Semester: Fall 2011

Instructor: Dr. Jane Howland

Credits: 3

 

Course Description

Explores the potential of the Internet to support inquiry-based learning through collaborative activities, research, and authoring/publishing. Investigates goals and strategies of online learning. Examines learning theories and models of teaching/learning in relation to selected Internet activities for K-12 students.

Reflection Statement

Learning with the internet is powerful because it supports a flexible learning environment that can be customized to meet the needs of individual students.  It fosters a constructivist environment where students can set goals, ask questions, and find the tools and information necessary to meet their goals and answer their questions.  Due to the many ways available for students to learn with the internet, they have the opportunity to customize their learning, think about what they are learning and how they are learning, as well as assess the effectiveness of their learning (Did it answer their questions or solve the problem presented in the assignment?).  The internet also allows students to communicate with other students and educators from around the world; content is no longer limited to what is stored on the Internet, it now includes who is using the Internet.  The Internet expands the learning opportunities and resources beyond what the local classroom, building, and district can offer.  Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, it provides up to date information that is impossible to maintain in printed textbooks or classroom materials.

 

The Internet also dramatically changes the way teachers learn and communicate.   Professional development through educational blogs, social networking, online conferences, and professional organization websites is available quickly and cheaply, and can easily be customized to meet the needs of teachers when the need exists.  The internet allows educators to create a customized Personal Learning Network that offers them collaboration with teachers from around the globe.

 

This course gave me the opportunity to explore a few Web 2.0 tools that I had previously seen in educational technology blog postings and Tweets, but had not taken the time to explore in-depth.  The experiences of my classmates reported through the discussion boards also provided valuable knowledge into implementing Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.  I was also exposed to a few new Web 2.0 tools through discussion boards and group projects.  These endorsements from colleagues are much more valuable than a Google Search since the information is coming from practicing educators who have used the tool in their classrooms.  As I explored Web 2.0 tools, I also discovered and joined a few NINGS including the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 NINGS.  Throughout the course, I added many articles, resources, and Web 2.0 tools to my Diigo bookmarks that I can reference in the future.  I also had the opportunity to re-read portions of the textbook and reinforce what I learned when I read it the first time while taking "Enhancing Learning with Technology" a year earlier.  While completing the discussions, assignments, and projects for this course, I had time to further think about how technology can enhance education as well as how it can hinder education when used improperly or incompletely.

Artifacts

• Collaborative Project on VoiceThread (Google Site)
  • Three classmates and I created a Google Site that contains lesson plans and support materials for using VoiceThread in the classroom.
• Google Lit Trip Project (PDF)
  • For my final project of this course, I created a Book Talk and Google Lit trip focusing on the geographic locations within the setting of Runaway Twin by Peg Kehret.
• K-12 Online Conference Video Reflection (PDF)
  • This is a summary and application of a professional development video from a K12 Online Conference.