difference between Facebook and Twitter is that Twitter allows people to connect beyond their own social circle.  Twitter is a more extended networking site where people can actually connect with celebrities, sports stars, musicians, and other famous people.  In addition, the way people communicate on Twitter is much more open.  You can view other people’s pages more openly and do not have to “friend” someone in order to see their page.  One way I would use Twitter would be to have my students explore Twitter and see what kind of subjects they can find tweets about and use that information to write reports about their Twitter experiences.   Through the search function it is very easy to search for different interests and get other people’s thoughts and opinions.  We know that wisdom is gained through life experiences and Twitter is a great way to expand one’s knowledge. 
I chose Facebook and Twitter because of the numerous possibilities they offer for reaching out beyond our normal everyday lives and interacting with people that we normally would not speak to face to face or by phone.  I can honestly say that I enjoy using social media and it has helped me connect with old classmates, old friends and distant relatives.  I believe that learning through others is a very important aspect of lifelong learning.  There is always someone out there that is smarter than myself and if that person shares their knowledge on social media, I am able to collect and store that knowledge for my own personal growth.  I enjoy the news and political views that are shared as well as personal stories from other people’s lives.  These are all things that I would like my students to experience also. 
Teaching business classes is the goal that I am working towards.  Both Facebook and Twitter offer special site features for business advertising.  I think this is an important feature that I would bring into my classroom and share with my students.  As a business person, anytime you can get free advertising for your business you have to take advantage of it.  Social media is one of the best ways to get your products in front of several people with just the click of the mouse and you can do that without even setting up a special page.  All you have to do is post it on your Facebook wall or tweet about it on Twitter.  With so many more people using social media instead of print news, taking advantage of these free sites is one of the best ways to spread the word.