Wk4 Wimba

In listening to this week's Wimba archive, I realized that I had been selecting learning management systems for use in my classroom without even realizing that was what they were. While doing my action research project, I used Edmodo to create an online book club for my class. This site had only a few simple features, but it was a nice way to introduce my kids to online learning. They were able to post links and comments and respond to comments by others, turn in online assignments, and answer poll questions I made up, but it was very limited (kids could not send messages directly to one another to prevent cyber-bullying) and I felt it was appropriate and safe for my fifth graders. I chose Edmodo over Ning because Edmodo is add free and I wanted my kids to focus on group discussions rather than direct messages. For my current position, my school wants the kids to have e-mail and blogs and has elected to use gmail which I am not really comfortable with. I don't feel it has all of the options and safety features that I think are necessary when dealing with young students (I work with sixth graders now) and I have been trying to persuade them to use Gaggle. I have also heard of Schoology and after the discussion, I think this would be worth exploring.

Comments to Rebecca

From Rebecca, "I had a great time working with UDUTU and thoroughly enjoyed my experience. My lesson is very basic because I am new to the program and haven’t had the opportunity to discover it as much as I would like. I kept it simple by using images as opposed to videos, but I am going to play with it more and learn how to import videos. From past Wimba sessions, I have discovered that many people had problems embedding videos so I was fearful to use them on my first project. Due to the fact that I kept my project simple, I didn’t encounter any problems. I downloaded and read the pdf and everything else seemed self explanatory, which is a lot coming from me because I am not tech savvy in any way.

I can definitely see myself using UDUTU in the future and I am excited about discovering everything it has to offer. I am so thankful for this class and this experience as learning how to use this tool is what I have been hoping to get out of this class. We used ning in a past class, but it was too complicated for me. I don’t have that problem with UDUTU, it is very user friendly."

Rebecca, I really liked your course. There was a lot of good information that I can even apply to my own life. Thanks for the info. My only suggestion would be to make the font bigger and easier to see, and divide the text into smaller chunks to make it easier on the eyes. Otherwise, great job! I am now considering getting a wireless card so I can access the Internet when I visit my parents (who only have dial-up.) Thanks again.

Comments to Amanda

From Amanda, "OK so my Udutu is ready to be looked at...I would like to do more to this and actually have my students use this. I like the features, once I got use to them.
I took the video that I made in our music class and cut it up to use as an intro for each section. I hope it is okay that I edited and recycled some of my previous work.

On facebook it seems to still be loading, the name of the course is Geometry.

This is another location where it can be previewed.
http://publish.myudutu.com/published/launcheval/20330/Course36274/Launch.html"

Amanda, I liked your videos (especially your pi t-shirt) and the catchy music. They make the lesson feel fun and lighthearted. I also like the clear visuals of the triangles. My suggestion would be to break down the steps to solving the problems even further, and adding a screen for each small step, that way the students could go back and repeat the steps with other problems (on paper?) if needed. Nice job!

Comments to Kenya

From Kenya, "My Udutu project is for my recipe, Kickin' Bleu Cheese Burgers.

The URL for the project is: http://publish.myudutu.com/published/launcheval/20429/Course36319/Launch.html

Enjoy!!"

Kenya, I really liked the visuals and color in your lesson. It really made the lesson pop more than a traditional recipe. My only suggestion would be that since you are using video, why not have video of someone actually preparing the burger instead of just still images? Going step by step through the process and being able to watch and rewind someone shape the burger and add the cheese would be helpful.

Wk4 Project: Future Report

Wk 4 Udutu Project

Energy Resolvers Course

This project was created to give students and introduction into energy conservation and reducing their carbon footprint. While I was creating the Udutu unit, I was frustrated at first and gave up several times. Then all of a sudden, after sleeping on it and starting in again with fresh eyes, it all became clear. Udutu was actually pretty easy to use and I wanted to create more and more content but had to force myself to stop because of time constraints. I look forward to creating more content with Udutu in the future, possibly for my classes in the fall.

Wk3 Wimba

Clark Aldrich - Simulations and the Future of E-Learning

I recently started a job in which I will be teaching sixth graders to develop their own educational computer games. We just finished a three week summer institute - an introduction to the course (which was difficult to teach since I haven't taken the training on the curriculum I will be teaching) so my main focus was teaching the kids why games are important and why it is important for them to learn. They seemed to grasp this concept a lot easier than adults do. Duh, games are fun. Why then, do educators have such a hard time grasping this concept? Fortunately, many educators now seem to realize how important games are in education. I did some research and found an article exploring reasons why animals love to play. It seemed so obvious. They play so they can learn skills that will be important in their adult lives, they play to exercise their muscles and to test their limits. Smarter animals spend more time playing (Braaf, 2003) - since humans are the smartest animal, their need to play far exceeds that of other animals.

I really made the connection from this article to Clark Aldrich's presentation because when he was talking about simulation games, it was mentioned that in a simulation you are free to make errors that you may not want to try in the real world. This seems to be the key to using simulations in education: preparing learners for dangerous situations in a safe environment. Some situations may just be emotionally dangerous, but they do help students understand the ramifications of their choices. For example, a driving simulation in which your reactions are delayed to simulate intoxication can hammer home the message not to drink and drive much better than simply memorizing a booklet full of driving rules and taking a multiple choice test. I can see how this type of simulation would add conviction to compliance.

Resources

Braaf, E. (2003) Why animals love to play. Home and Garden Publications. Retrieved June 26, 2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4128/is_200311/ai_n9307508/