Monday, March 22, 2010

Final project

I did a power point presentation for incoming freshman's. We are experiencing problems with earning a GPA lower than a 2.67. If the student is only 0.01 short they are not admitted to the university. I am having a problem with this so I wanted to give freshman’s some tips of how to navigate through the CSU system.

I choose a beige background, no graphics and black print to be in ADA compliance. The format that I use should be able to be converted for students with disabilities programs.

This was very hard to not make my power point pretty and with downloaded graphics. In the interest of all students I did not use my skills in the power point. The technology is a one way for of communication.

If anyone is interested in viewing my power point I will e-mail it to you.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Session 9

Session 9

I went on to talkshoe and had no problem the other times I was on that site. I was able to listen that night but I could not type to give my two cents. I was able to read what every one else wrote and listen. I was kicked off the site at least four times, so my irritation level was about at seven. I find I am motivated in classes until about the seventh week and then I die out. I do wonder if a on line school with 5 week sessions might be better for me because I peter out so quick. I did agree with Dr. Newberry that the weekly grade reports that were personalized were an added feature. It sure worked with the guilt factor for me. Unfortunately I am like an ostrich I like to hide my head and hope trouble does not find me. I think I am now back on target and maybe it is because of talkshoe and thinking about motivating students that I figure I better get myself motivated.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Session 8

Session 8 ADA

Name of evaluator: Alice Pedersen

URL of page being evaluated: http://studyonthebeach.com/csusb/classes/winter2010/etec_674_win_2010/media/eLearningADATestPage.html

Explain your procedure: I read the guidelines to help people with disabilities and concentrated on color, no flashing moving components and ability to read the page easily. Then I looked at the page I copied and pasted below.

List Any Problems Found: Per the guidelines, color presents a problem with ADA. Without having a disability I could not see the yellow very well at all. Also the paragraph at the bottom I could not read, as it was bolded in a like color. So I had to highlight it so I could read the paragraph. Also there were a lot of boxes and grid type writing that I found confusing.

Explain How to Correct These Problems: Instead of using red, green and yellow you could add asterisk so the student would be able to see which items he would be responsible to complete.

The paragraph at the bottom, I would get ride of the boxes and the background and only write in black. It appears that if the student can manipulate the article or paper from a black and white paper to whatever format fits the students needs. You can see with me coping and pasting the article it already changed the page enough that I could easily read it. But the colors went away so there was no way for me to see which items I would need to complete. If I were the student I would more than likely try and complete everything listed even if it were above my skill, in order to get a passing grade.

Session ADA: ADA TEST PAGE

Instructor: Brian Newberry
Email: newberry@csusb.edu
Phone (909) 537-7630

NOTE: This page contains several ADA compliance issues. This page has been constructed specifically to help students learn to recognize ADA compliance problems and learn how to resolve these issues.

Procedure: Technology novices complete all of the Green Coded Items. Intermediate Technology users complete all Green and Yellow coded items. Advanced/Proficient Technology users complete all Green, Yellow and Red coded items.

Matrix of Interactions

Student-Content

Student-Instructor

Student-Student

Textbook Readings

Email

Skype

Lectures

Phone Calls

Email

Office Hours

Media and Links

Review

Preview

Advanced

Video

Audio

Do your own Google Search

http://studyonthebeach.com/csusb/classes/genericgettingstarted/gettingstartednotfinal.mov

Information

In this session we will discus telecommunications technology, specifically how it relates to media richness and Social Presence theories. In my opinion education is very much about communication, much of what we do, especially in online education is about sharing information, bringing up questions, finding answers, reducing complexity, categorizing information, and bringing it all together in workable models that can be implemented in anyone's practice of education. When we do online learning, such as we are doing here, we are dependent upon the technologies to support our communication. I think of these technologies as windows, and we communicate and perceive each other through these windows, each one with its own varying degree of opacity. This opacity shades and effects our communication and our ability to sense others with home we are working. This impacts how we understand each other’s messages and changes the way we perceive each other too. In many ways these windows impede our ability to project our presence into a communication event and also impede our ability to understand how others perceive us. In part this is because we are used communicating in a face-to-face mode. This is through years of personal practice, and of course thousands of years of human experience, all of which has shaped our expectations, our vocal abilities and our languages to be programmed to serve face-to-face communication. All the communication technologies we use modify our communication abilities in some way and understanding this fact is essential to our ability to choose the best technology for any given activity and for us as users to get the most out of the technologies we use.


Part 2

I wanted to say my office has been working on all of our papers and website to be ADA compliant. When we were first asked to update our page we had a pink/peach background and butterflies on our first page. We also had a girl mopping and stating our site was under work. She was moving around. Since then we have had two new ADA uploaded WebPages. Currently the pages are boring but the information is there for the students to view. We don't change the format form page-to-page trying to keep it consistent for the students.

session 7

Updated 03/16/2010

Annotated Bibliography

#1

Citation:

Freire, A. P., Linhalis, F., Bianchini, S. L., Fortes, R. P.M., Pimentel, da

Graça M. C.., (2009, September), Computers & Education, 54 (4), pp

866-876, 11p, Retrieved March 9, 2010, from EBSCOhost (Academic

Search Elite) database (AN 48402052).

Summary:

Revealing the whiteboard to blind students was the main topic of the article. The article talks about the difficulty with e-learning when dealing with students with disabilities. They talk about including blind students in a live on line class with software called “Whiteboard”. They use a live mediator to help the student navigate through the on line session. The student is able to use screen readers and follow along with the text. This approach proved to be effective with blind students and allowed the student to stay on topic with the class.

Review:

I thought this was a very interesting because I am always looking at ADA compliance issues in our office. It appears there are some glitches, but if the general text is written in a word type format the reader will read what is being written. I thought this concept was close to Nate’s captions for ADA because you could hear the power point if you were blind and you could read the captions if you were Deaf or hearing impaired.

#2

Citation:

Carchiolo, Vincenza, Longheu, Alessandro, Malgeri, M., (2010 May),

Information Sciences, 180 (10), pp. 1893-1907, 15p,Retrieved date

March 9, 2010, EBSCOhost (Academic Search Premier) database,

(AN 48472591).

Summary:

This article was about the reliability of using Websites and talks about the vast amount of information available for people to access. They simulated a data search using Advogato, Epioions and Ariadne data sets and tested the efficiency and effectiveness of the sites. The article promotes user’s to participate in blog, wikis and folksonomies and use personal experiences and knowledge. The article goes on to talk about trust and designing your e learning with trust in mind and talks about personalizing the classes based on trust.

Review:

I do not recommend. The article was super long and was not clear on how to use trust until later in the paper. I was still confused on the topic and the abstract was of little help.

#3

Citation:

Wang, Tzu-Hua. (2010 May) Web-based dynamic assessment: Taking

Assessment as teaching and learning strategy for improving students’ e-

Learning effectiveness, Computers & Education, 54 (4), pp 1157-

1166, 10p, EBSCOhost (Academic search Elite) (AN 48402080).

Summary:

This article takes different assessments and tried to develop a multiple-choice Web-based assessment system. The test subjects were 116 sixth graders from 4 classes and were divided up into testing groups. The new assessment they tried received higher test scores than the traditional testing.


Review:

I liked the article, I had to write down what all the acronyms were so when I was reading I did not get lost. The testing ideas were very interesting and I would recommend reading the article.

#4

Citation:

Jara, Magdalena, Mellar, H. (2009 October) Computers & Education, 54

(3), pp709-714, 6p EBSCOhost (Academic Search Elite) database,

(AN 47824559).

Summary:

The text is discussing the difference in student feedback in writing verse on-line feedback. The study is trying to get the students perspective from their college courses. They found in there research that students gave through feedback if asked in modules instead of at the end of the class. Many colleges offer students to give feedback at the module and end of the class offering a stronger feedback from the students.

They used 4 classes in higher education in the UK. They met with the staff and students and tried to compare to online learning classes. What they found was the questions were not based the same from class to class. The theory was not substantiated.


Review:

Interesting paper, I would like to see more research on classes and the students opinion of the classes. This was a long document but easier to read than most. I would recommend if you were interested in analyzing feedback from your students.

Annotated Bibliography

Alice Pedersen

2/28/2010

Citation:
Kuboni, O. (2009). Role of the local centre in strengthening student support in UWI's distributed learning programmes. Distance Education, 30(3), 363-381.
http://search.ebscohost.com, doi:10.1080/01587910903236528
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=44500354&site=ehost-live

Summary: This article is stating that the classic school building is no longer necessary. The components to make distance-learning possible is outsourcing the local building. The research is stating revisiting the requirement of the local study centre in areas if technologies and education.

Review: The University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) has paid greater attention to this aspect of its operations during a two-year project to transform its distance delivery mode from one based primarily on a combination of print-based materials and face-to-face tutorials to a distributed learning mode in which almost all of the teaching–learning interaction would take place online, using the learning management system (LMS) Moodle. (363)” The experiment included instructors, E-Tudors and student. The population was thirty education site students willing to pilot the new program. The E-Tudors were like grad students at CSUSB, they answer questions, keep the grades and make sure the students are on task. The experiment asked for regular feedback from the students to improve the distant learning style. The article found that there was a need for the home building sites and the interaction between the two working together would benefit the over all education experience. This was based off of not all student have a strong educational experience.

Monday, February 22, 2010

session 6

Updated post

Test is 'Customer Service ETEC'

Instructor Alice Pedersen

http://quizstar.4teachers.org

Rubic

Five questions

One point each

Correct

5----A

4----B

3----C

2----D

1 or less F

http://quizstar.4teachers.org

I was on vacation this past week and really experiences issues with downloading some of the programs. I did not have great Internet and it caused quite a bit of problems for me. This was a lot of work. This also made me think off topic of how many students in this economic setting have Internet at home. I do have a high school student and it has been a huge problem with not always having Internet in my home. We have gone to Internet cafes but they have gone out of business in my area. Starbucks is expensive and you do have to have a laptop. My thought is when kids are in high school we might really be limiting them with on line test. Surprisingly not ever person has a computer or is hooked up to Internet. Just food for thought, although college student have labs and better access to computers than high school students.

I still could see the use for making test on-line even if you just compiled many questions and just picked them out randomly. If you students had access to a computer it would be good for them to be able to be exposed to the test taking that way.

On the other hand if you printed out your tests that you make up on one of these formats it would be helpful to randomly pick questions to post for hard copy test. I also think students should get use to bubble test because almost all the important test they take are being administered with bubble test. My daughter was not allowed to take any test on the computer for her SAT, ELM, EPT, ACT or the basic STAR test.

I did see some resemblance to test that I have taken on Blackboard. I do like them if it is possible to retake the test if you did not do well.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Session 5 New Media

In all the new technology I am dipping my head into, Facebook is a new and easy way to communicate. I started a Facebook page in Fall quarter during the class ETEC 500. I would more than likely have two Facebook sites one for students and the other for my family and friends. I have found you can make announcements on your page and all of your friends can see your announcements. You can use Facebook like our blog where you can write what ever you want, also there is a place you can post papers. A lot of people on Facebook are using it like twitter, ‘I am going out with my family’ blab la bla . I find it interesting but a little to busy sometimes. The draw back with Facebook is all the games people play on the site, it really blog it down so you miss what people are saying. That is one of the main reason I would have a professional account and a family account, I believe it would be the only way to keep my life separate.

As a future teacher you could post announcements for the students and you also could post paper information. The students could respond on your wall. I like being able to communicate with students, so they could find a way to have access to the assignments.

On Facebook you can click on the plus sign and add video or notes. You could add a tab for your students. You can also follow other groups and it will show up on your Facebook.

The draw back for me is at my college we are not allowed to use Facebook, twitter or blogging per our Dean. I am hoping with the knowledge I am learning we could put some of our info to students on some of the new media to help communicate deadlines and basic requirements.

My site is under my whole name Alice Smith Pedersen http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000074673117

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Session #4

1. Our text categorizes electronic information into four types:

Textual Information- The book describes Electronic verses paper distribution. I think this is important to go on line as the campus is trying to “GO GREEN”. Most of the college campuses classrooms are set up so the professor can go over the syllabi on the wall screen and every student can see what the professor is talking about. This has been very helpful to me as a student. The professor can also show how to use whatever form of media they chose to enlighten the student for ease in turning in projects. I as a student like having the course syllabus and outline of assignments on line. This helps me to have easier access to the information. I live over an hour away and have a busy life so if I can access information in a text format it helps to simplify my life. If the documents are in text I usually have no problem getting them to down load wherever I am.

Presentation Graphics Slide Show- I relate to this as a power point that the professor may use in class. They usually post it on Blackboard or their web pages so the student has access to it before class. I find it helpful to print and take my notes on the PowerPoint to help me keep the material straight in my head. Some professors put up pictures on the slide show and talk about them instead of putting the text of what they are going to say. I like this because the picture tends to simulate my memory of the lecture. On line I would also need the text.

Spreadsheets and Databases- This was just expressed regarding grades in an excel format and the use of a calendar. I like seeing my grades, I think blackboard is the best for it in college. You can set your spread sheet so no one can change it or allow the student to do “what if “ I got a 80 on my final what would my grade be.

Multimedia objects-The Vocational degree program uses multimedia. The professor will have some item that we need to look at and the next thing you know a bird or something will pop up moving around.

2. Sample of text specific detail

Class please log on to Alice Pedersen’s Bog at http://apederse.blogspot.com/

On the left had side of the page; it will show Session 3, 2, 1

You will log on to Session 2. Read the response from Alice and comment on her blog.

You will receive 3 extra credit points for following directions and posting.

Deadline date will be Sunday the 7th.

3. The difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication, Asynchronous is the class can view or listen at anytime. Does not rely on anyone else to be logged on at the same time and synchronous is like the talk shoe with Dr. Monahan we all logged on and could hear him speaking and write questions and Dr Newberry would ask the questions at the correct time as to not interrupt the guest speaker. Asynchronous is the normal way of taking eLearning classes. The professor post something, the student reads it on the students schedule and responses by a deadline. Synchronous is different because as a class we are to log on together at a certain time and chat with each other.

4. Bulletin Board has a lot of technologies that offer LMS like Chat feature. I have used this in a couple of my classes and it works like blogging we are doing in this class with Dr. Newberry. Dr Monahan talked quite about the support that goes into updating and keeping Blackboard user friendly. I have never experienced a class like with Dr Monahan and I don’t know if Blackboard has a feature like it. It may but no one has looked into it yet.

5. Blackboard has a lot of technology available if the instructor wants to use it. I notice that Dr Newberry does not use the grading box under tools. In my classes, only about half of the instructors used the grading on blackboard. The digital box under the tools, I have used like a chat, the instructor can set it up so you can see everyone’s response or just yours. Also under tools you can update your e-mail to help make sure you receive all of the information that the rest of the class is receiving. Communication is a under used area in my classes, I don’t even know what some of the buttons are used for because the professors are not using the tools available in that category.

6. The task I am going to pick is a PowerPoint presentation. I actually like power points and I like showing what the lecture is going to be about. If posted a head of time the students can have a nice in class communication. Blackboard supports the power points, but you can also put up the word doc incase a student cannot open the PowerPoint.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Session #3

Session 3

I work on campus and I really enjoy learning about all the technology that is available to me. In using Talk shoe to listen to Dr. Jim Monaghan and hear Dr Newberry talk and see all the questions that were being asked, I was almost at sensor overload. I did settle in and learned quite a bit about campus and the support that the campus offers.

Blackboard is one of the main tools that the campus supports. Dr. Monaghan talked about a lot of features that Blackboard has available to professors. I have not use even half of the tools available to campus while using blackboard. I wish as a student that professors would use blackboard more. It really helps a student to use one particular tool and maybe the professors would use different tools than another one, so growth will still happen. I find it difficult when each professor have different web page they use for us to post our work, more passwords for us to learn and keep straight. This is even more challenging when I am learning a difficult topic and on top of that a different on-line system.

There was some talk about on-line learning and the drop out rate of classes with on-line vs. physically attending classes. On-line learning appears to be easier to drop out of than attending a class. Dr Newberry talked about the fact that if you are old school you want to go on line at the schedule time to finish your work. They were also talking about the flexibility of e learning. I am off work right now and doing homework, I prefer the flexibility of being able to do my homework whenever I can fit it in my busy schedule. Dr Monaghan brought up the cost of e learning, I thought it would be very cheap but he stated it is more expensive and not the moneymaker that Universities thought it would be.

In retrospect as an 18-year-old freshman, attending school may be the way for success. In the same tone a mother that is staying at home with daycare issues maybe more successful with on line classes, I would also assume any adult that wants to come back to school would benefit with on line.

One of the items that surprised me was the job opportunity…Dr. Monaghan stated there were a lot of opportunities for technology-based majors. I was under the impression that with staff being better skilled there was less need for tech personal. I was please that jobs are out there in this field.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Session 2

Focus Questions for Chapter 1 and 4 (Waterhouse, S. A. The power of eLearning) and CMS/LMS Investigation

1. Central to our investigation of eLearning Technologies and Methods is gaining an understanding of Learning Management Systems (LMS) sometimes also called Course Management System (CMS) software. Chapter 1 of our text discusses the functionality of typical LMS/CMS, identifying four major categories. What are those categories?

1. Distribution of course information

2. Student-instructor and student-student communications

3. Student interaction with course resources

4. Online testing and grading

2. What LMS/CMS software do you currently use or plan to use? Explain what you know about your system's functionality in each of the four areas identified by the book. (If you don't have access to LMS/CMS software just use Blackboard for your discussion in this area.)

a) I really do like using Blackboard! The distribution of the course information is available usually under the topic of Course Documents. Almost every professor puts their syllabus under, class assignments and important paper information that we the student each has at the tip of are fingers. I really like the ability to pull up the syllabus to check out something on my lunch hour and I don’t have to worry if I left my bag at home with the paper copy. This is also nice if there is a correction, because the most up to date documents can be posted with ease.

b) The professors can use the announcements button to communicate with the students… They can let us know if something has changed, reminders, campus emergencies. Basically any item that comes to their mind and they want to tell us before class starts can be put on announcement. Student –student communication is made easier with everyone in your classes e-mail address. When you have a problem or question for the class you can send out a blanket e-mail and get at least a few responses back very quickly. You can also see other students posting to questions, sometimes other students think out side of the box and really stimulate my thinking.

c) Student interaction with course resources-You can also see other students posting to questions, sometimes other students think out side of the box and really stimulate my thinking. Discussion boards were scary the first time I used them, but after I posted my post about 10 times and Lonelle calling me to tell me to stop it. I finally figured it out. The professor can put any type of link that would be helpful up under assignment or course documents. Many of my professors had sample items posted for what they were looking for and I found this as well to be very helpful.

d) Online testing and grading. I like taking the testing on line. I prefer it if the instructor gives you more than one time to take the test. When the test is given with a bubble type test, the grading comes back immediately. Which allows me time to look up missed answers. I have also had test where short answers were required, the instructor was able to give feed back that I could review.

3. Chapter 1 of our text identifies six steps for getting started with eLearning. Discuss each step and use each step as a springboard for discussing what you want to do with eLearning either now or in the future.

a) Ask yourself why- I would like to offer an on-line class to incoming freshman. I could offer the class to high school seniors to help them get ready for college. With the class being on line, the student might remember some jewel I shared with them and want to re look at the material and they could still access it.

b) Make a commitment- I would make a commitment to keep updated material and have back up copies. I would test the information on a test group of new students and gain feedback on what I needed to improve.

c) Develop a new vision for your course and how you teach- this would be a new course and my vision of what I wish someone had told me when I went to college. I would incorporate power point and maybe some of the new tools I have been learning to make class more interesting. It would be nice to have a skit (drama) put in acting like freshman.

d) Determine the resources available to you- I am surrounded by people with incredible technology skills. Since I am at Cal State there is a multi media department, Library and more recourses than I am even aware I might need, right here on campus.

e) Acquire new technology skills and develop new instructional methods- I am finding new technology every day. Face book alone is a good tool to put information out to student. Updating and taking classes in an interest to get better aquatinted with what I will need in order to perform to the max. Always have ideas proofed many times to make sure students will understand what I am trying to portray.

f) Plan- making a basic outline of what I want to share and how I want to share is a good start with making a plan. Writing down Idea’s and brainstorming the ideas, wrapping up a basic outline of what I want and how I am going to get it. Most projects die because of lack of planning.

4. Chapter 4 of our text discusses the functionality of specific LMS/CMS tools in terms of being for one-way communication, two-way communication or for organization. Explain the key differences between one-way and two-way communication and identify the tools your LMS/CMS provides for each type of communication.

One-way communication is this is what I am telling you…now do it. Also writing some thing down and giving you a due date and it is up to you to turn in assignment on time and correctly with out two-way communication. Two-way communication is more like a conversation and allowing the students to have feedback. Texting is in my opinion a one-way communication even though it goes back and forth (many will not agree with that statement). You do not know if the other person really understands you. If you talk on the phone it is a two-way communication, you can hear inflection in the voice to let you know the tone of the conversation. Same way with blackboard the instructor tells you what they want. The student writes what is going on and then the student post and the professor adds his/her comments to the response the student wrote down.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

ETEC 674 Session 1


My name is Alice Pedersen.

I am in the Career and Technical Masters Program and awaiting acceptance into the PPS School Counseling Program. I currently hold a Designated Subject Teaching Credential, but I am not teaching and have no experience teaching.
I am taking the ETEC classes for the certificate. I find my computer skills and Technology in general lacking, so I am trying to not be afraid of technology. Last quarter I took ETEC 500, I learned about websites and skyping. That was a very stressful class, I am now not afraid of Skype.

I have a fair amount of on-line class experience, most of it using Blackboard. I took about 4 EVOC classes on line and ETEC 546 on-line. Some of my hardest classes have been on line like Music 180.

My goals are to organizing my schedule, falling behind is my biggest fear. It is super hard to catch up if you fall behind taking on-line classes. I also like to see what other students have turned in, sometime it is very encouraging to me and helps me define a project I am working on.
Here goes for my first blog post.
Alice