The Icebreaker:
One of our first activities in this class was an icebreaker. It was a fun introductory exercise that enabled us to learn about our classmates, determine what we would like them to know about us, and allow the instructor to get a sense of the makeup of his class. As an assessment, it allows the instructor to gauge such things as the students' language skills, basic technology skills as well as the ability to follow directions.
For the icebreaker activity, we were asked to summarize a favorite movie and tell something about its personal significance for us. My favorite piece is The Flame Trees of Thika. Here is a copy of my response:
The series chronicles a British family’s time spent in Kenya at the turn of the twentieth century. With their 11 year-old daughter, the family is determined to
create a coffee plantation amidst what turns out to be, for their
purposes, very difficult territory. The story is told through the eyes
of the girl who is so very spunky that you just cannot help but fall in
love with her and be completely engrossed in the life of the family, the
neighbors, the native Kikuyu and Masai.
The African setting is beautiful. The girl is smart, and inquisitive. Her mother is strong, adventurous and determined (played by Hayley Mills). For me, they were the most engaging characters of the whole cast.
The African setting is beautiful. The girl is smart, and inquisitive. Her mother is strong, adventurous and determined (played by Hayley Mills). For me, they were the most engaging characters of the whole cast.
The coming disruption
of World War I adds an ominous, sad thread to the story. It becomes
clear that the family will eventually have to leave the country, the
people, and the natural world to which they have become so attached.
It’s heart-wrenching to watch as Elspeth has to let go of all she has
grown to love so deeply. It is also heart-warming to see her mother’s
offer of hope for an eventual return: her mother, Tilly, tells Elspeth
to kiss the walls. If you kiss the walls, surely you will come back!
And that’s how we developed a family tradition. When my first daughter was born, we spent our first summer month in a rented cottage in Maine. It was right smack in the middle of a tiny cove’s shoreline. We spent many incredible summertimes there, creating indelible family memories. Whenever Labor Day rolled around, we felt so sad to leave. From the time the girls could walk, we started our own tradition of kissing the walls. Like Elspeth, we found it so hard to leave and wanted to do something to magically ensure our return! Even now, my grown daughters and I find occasions to remind one another to “kiss the walls.”
My younger daughter is an adventurer who finds many
new places to explore and to love. She and her husband are off today to
join (as crew members) a sailboat in Uruguay, soon to be in Brazil. It
makes me sad to realize that I forgot to say, “Kiss the walls!” this
morning. Will airport walls count?
(By the way, The Flame Trees of Thika is available on DVD from amazon.com. You can also find the book there: The Flame Trees of Thika : Memories of an African Childhood by Elspeth Huxley.
The wiki:
Posting to the class wikki, assessonline, will give us experience in using this tool for collaboration. We began by posting items to a list of "Netiquette" guidelines.
Interactive Reading Notes:
Below you will see a screenshot from my participation in an online interactive reading exercise during our second module. A learning object can enable students to learn actively and visually. In this case, we were able to review much of what we have been reading about and discussing for the last two weeks.
I discovered that I disagreed with one point in this online reading. From the student's point of view, assessment can sometimes be used to monitor learning. Knowing where we are in our learning by practicing self-monitoring or self-reflection, can be a useful tool for making progress in our learning.
The concept map (Week 3): Second attempt
Not at all satisfied with my first attempt, I decided to learn from my classmates' postings of their maps. I liked what I saw: maps that were far more clear than mine. I decided to give it another go, following the lead of classmate and fellow librarian, Kathleen Ellis. (It's no surprise that our goals are very similar since we are in the same business: K-12 school librarians). This time I learned to use popplet.
I used nearly the same content that I'd developed and put it into a new container:
[Note: Check out more examples of concept maps by visiting the blogs listed on my home page sidebar.]
The concept map (Week 3): First attempt
For this activity in Module 3, we were asked to create a concept map using our choice of mapping software. I elected to try Inspiration since I know that many K-12 schools use this. Our maps were to present three learning objectives, activities, and assessments for a proposed or current course.
Creating a Team-Built Toolbox of Digital Tools for Assessment (Week 4)
This week we were divided into groups and charged to create a toolbox after completing individual research, deciding upon a "delivery system" (wiki or blog), and presenting a unified presentation to our entire class. Our first assignment was to choose a character from the Muppets as our team mascot.
I was a member of Team Swedish Chef, aka "TSC."
Here's a link to our finished product:
https://teamswedishchef.wikispaces.com/Team+Swedish+Chef
Creating a Pre-Course Survey (Week 6)
This week we began putting together our final project. This project has us beginning to develop our own online courses.
One of the key components of any online course is a pre-course survey. A well-designed survey enables the instructor to collect data that will help her/him to personalize the course to meet the students' learning needs.
You will find my first attempt, using Survey Monkey, at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GY2ZQNP
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