Midterm Reflection

You have been sent a gmail with a link to the Midterm Reflection. This is considered to be your Midterm Examination. Answer it honestly and complete it no later than midnight Sunday June 24, 2012.

Travis Allen, the iSchool Initiative and EDM310 Staff

Elizabeth Brooks @lizzzybell, Stephen Akins @akins14, Travis Allen @iSchoolTravis, Bailey Hammond @bookwolfbailey, Dr. John Strange @drjohnhadley, Carly Pugh @carlyedm310, Jacey-Blair Chandler @jaceyblurrr

@iSchoolTravis Allen and the members of the iSchool Initiative (@iSchoolAdvocate) gave a series of presentations Monday June 18 at the College of Education of the University of South Alabama. This was the first stop on a 40 stop tour across the country urging schools, school leaders, school students and the general public to join in the effort to equip our students with the most useful and most powerful learning tools available. The presentation was a powerful message that we hope will be heard by everyone.

Thanks Travis and the iSchool Initiative staff for your excellent presentations and interactions with EDM310. Good luck. And come back to Mobile and Baldwin counties! We need your help in pursuing the Digital Revolution!

Identify Yourself

I notice that a number of you are not including the fact that you are a student in EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in your comments on the teachers blogs for your C4T. You should do so. (See the top of p. 19 in the Projects Instruction Manual. You should also include a link to YOUR blog. To do that follow the instructions for paragraph #3 (Master enough HTML...) on p.12 of the Activities Manual.

Special Assignment Due as Part of Blog Post #7 on 6/24

Watch Thomas Suarez: A 12-year-old app developer (4:33)

Add this to your Blog Post #7 Assignment (Due 6/24).

What did you learn from watching this video (if anything)?
What does this video tell us about how the world of learning is changing?
How does this video fit with the others assigned for Blog Post #7.

Why am I assigning this video in this manner?
Two reasons: 1) I just learned of this video from members of my PLN and I want to emphasize to you how important your PLN can be. 2) I want to make sure you are reading the Class Blog regularly. It is very important that you do so since it is my major way of communicating with you.

iSchool Initiative

Come Monday 10-3 (or any part) if you can. Travis Allen (see Blog Post Assignment #5) will be here with a group of his associates in the iSchool Initiative.

Please Correct Your Checklist

Christie Mason has raised a question about #4 under Unit 5 on the Checklist. This requirement does not apply for the Summer Session. You are in a group that applies to ALL projects for the Summer Session and registration is therefore unnecessary. I have changed #4 of Unit 5 on the Checklist to read like this: Register Group Members for Projects #14 and #15 on Doc that will be provided. You should make that change on YOUR Checklist as well.

Revised Projects Manual Posted on Emergency Site

I have slightly revised the Projects Manual. Since the regular site is not working, use the Emergency Instruction Manual or just click on the link to the Projects Manual in this post. Be sure you read the post Major Improvements to Emergency Access Documents if you have not already done so.

LAB OPEN BUT NOT STAFFED 6/9

The Lab will be open today but there will be no staff in the Lab. Jacey-Blair's great grandmother died and she is in Texas for the funeral.

Major Improvement to Emergency Access Documents

I have modified all Emergency Access documents and moved them to a new server. Now all links within the Emergency Documents should work. If they do not, you can still use the button IF NEITHER OF THE ABOVE WORK, Try Here in the sidebar.

Since you always miss something, if any of the links in the Emergency Documents do not work, please send me an email.

Thanks!

There was some confusion in the Checklist about C4C # 1 and C4C#2. You are to leave two comments (one for Blog Post #1 and one for Blog Post #2 which is not due until Wed 6/6) for the student assigned to you as shown in the Doc which is now available to you in your Docs. BOTH comments are due 6/10 even though the Checklist says otherwise.

Welcome Summer 2012 Students

EDM310 starts again!

Wrapping Up the Semester

Some Final Things You Must Do

1. Post your video self reflection by midnight Sunday 5/6/12. Complete instructions are under Blog Post #14 found on p.18 of the Blog Instructions. Note: All material after p. 18 of the Blog Instruction Manual is not really public information. IGNORE IT!
2. Complete the questionnaire (Final Reflection/Exam) by Sunday 5/6/12. The link has been sent to your gmail address.
3. Complete Project #13 by telling us what worked and what didn't in your effort to do Project #15 without meeting as a group. Post summary on your blog.

Foliotek Instructions Spring 2012

You need:
1. The URL for your EDM310 blog
2. The URL for the the EDM310 Class Blog. You should know that by now. And you are probably reading this while on the Class Blog so I do not have to repeat the URL here.
3. You will have to know the seven standards for EDM310. They are in the Syllabus on pp. 2-3. I have also listed them here with the categories under which they fall:

Literacy: Oral and Written Communications (iii)
(3)(c) 1.(iii) Knowledge of media communication technologies that enrich learning opportunities.
Literacy: Technology (i, ii and vi)
(3)(c) 4.(i) Knowledge of available and emerging technologies that support the learning of all students.
(3)(c) 4.(ii) Knowledge of the wide range of technologies that support and enhance instruction, including
classroom and school resources as well as distant learning and online learning opportunities
(3)(c) 4.(vi) Ability to evaluate students’ technology proficiency and students’ technology based products within content areas.
Professionalism: Ethics (ii and iv)
(5)(c) 5.(ii) Knowledge of safe, responsible, legal and ethical uses of technologies including fair-use and
copyright guidelines and internet-user protection policies.
(5)(c) 5.(iv) Ability to practice safe, responsible, legal, and ethical use of technology and comply with school and district acceptable-use policies including fair-use and copyright guidelines and Internet-user
protection policies.
And, for Elementary Education majors ONLY, change from Teacher QTS on left to K-6 Teacher Education. Then click on General Special Education and add the two files to this standard:
Special Education: 290-3-3-.34 (2)(g)2.(iii) Knowledge of assistive technology, including assessment for and use of assistive technology devices.

4. You will have to know how to access and how Foliotek works. Watch the Video
You can also watch the movie Foliotek Instructions Fall 2010 on YouTube. WARNING. The movie was done in 2010 and the standards have slightly changed. The standards now associated with EDM310 that are listed in this post are those you MUST use.
If YouTube gives you problems, you can watch, or download to your computer the Foliotek Instructions from My Gallery.
5. REMEMBER that for your first standard you Add a File and then click Add External File or URL and then CORRECTLY paste the URL (be sure there is only ONE http://). You do this for BOTH URLs
6. REMEMBER that after your first standard is complete you ALWAYS Add File - Add Existing File and check both URLs.
7. REMEMBER you must check to see that you have added both the Class Blog (Friendly Name: EDM310 Class Blog) and Your EDM310 Class Blog (Friendly name: Your Name’s EDM310 Class Blog). Go to Files in the tabs in the middle at the top of Foliotek. Look for the Friendly Names EDM310Class Blog and Your Name’s EDM310 Class Blog. There should BE ONLY ONE OF EACH. If there is more than one you did not follow the instructions (see #6 above). You will have to remove the offending files. You will need help from one of the lab assistants.
8. You must check to make sure that the link works and goes to the correct place.
9. You must make sure that all 7 of the standards are assigned to each of the “files” (really URLs)
10. You must then ask for one of the EDM310 staff members to check your Foliotek. This must be done IN PERSON during the MANDATORY CLASS Wednesday 5/2/12 (4 pm and 6pm) or Thursday 5/3/12 (11:00 and 2:00).

Additional Blog Assignment Due Sunday 4/22 at Midnight

Last week I asked you to begin thinking about several questions related to creativity, curiosity and education. Here are some of those questions:

1. Do schools in the United States systematically destroy (or inhibit) the development of curiosity and/or creativity in students? If yes, why does that happen? If no, how do you counter the argument of Sir Ken Robinson that schools do undermine the development of creativity in students?

2. Can a curriculum be developed that increases the curiosity of students? If so, what would be the key components of such a curriculum?

3. Can a curriculum be developed that increases the creativity of students? If so, what would be the key components of such a curriculum?

4. Can a teacher's actions increase the curiosity of students? If so, what would be those actions?

5. Can a teacher's actions increase the creativity of students? If so, what would be those actions?

6. What would help you become more creative? What role would teachers and/or schools have in that process?

7. What would help you become more curious? What role would teachers and/or schools have in that process?

Write an essay addressing these questions and post it on your blog. Use this as your Title: Creativity and Curiosity: My Thoughts - Special Post #12A.

The quotation that serves as a picture was taken from Curiosity Fuels Creativity: Teaching your kids to be curious by Elli.

Now I'll try and stimulate your curiosity. Who is Elli? How can you contact her? Will you do so? Why or why not?

Another suggestion: Read Educating the Next Steve Jobs from last Saturday's (4/14/12) Wall Street Journal. If you have trouble with that link try this one: Alternate Link

How Do You Contact Tom Johnson?

How do you contact Tom Johnson?

Skype John T. Spencer @johntspencer

Mr. Spencer writes some of blogs and books under the pseudonym Tom Johnson.

Kathy Cassidy Skype Interview

It has been reported that there has been difficulty in accessing the Kathy Cassidy video. This is because the server on which the movie resides has been down. It is now up, but in case it goes down again here are links to the Cassidy interview on YouTube. Since YouTube has time limits, I had to break the Cassidy video into three parts.

Part 1 of Kathy Cassidy Interview
Part 2 of Kathy Cassidy Interview
Part 3 of Kathy Cassidy Interview

C4T Corrections

Several students have notified me that their C4T #4 teacher was the same as their C4T #3 teacher. If they contacted me by 4/11/2011 I have reassigned them and the correct assignment is shown on the tab C4T#4 Original (4/1-4/22).

Other students may have had different teachers on the Original Assignment tab. If so, they can continue with that teacher or use the assignment on the MODIFIED tab.

FOR THE REST OF YOU, use the Tab MODIFIED C4T#4 (4/1-4/22) with is at the BOTTOM of the Doc. READ THE EXPLANATION BELOW.

Modern spreadsheets have tabs which are really additional pages at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Look at the bottom of the C4T (or C4K) Doc. You will find tabs for other pages that are part of the spreadsheet. Look at the pictures below:

Original TAB Selected

MODIFIED TAB selected

Corrections

DATES CORRECTED

I had several dates that disagreed with one another. Here is a summary of Due Dates for projects 13, 14, 15

Project #13 - A written summary of what you did in collaborating solely through technology for Project #15 (and perhaps some of #16). This is an experiment. We want a summary of what tools you used, how you went about communicating, what worked, what didn't. Post this summary on one person's blog. Repeat on others OR provide link to posted summary. Due Sunday May 6.

Project #14 - Basics of SMARTboard Use - Individual video - DUE April 1 but due to date confusion we will accept until April 15.

Project #15 - Collaborative SMARTboard lesson/instruction - DUE April 29

Project #16 - Final Project - Collaborative - DUE May 6

Easter Sunday - Lab Open - No Staff

The EDM310 Lab will be open Sunday March 8 but it will not be staffed.

The Power of C4K

tasteach has left a new comment on your post "C4K Joins the World Blog Challenge - Revised 3/27/...":

G'day Dr Strange and students,
Here is a link to an quality comment written by one of your students Brooke.

Tasteach (Ms. Sue Wyatt) is one of the founders of the World Blog Challenge. She is a retired teacher in Tasmania.

Brooke's comment was left on Natalie's Blog Post: Make It Global - Spread the Word

You should check out Natalie's post to understand the context. I have copied Brooke's comment here of you do not go to the original source.

Brooke LadnierMarch 30th, 2012 at 3:43 am Reply
Hi Natalie,
My name is Brooke Ladnier and I am a student in EDM310 at The University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I was deeply touched by your video. I attend a local church here in Grand Bay where I live(It’s about 30 miles south of Mobile) and we take part in mission work in Guatemala and El Salvador. I have been on 5 mission trips and I understand your passion to bring the word of God to people around the world. It can offer such healing to people, especially those who have been through warfare like the video described. I do have a question that maybe you can answer for me. In the video one of the men stated that the church was partially responsible for some of the killing that was done. Do you know what happened or why the church was involved? I am going to be commenting on your blog for the next 3 weeks so hopefully you will have some new posts for me to read! I really enjoyed this one. Keep up the good work.

What Have We Learned?

That students and teachers from all over the world look forward to and appreciate your C4K comments.

By the way, what do you know about Tasmania? Find out!