Final Projects

Lab report wikis:


Podcasts:
I think that we are in a new era of education. I know every kid doesn't have the internet at home and not every kid has an ipod with video capabilities, but we are close. There is access to the internet all over the place, as I found out this summer as I camped and did school work online. I think the idea of putting extra lectures out there will help use time in class more wisely. The podcasts can be five to ten minute clips to help kids tie together what we have been learning in the classroom.

interacive syllabus:
My interactive syllabus will have an outline of what we are studying and when. There will be links to assignments to help with make-up work. I will have links to podcast, videos, news articles, simulations, and any other web based materials that can help my students. Check in as my classes begin to wind down, I will be expanding this interactive syllabus so it is "turn-key" once the school year starts.

Lab report Wiki:
have a new plan I have put together this summer for closure on various explorations throughout the year. I plan to have one wiki page set up where each cooperative learning group (lab group) has a login name and a password, which gives them access to the wiki page. A wiki page simply put is a web page that all members are able to create content, post comments, and make changes. Using our standard format for lab reports, that the students will be very familiar with at this point in the year, to post the lab reports on the lab wiki page. In the lab reports there should be at least one photo from the lab as well. The students will then be required to read three other reports from other groups, leaving suggestions for improvement, comments about what they liked, and other related appropriate comments. Most importantly there should be questions left by groups as they read other reports for further experimentation. The students should also give a score based on a rubric for their own and three other groups’ labs. I will also score each group based on the same rubric and the score they get will be based on a combination of self-assessment, classmates, and my grade.

PLN

I cannot wait for the school year to start... hold on, I mean when it comes to finding value in my PLN, I cannot wait for school to start. I imagine there will be more teachers linked to the network. Many teachers don't go near their computers in the summer, but once the school year is up and running there may be quite a bit more teachers communicating. In terms of the not so virtual network, I will be presenting some inservice on using webtools in the classroom when school starts back up. Lots of great information!

PLN and last week

After my battle with screencasts and voice threads and the endless problems my computer was having I was totally exasperated. I lament the amount of time spent this summer waiting for my computer. I really am a numbers guy and I bet I spent 40 hours this summer waiting for my computer. It froze up, it took time to lead EVERYTHING. I would try to multitask, which would get me further and further into a time deficit as I would work on other things and come back after my pages had loaded. I got it done though. I think there are some serious issues with open office impress which is the same as powerpoint, but apparently not quite.

I did come accross a very helpful website from my friends at Twitter:
website

This has 28 sites producing podcast and screencasts.... very cool! I will not be using the voicestreem any time soon, but podcasts have a place in my repertoire...