bright side

On the bright side...I did figure out how to create a 4052 group of network users on Delicious and discovered another Poverty source I can access for the mini-project. Now I am off to the discussion board to talk about some of the reading I've done. I'll play with Flickr tomorrow.

spinning wheels

Okay...I'm on day 2 of trying to find the Google docs file we are all supposed to be adding to.
I've read all the supporting materials in the course info. section of the bulletin board, yet find myself spinning into a vortex of passwords, discussion boards and going off on website tangents every time a try to locate this file or email invite. I'm going to have to bring in the heavy hitters Howie or Debra.

adobe connect

Last Wednesday was my first attempt at using Adobe Connect to log into our discussion on unit 2 readings and some logging on tips. When I finally figured out how to get my camera working and mic off the hands-free option it was pretty cool to see other classmates and instructors exchanging ideas. The part that was most amazing is that a lot of stuff was going on at once...I was listening to comments, scanning the screen for personal reactions to shared comments, fiddling with buttons to figure out how to navigate the software and watching any live "chat" postings being shared on the lower half of the screen. The Live Chat option was the one that flung me into "hyper multi-task mode". I found that when I was responding or reading a post on the live chat...I had missed part of what a peer or instructor was sharing, and while I was watching the web cam action it was hard to focus on the chat content. It was nice having the option to hop in on either area but I did lose some of the content in the process. I think the next time I use Adobe connect I'll be better prepared to navigate on it and I think I'll focus on the screen action for some time and scan the live chat area for the another part.

google docs

Trying to figure out how to find the google doc file we are all collaborating on. eeekk!

delicious /google docs

I have been experimenting with Delicious and found it useful in accessing bookmarks from other computers and wonder why I haven;t used it sooner. I've actually had it on my browser bar for 2 years and just overlooked it. I am still working on getting other student in the course signed up to access my poverty bookmarks. One step at a time :)

webspiration

So I checked in on the map we've all been contributing to over the last week and I'm impressed with how much information is organized on that concept map. This is the first time I'm actually using Webspiration collaboratively and it seems like a great way to get people to generate ideas in a clear and concise way. Looking forward to using it with colleagues at work.

After reading the unit 1 assigned chapter from the Jonassen text, I was struck by a passage noted early in the chapter. When Jonassen breaks down the attributes that promote meaningful learning and goes into detail about Cooperative/Collaborative work, he writes, "In the everyday world, humans naturally seek out others to help them to solve problems and perform tasks. Then why do educators insist that learners work independently so much of the time?"
I thought about this for a long time and then thought about all the times I've asked students in my class to work "independently" on a project or assigned task. I thought I needed to this as often as I have been to get a clear picture of what they understand and how, or if, they are progressing, but as I reviewed the chapter again it mentions, "Humans naturally work together in learning and knowledge-building communities, exploiting each others' skills and appropriating each other's knowledge." (Jonassen pg.5 ) Today, I came in and gave my kids time to work together to complete assigned work throughout the day and I found that their collaborating could create be a whole new level of learning. They instinctively do seek each other out to help in areas where they need support. They also learned new things and questioned each other or interacted to bring up interesting talking points to expand on as a class.