IT Survey

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Chapter 8 in Supporting learning with Technology: Essential of Classroom Practice reminds me a lot of our course. One example of how the book reminds

me of the course is the definition of a hybrid course that is provided on page 9. The definition of a hybrid course is a combination of face to face and electric learning. This definition is exactly like our current course where we meet both face to face and online. Another example that reminds me of the course is on page 211 where they discuss asynchronous courses. The book states that in asynchronous classes the students may ask for help and feedback, post comments and website URL’s, and participate with in an analysis of the topic at hand. This statement also reminded me of our Asynchronous course that we have taken in the class. The last statement that reminded me of the course is the list that is provided under the teachers’ role on the elearning environment. On page 215 the book states that instructors should encourage elearners by addressing feedback to them by name and guide them in finding their own answers. Ms. Okeefe always provides us with detailed feedback to correct all the problems that have occurred in our work, as well as guide us to the finding a way to correct the issues.

I completely agree with the list of student benefits from elearning. I believe that in courses that require a lot of online learning students must develop a sense of flexibility and control. For example, I have to be flexible in planning what I will do on the weekends strictly based on the work that we have due every weekend. Students also have to be responsible in order to accomplish all that needs to be done in an elearning environment. In online courses there isn’t professors to stay on top of you and constantly remind you of the deadlines and due dates; therefore, students must be responsible. While I can’t connect personally with the convenience of an online course, I can understand how it can be very convenient to students. A lot of students aren’t traditional students; therefore, they have jobs, children, and houses that they have tend to, so having an online course can be much more covenant than going up to a college campus and sitting in the classroom.

I can connect to the disadvantages of elearning on page 214 as well. The third bullet states that learners who are distant from the teacher may not have access to support for technical problems. For example, in this course when we were told to post a link of our blog in the comment box on Desire2learn and I couldn’t do it for some reason that I couldn’t explain. I later on found out that it was my computer that was not allowing me to post my blog link in the comment box. If we turned our documents in on paper instead of online I wouldn’t have had this issue. Elearning can be beneficial, but also has its pros and cons. Elearning can be beneficial to the classroom and other environments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxUQsKxcOYM

The articles that were provided for last week asynchronous course on Digital storytelling were interesting and informative. All of the articles paint a perfect picture of what digital storytelling is. I found the Digital Storytelling Tips and Resources article the most helpful and beneficial. My reasoning is because it is very informative. Not only does the article give the reader an overview of what digital storytelling is on page 2, it also provides us with tips and suggestions while using digital storytelling inside the classroom on pages 6-8, and provides the reader with examples on pages that follow. I also enjoyed the article Digital Storytelling with the Ipad as well. My main reasoning for liking this article is because it is relevant. Ipad’s can be very helpful in the classroom and may one day be needed in the classroom.  In some of today’s schools Ipad are already integrated into the classroom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV8M6P9st9Q, so this article is very relevant to today learning society.

One thing that I did not quite understand in one of the articles is the challenges for students. One of the challenges listed in the article is the issue of students copyrighting information. On page 6 of the article Intro to Digital Storytelling in the Classroom the author states, one useful strategy to prevent students from copy righting is to get them to use their own content. This statement confused me because I got lost on exactly what the author suggest that the students do. If a student is preparing a digital story on a event in history and would like to include pictures of that event that they found online would that be considered copyrighting?

I’m sure that I have seen digital storytelling in some of my classes, but I may not have identified it as a digital story. Altogether, I believe that digital storytelling has it pros and cons, just like any other form of technology. Digital storytelling appears to be very helpful to the classroom in many ways, but it can also be a bit confusing. Overall, I think Digital Storytelling can be used to its advantage when it is taught and used correctly. Digital storytelling is