e portfolio for final for ecomp 6201

1. ECOMP 6201 Jan-Feb 11 Cindy Turner Kansas City, MO

2. Scenario In today’s teaching environment where the test seems to rule what is taught in the classroom the first things that goes is social studies and science. I want to provide social studies and science enrichment classes. My target audience will be intermediate elementary to middle school (3-8 grade). I currently serve in a title one situation and foresee this being my target audience. Low-income students and home school students who need this additional exposure to science and social studies that is not supported at home. With my target audience being low-income families access to technology will be difficult so I will offer a module type curriculum that allows students to finish the projects in a longer time span. Where possible I will have students use the library and their school computer lab where possible. I will offer this class to anyone in the United States. For my eportfolio I am going to use the science scenario.

3. Wordle My Results Cindy Wordle Sarah Brown Wordle How I would use it… I will defiantly use Wordle in my ecourse. We will use it as a get to know you activity and a review technique. We will use it like a mind map at the end of our concepts to better identify vocabulary used in science. Students will save each of these to add to their science journals that will be finished at the end of the course. Wordles are a great way to get students to use their classification and synthesis skills by allowing them to manufacture the information from what they have learned.

4. SORT Assessment How I would use it… My Results This assignment was a good one for those just starting an online program. It gives students/adults a better of idea of what is needed in order to be successful in an online situation. I will need to find one that is appropriate for elementary age students, but the SORT is a great way for parents to know how to better support their students as they take on my course. My SORT Results Profile A: You appear to have strong reasons for taking a course; therefore, you are more likely to stay focused and motivated, even when the course is difficult. Profile B: You have some of the lifestyle and environment characteristics commonly associated with success in distance learning; however, you should explore ways in which you can optimize your chances for success. Profile A: It appears that you have good skills for reading complex materials and expressing your ideas in writing. Your organizational skills, self-discipline, and willingness to interact with others will help you succeed in an online class. Remember that in online classes, perhaps more than in face to face classes, problems associated with planning, organization, and self-discipline can affect your success. Profile A: You have access to most or all of the tools required for a typical online course. You should check to see whether the course you are considering requires additional tools. If you need to add additional tools, or to update your browser, plugins, or helpers, some sources are provided. Profile A: You have a good grasp of knowledge on the computer, Internet, and email skills necessary for participating in an online course.

5. Your distinct personality, The White Knight, might be found in most of the thriving kingdoms of the time. Don Quixote was a White Knight as was Joan of Arc, the Lone Ranger and Crusader Rabbit. As a White Knight you expect nothing in return for your good deeds. You are one of the true "Givers" of the world. You are the anonymous philanthropist who shares your wealth, your time and your life with others. To give, is its own reward and as a White Knight you seek no other. On the positive side you are merciful, sympathetic, helpful, giving and heroic. On the negative side you may be impulsively decisive, sentimental and misdirected. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms Medieval Personality How I would use it This was a fun activity to do and it was interesting to compare my results to the other students in our class. It helped us get to know each other better. I would also use this as a get to know you activity in my ecourse. I might use it for grouping as well but with the age level of my students I am not sure this would be a good representation. I will have them do a learning style inventory so they are more aware of how they learn and I will also use that information to group students. My Results

6. Theories of Online Learning Activity 1: Students work in collaborative groups to create a Thinking Map or other conceptual model of the properties and classification of minerals using a graphical wiki program such as Kerika. I feel this is a Cognitive activity because of the use of the conceptual model. Students are collaborating to help promote metacognition another component of Cognition. They are also using blooms taxonomy and applying their knowledge to create the model. Activity 2: Students participate in a virtual dissection simulation called Froguts. I feel this activity is Constructivist. Constructivists believe learning is active so that they can create their own ideas about what is taking place. They also believe that reflection should be a part of this process. This activity is missing that component. Activity 3: Students take a Blackboard online quiz after reading a story on African cultures. I feel this is a behaviorist activity because of the testing after the activity. It also has elements of Constructivism because they are applying the knowledge gained from the article. To make this a more cognitive activity they should have had explicit learning outcomes before the article was read and the quiz needs to provide feedback to the student as soon a possible so they adjust their behavior. Activity 4: Students work with a partner to create a PowerPoint presentation on the steps in calculating a discount shown in percentage and computing the sales tax. I feel this is mainly a Constructivist activity. They are being very active in the process in a real world problem. They also have to process the information and essentially re-teach the process. This takes reflection and results in high-level of processing, which creates, personalized meaning. It does touch just a bit on Cognitive theory with the use of synthesis . It is also a Behaviorist activity because of the organization (mapping) in PowerPoint. How I would use it… I really liked this article. It was organized well and to the point. It also help solidify my own teaching style. I am very much a Constructivist with a little Cognition thrown in. This will be helpful as we explore science ideas and principals. TPOL article My Results

7. Comparing Course Management Systems How I would use it… Comparing and contrasting is a great learning technique that I will use in my science e-course. For example we will compare and contrast different local weather forecasts and graphics. My Results

8. The Scenario The Scenario A teacher posts this writing prompt in the online discussion forum: Choose an experience in which you helped others by serving as a volunteer, making a charitable donation, or stepping in to help make a situation better. In one paragraph describe the experience. In another paragraph explain why that experience is worth sharing with others. In the third paragraph describe how much information you would need to include to make sure your audience understands and appreciates the significance of your actions. The student posts this response: One Thanksgiving, my family and I decided to help out at the Salvation Army by helping to cook and serve dinner. We worked hard to help these people. Some of them were very nice to us and some seemed to be embarrassed because they were there. Even though I missed my mother’s home cooked meal that day, I still feel good because we helped. The information I included to ensure that the audience understands and appreciates the significance of my actions is to tell them that we worked hard and gave up Thanksgiving Dinner at our house. Your turn: What an amazing day it must have been for you and your family! With your sacrifice you helped a LOT of people have a meal that day. After reading this I want to learn more about your day. When you add details they help paint a picture in a persons mind. I like to brainstorm ideas that I want to include in my stories before I write them to help me remember details. What other details could you brainstorm to add more to your picture? Some questions you might ask yourself are: How did this make you feel to be in an unfamiliar place? You said you “worked hard to help these people” Who are these people? What is the Salvation Army? What did you cook? Will you go back again? You also need to make sure there are three paragraphs. Remember paragraphs have 3-5 sentences each. I am excited to learn more about your day. I feel this is a young student based on his/her vocabulary. My voice is Generative Guide because I am asking the writer to dig deeper. I think my tone is definitely nurturing and curious. I am approving of the idea but asking questions to help the student dig deeper. This was a difficult task not knowing more about the student, where they were in the writing process, what had already been taught and what objectives they were trying to achieve. I also found the instructions confusing for what they were to be writing about. I am not sure what the third paragraph was about and why they were including it? This made it difficult to respond in a constructive way to move them farther along the continuum. I felt my voice and tone change throughout the piece and I have revised it several times trying to stay “in” voice. Reply to this student, using what you think is an appropriate voice and tone. Remember that you are addressing the whole class, not just this student so that everyone learns more about planning and drafting a paragraph, and that the online dialog is extended, focused, or redirected to promote your learning goals. After you have posted your response to the student, reply to your posting identifying the type of voice and tone from the article, Learning Online Facilitation Online that best describes yours. Also include how your response furthered your learning goals. Be sure to read and respond to others postings as well. How I would use it… The scenario is a great way to get students to apply what they learned. I use it a lot in my everyday teaching. In my weather e-course I will give them the scenario “you have fallen in the creek and you need to dry your clothes as quickly as possible using what you know about evaporation what would you do?” My Results

9. Online Learning Assessments How I would use it… My Results With my science e-course online assessment will be a part of the process but more as tool to finding out areas of weakness. I prefer using the portfolio method to find out what learning has taken place in the class. Many of the topics we will be going over will build on themselves so it will be more difficult to cheat throughout the entire course. Identify the major issues with online assessment and describe online assessments that promote differentiation and online integrity. major issue with online assessment, of course, is cheating. This loophole makes online learning appear inferior to face-to-face learning especially if the class leads to a license or state board certification. Not that cheating doesn’t happen in face-to-face classes but I learned some very sneaky ways students cheat from the power point that I would have never thought of! Ways to combat cheating is to assess a student is by using a portfolio. Another suggestion I liked was having students use the information to explain or tie to their own real life experiences. Also assigning work that builds on top of previous assignments will also help stop plagiarism. Another great way to stop cheating is to live chat with students to get real time answers. I also think this is a great way to really understand if a student is understanding the material. There are also high-tech way to maintain the integrity of the assessment like, limiting the time a quiz can be taken, have a large pool of questions so that every time a student logs in they get different questions, make it difficult to print out the test as well as fingerprint, retinal scanners, ear shape and other identifying techniques.

10. Online Collaborative Toolkit How I will use it… I did enjoy being able to split the work between many to get a comprehensive piece of information. I will have students also find sites and games that enhance the online learning process. We will also use it to do jigsaw projects where we can. My Results toolkit global PBWorks class page

11. Learner Interaction How I will use it… My Results Many of my fellow colleges agreed that all interactions are important but I liked what Victor Guinyard said in his post “I believe that student-content interactions are important because without the content, why would a student bother to stay focused and engaged.” With the age group of my intended classes I feel there is going to be a lot of student-teacher interaction. In an online environment I would prioritize the student –teacher interaction first to set the tone and expectations for the work and the class. Immediately following this I would have students explore each other in the student-student relationship. As the article pointed out this is becoming easier and easier to facilitate. I know for me when I was able to work in groups I asked more questions because I knew my professor was not going to see my lack of knowledge. I felt more comfortable asking my peers questions we were also able to build on that knowledge to form a new level of competency. And finally students will engage in the student content interaction. All three of these interactions are essential for a robust learning environment and I feel that, as we have done in this class, we need to mix the interactions up so that there continues to be learning connections made with content, peers and teacher.

12. Parent Guide How I will use it… The parent guide is a great way to make expectations completely clear for all parties involved. It also give parents tips on helping their child with online e-cources. I will develop an parent guide to for all my classes Class Results Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4

13. Learner Support Agreement How I will use this… Class Results Group 1’s Group 2's Group 3's Group 4’s Group 5’s This was something that I had not really considered before, but will definitely use it in my e-courses. It lays expectations out very plainly for all involved. You can make your plan either general or specific to your course. I plan to make mine more general so it can be used over and over again.

14. Effective Collaborator Rubric My Results How I will use it… I like the rubric for collaboration work. It lets students know what is expected of them in order to get the best grade possible. I also think that having other students grade each other also adds pressure to do their best work. For the age level I am hoping to work with I will need to use kid friendly language to make sure everyone understands what is expected.

15. Universal Design for Learning How will I use it… My Results For example using podcasting tools you can record all of your assignments and embed them into your class management system. Also creating a video explaining what you want will help visual learners. Another modification you can make is to make sure screen readers can read your screen easily. You can also type your directions on a word document so that the text can be manipulated for easier reading for visually impaired students. They can also change the background to allow for better contrast. Finally you will need to allow for alternative projects that meet the needs of your students. Again utilizing podcasting and video casts to help students meet the class requirements. Making online learning as accessible as possible is very important because many of the students who are not successful in a traditional setting also have learning disabilities or physical disabilities. They are the ones that online learning may fit best. There are many things we can do to make our classes more assessable to those with difficulties.

16. Skype and Contribute My Results How I will use this… Contribute was not a program that I think I will use again. The first problem is the cost of purchasing this program. It was also not user friendly and the program auto loaded other programs on my computer without my permission. I will use Skype as a way to communicate with my students as well as a way for my students to collaborate together. I will also use Dabbleboard for some of our collaborative projects. Students can use photos and drawings to demonstrate ideas. I will also use Google Docs to help student collaborate and help students get to know each other. Using collaboration tools is a very important with online courses because students do not have the opportunity to get to know each other in person. These tools help students break down the electronic walls.

17. Course Reflections My Results How I would use it.. Reflection is a key component of learning. I have my students often go back after they have worked on a test or an assignment and reflect what they did well and what they need to work on. It is an important step in getting our students to think at a deeper level.