The Techie 101

The challenges of building a curriculum

2014-08-05T14:33:00.001-07:00

So I'm about to embark on one of the biggest challenges of my life... Creating and teaching curriculum for high school students in Video Game Design.

I've done web programming for years and have recently started teaching basic game design in MIT's Scratch (which I absolutely adore). I've been teaching "game-design" for years in PowerPoint with hyperlinks and buttons. But, I'm nervous. I want to make sure that I'm teaching the foundations of game design as well.

It will be so good for students to learn valuable skills such as story and character development, problem solving, marketing, etc. I just hope I'm up to the task! Any and all suggestions for this course are greatly appreciated!

Been a while...

2014-06-13T08:16:00.001-07:00

With moving to a new town, starting a new job in a new school, and building a house, I haven't been on here much lately.

I have noticed some changes in school technology attitudes, I've seen the impact of no technology classes in elementary grades, and I've witnessed something I didn't think possible: the day when students would again be dumbfounded by a computer.

Now, yes, they are, many of them, techno-savvy, but it's more towards smart phones. They see Windows 7 and freak out. "Where do I go to open that" Or "I saved it, but I don't know where" are common phrases I now hear in my classroom.

I now understand that I have taken my knowledge of file structure and operating systems for granted (I mean, even the basic stuff). So, new goal for next year: teach the patterns of technology use to my students. Introduce them to the difference between Local Machine and network drive. Show them that downloads end up on the downloads folder, which is totally different from My Documents...

It's a strange new world we live in...

What the? ...

2012-11-16T18:36:00.001-08:00

So I wanted to post about this topic and bring as much awareness to the subject as possible. One of my favorite apps is now being tainted by an influx of spam. From the get-go, Instagram was a great place to begin my beloved hobby. I learned how to edit my pics, I learned how to market my pics... hell, I even learned how to take pics really... With all the amazing amateur photographers out there, I saw, I spent time thinking about it and figuring it out, and I conquered.

Along the way, I met some amazing people...some people who all but saved me last year when it felt like my world was falling apart...some people who taught me new things and made me laugh and made me feel like a valuable human being. I am eternally grateful to you all. You know who you are.

I also found my creativity and a new way of seeing the world. (no wonder I am so addicted to my iPhone...). I found this hobby that makes me calm and lets me forget all the troubles of my world while helping me to remember the beauty all around me. I found this hobby that is challenging and rewarding all at once.

Now...when I learned that Facebook would be purchasing IG, I had my reservations... the google ads, the rumors that IG would just be integrated with Facebook and would no longer be its own community, I had my doubts. Something that changed my life so completely couldn't go away (I believe they call that denial...). To this day...they haven't changed it so much that it's unrecognizable, the community (or the majority of the community) is still there. Yes, there are still duckfaces, and they become more and more prevalent under the wrong tags. That, I can handle. But what I can't handle is the recent influx of spam... I've gotten solicitations to be in movies, earn money from home, pay for followers, either from "private" accounts, or seemingly normal accounts owned by foreign models... The best is the "WTF, You stole my pic!" spam... with link to said photo in facebook. This insults our creativity as photographers and wastes perfectly good time that we could have been doing something more productive (like taking more pics to post) with. Instead, every day, I'm deleting the "I earned $100 from filling out surveys at home!" comments from my pictures.

In a statement to its followers (aka me), Instagram promises they have "introduced new features" that will nix the spam. But...I'm still getting the spam...daily... My only option seems to be going "private," but then the hashtags don't work and the "marketing" and the true "social" aspect completely goes away. I then become the iPhoneographer who keeps real followers from finding me and vice-versa... how many iPhoneographers am I missing out on because they've gone private to avoid the recent rash of get-rich-quick schemes...

It's disconcerting. and irritating. and a disappointment. Come on IG... If you can keep me from tagging my pic with more than 30 tags, surely you can keep someone from spamming... an email verification? Captcha? Do something. The community means something to me, and I'm tired of getting the degrading comments on my pics.

The Magic that is Plastic Bullet

2012-09-23T20:58:00.001-07:00

So I've been using an app called Plastic Bullet for a while now and I can't believe it's not more popular. It's got to be one of my favorite apps for profile pics out there. It's got a holga-esque style to it, and the more creative you get with your lighting, the better it is.

You just open the app and either take a pic or upload one. Then it will give you four choices of filters per page, each filter a little different. What I love is that it looks like a million bucks and its very simple to use.

Created by Red Giant Software, the app costs $.99. I have gotten many compliments on my pics edited this way.

So, if you need a fun new app to play with, I would suggest this one! It's got to be one of my favs!

Nurturing Your God Complex, IG Style

2012-05-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

Landscape Pic

Well, not that anyone out there has a god complex, but if you do (and even if you don't), this app might just be the one you need.

Landscape pic "Tiny Planetized"

About 4 months ago, I began to see these photos that looked like little worlds. I loved these pictures. They seemed magical and fun. The app, named "Tiny Planet Photos," (and rightfully tagged #tinyplanets on IG if you need examples), was suddenly one I had to have. I found it here and downloaded it.

Tiny Planet Photos, created by infoding.com, is a very simple app to use. It works well with landscape and panoramic photos, however, I've had fun with pictures of people and objects. The site suggests using the app in conjunction with apps like Photosynth (which I adore as well). Once you upload a pic, you can choose which direction you want to use when you morph the photo. You can either morph with the top of the photo as the planet, or the bottom. If you have a landscape, it's usually a choice between making the sky the planet or the ground. It morphs, an then you can save the photo.

What I like about the app: it's just cool! Also, it's incredibly easy to use. It takes 3 steps: import, morph, and save. Lastly, the pics are IG ready and come out square. Don't need squaready for this one!

What I dislike about the app: it takes a little time to morph the picture, so if you're in a hurry, don't use it. However, the cool picture that you get will make you forget all about the time issue. (and I'm pretty sure it probably takes 30seconds max, if even that...).

So, check it out if you get a chance! It's usually $0.99, so it's not free, but well worth the pocket change. After all, indulging the god complex, if even just for a moment, is always worth it.

Infoding.com Website

Squaready: The magic app that every IGer needs

2012-05-06T16:18:00.001-07:00

The pic

So, you finally find the time and energy to go hiking in your favorite place. You see amazing landscape after amazing landscape...so you grab your iPhone and take a picture of it. You frame it just so, using the infamous rule of thirds, creating a rectangular masterpiece. Yes... That's right...rectangular.

Now, most people would rejoice at the genius that just happened, but, if you're an IGer, thats just too bad. You will need to figure out which part of that picture you want to trim so that it fits into the square format...or do you? This is where Squaready comes in. This app is a must have because, inevitably, you will take a pic that you don't want to trim, but want to share.

Pic in Squaready

Squaready, an app by FANG, inc., allows you to do this. You can a) square off a rectangular image in an easy way b) shrink an image to fit inside the square while still maintaining its rectangular shape c) add a color/ matte for the image, or d) rotate/flip the image. It's a cool app to have.

Edited in Squaready
and uploaded to IG

Squaready is free as well, but you will have an ad banner at the bottom. It isn't bothersome, so I don't mind sticking with the free. I don't usually have many problems with it crashing, so it's really stable. It's also not one of those apps that updates every five minutes, so it's low-maintenance. Best of all, it will help you to post those beautiful full landscape pics that you've always wanted to post but couldn't figure out how to get out of the box.

To get the app, simply go to the Apple store and download here.
Happy IGing, folks! See you out there!

Cool IG Resources

2012-04-21T08:25:00.001-07:00

So I have been an avid IGer since last May... almost a year. It's introduced me to all kinds of new technology. I've found photo editing apps, sites that sell your work, improved editing skills on my PC, learned more about photography.... it's been so much fun. I thought I'd share some of the cool resources I've found throughout the almost year.

First: Statigram

What: This is an online site that helps you manage your IG posts from web instead of phone.

Benefits:
1. You can easily like posts. Pics are all displayed and you can quickly go through your feed. If you are like me and follow more then 10 people, you can see more posts from who you follow. You miss less.
2. Also, you can see stats about your followers and people you follow. Who likes you most, who doesn't follow back, etc. It's a great way to manage your posts.
3. You can optimize you posts. You can see when people like your pics most (6AM vs. 6PM) and what filter they respond best to as well as other stats that may help you tailor your pics more to your audience.

Drawbacks:

1.You can reply to posts, but it's a bit tedious.

2. Stats aren't in Real Time, so you will see a snapshot of stats from possibly 24 hours previous. You can change a lot in 24 hours!

Overall I love this site. It's great for any IGer and a definite must check out.

Second: IG Exorcist

What: A site that helps rid you of what we on IG lovingly call "Ghost Followers," or people that follow and never interact with your pictures. I had about 1500 followers, did this, and it ended up leaving 800 real followers.

Benefits: Helps out your stats for the popular page and gets rid of pre-teen "follow me!!! I follow back!!!" followers...you know...the ones that post oogie sexy pre-teen pics that no one wants to see...

Drawbacks: Currently on hiatus... but they are working on trying to keep up with IG updates.

Third: Society6

What: Social network where you can share and sell photography, graphic design, etc.

Benefits: You can sell your stuff and set profit margins over base prices and it's not as expensive as other places. Also...it works with paypal.

Drawbacks: haven't been on long enough to find any, but will report if I do.

I have to thank my friend Patrick for telling me about the last one. I had applied to instacanv.as, which is also another place to sell IG art. What I like about this is that it's not affiliated with IG specifically. You can also sell designs for T-shirts, etc. I think you have more freedom. I'm excited to see where this goes!

Okay, IGers (and future IGers...) I'm out! Y'all be safe and check out these resources! They might just make your life a little easier!

Theory and Graphic Design

2012-03-20T08:16:00.001-07:00

So I teach several different classes at a high school here in Texas. While it's exciting to teach new content, I often have to find that content on my own and place it in an order that seems relevant to my students. Some of these areas are somewhat new to me, but I'm finding that I adore teaching these subjects. One such subject is graphic design. I've had instructional design classes and have had art classes, but never combined. Creating content has been one of the most fun and creative things I've gotten to do so far! But one thing I'm finding is a lack of theory (well, theory that is similar to instructional design models such as ADDIE). Instructional design is process based. I assumed that there would be similar models in graphic design to teach my students, but I am not finding any process-based theory. What I am finding:

Technology is changing the face of graphic design. Much graphic design is moving to web-based formats and Adobe products are now dominating the market (Armstrong, 2009).
Because of the increased use in technology graphic design perspectives are changing.
However, basic principles of design still apply. These are balance, contrast, emphasis and subordination, directional forces, proportion, scale, repetition and rhythm, and unity and variety (Engle, 2010)
Even tho there are less gender roles these days, men and women are still somewhat different in client needs and wants (Cass, 2008).

Now the task is teaching these elements to my students. We shall see...

References:
Armstrong, H. (2009). Graphic design theory. AIGA. retrieved March 20, 2012 from: http://www.aiga.org/graphic-design-theory/
Cass, J. (2008) Dudes and Dolls and Design Decisions. Just Creative. retrieved March 19, 2012 from: http://justcreative.com/2008/06/16/how-to-design-for-men-and-women/
Engle, C. (2010). The Lost Principles of Graphic Design. FuelYourCreativity. retrieved March 19, 2012 from: http://www.fuelyourcreativity.com/the-lost-principles-of-design/

IG for Dummies Pt 1: What it is and How to Communicate

2012-02-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

So I was told to post more by a friend of mine yesterday. It's true that I have been slacking, but for good reason. I have become imeshed in the IG culture (Instagram, a social media app for iPhone photography) and my technology geek side has been set aside for my IG addiction. But, why not join the two? So, @its_me_dave, here's my next post and I dedicate it to you, dear friend! I call this series "IG for Dummies" and I shall share some of the tricks I've learned as well as info about free and not-so-free photo editing apps. But first, what is IG, and how does the communication system work?

Instagram is a free app available to all iPhone users. You set up an account and can then begin snapping away and uploading to the app to share with others. In the process, you can edit your pictures using various filters they have available to you. I must warn you that pictures are chopped into a very nice square so when taking the pic, you need to be aware of some cropping that will occur. If you don't know how to judge that, you can take pics inside the app and these will automatically be in the "square" shape.

The communication system is very similar Twitter. You can communicate with another IGer using the @ symbol in front of their username. (I am @breeannd82 if you want to look me up). You will also use hashtags to tag each photo. So, if I take a pic of a dog, in the comments box provided, I might use tags like #dog #cute #imadorable or #puppylove. Leave out spaces and symbols in your tag as that will end the tag. Much like twitter, you want to find tags that are "trending" - each tag you place on your photo groups that photo in with other photos using that tag. By tagging your photo of a dog #dog, you can then click on that tag, and likely you'll find 100,000 more pictures of "#dog"s. This is how you find followers. So, the more popular your tag, the more exposure your pic gets on IG. You can also find people who take pics of things you love. I adore mountains, so if I search the #mountain tag, I can usually find others to follow. I can then click on my home button in IG and can see their pics.

You will also communicate with others via a "like" button and a "comment" button. This is where the fun starts! You want to put that photo out there for others to see and with the Like and comments buttons, you can get feedback from other IGers about your pic. You can also give others feedback about their pics. It's like social learning theory reinforced :)

I adore the app and the community and have made friends and learned so much about my new hobby, iphoneography (also a good hashtag, FYI...). Its a great time-sucker if you need one, and even if you don't, it's well worth the effort. So, until my next post... Happy trails? Lol!

The Google Generation

2012-01-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

So I was discussing the state of public education with my brother (who is a professor at Dean College in Massachusetts) and how we were concerned with what I have come to call the "Google Generation" and their inability to solve problems without consulting some higher power (that higher power being a search engine). In my classes, I have found that I take for granted the problem solving skills that I learned growing up (without complete access to anything other than AOL online...). I assume that these students know how to think through a problem to a solution. However, I am often disappointed in this line of thinking. These students have become so dependent on the search engine for answers. I ask simple questions that students should be able to answer quickly and instead, they consult google for an answer. Students no longer question the validity of an answer they find on google as long as it's "at the top of the search"- they seem unaware that those who pay the most get top billing. It's not a matter of correctness. They search for answers to math problems, to history essays, to simple technology questions. This then creates an environment where plagiarism runs rampid. Students are copying and pasting into their word documents and turning in whatever they find. For opinion-based questions, they search for someone else's opinion on a forum and copy and paste it as their own...and it's not just one or two students, it's a new cultural norm. So how do I, as a professional educator, change this? How do I stress the importance of critically thinking about a problem? How do I stress that plagiarism is not acceptable? I am at a loss...

Hello, my name is Bree and I'm an iPhone addict...

2011-06-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

You know...I'm sure that people have loved electronics in the past, but I'm pretty sure I more than love my iPhone...I'm addicted to it. You can ask my husband. He finally caved and got his own smart phone not too long ago so he could communicate with me. Apparently, you can only contact me via text message, email on my phone, or on my facebook app for iPhone. Not to worry, folks... we have complete conversations now on our phones while sitting right next to each other.

I am (and always have been) a loyal pc person, but I can't help but love and cherish the wonederfulness that is my iPhone and all the apps it has to offer. You want an app for staying organized? There is one... I've been using Remember the Milk, a free to-do list app that helps keep you on task. You want an app to train to run a 5K? There is one... couch to 5K. I've been using the $2.99 version however, my husband has the free and so far, we haven't noticed much of a difference. You want an app to be able to mix drinks like a pro bar tender? There is one... I've been using DrinksFree (maybe twice in the last month or two...I'm addicted to iPhones...remember?) But what I've really come to love about my iPhone and the apps I can find are the apps that are specifically for photography and photo editing.

I believe these apps may be the reason I'm so addicted to my iPhone (well...these and Facebook, but that's a whole different story than the one I want to focus on today). It started out with the Hipstamatic app. I spent around $8 on just new film, new flashbulbs, and new lenses I could apply to my photos. However, I grew tired of not understanding the mixture between the three different parts of hipstamatic and decided it was okay, but not my favorite. I then downloaded Camera+. I believe it may be $0.99 nowadays. This app allows you to edit your photo. You can choose the correct setting you took the photo in and it will edit brightness and contrast automatically for this setting. You can crop and adjust the photo as well. You can then add "FX" or effects to your photo, my favorite being "So Emo", "Diana", or "Pinhole". Finally, you can add borders to your photo. However, this was not enough... One of my graphic design students came to me one day and told me about an app that behaves much like a very easy photoshop. This app is called PhotoStudio and it has 187 preset effects you can add to your photo. I do love this app, but feel I have little control over these 187 effects. If I want to have some control, but quickly edit a photo, I can do so in this app. But it didn't stop there.

Plastic Bullet App

I then had a student come to me and tell me about a fabulous app called "Plastic Bullet" - This app has been one of my very favorites. You take a photo, it then displays 4 different preset edits to the photo, which you can continually refresh to show four new edits. I'm not sure how many there are, but I love how easy it is. One of the best things about this app is that it compresses and resizes the image to be smaller. It's great for taking a photo and quickly adding it to Facebook. These images usually work better when the lighting is considered and played with to create an effect.

PhotoForge 2 with Pop!Cam

And finally, my latest and newest photo editing app on my iPhone is called PhotoForge2. I also splurged and bought the Pop! Cam add in for the app. This app really does remind me of Photoshop. In fact, I can create beautiful images, edit how they are exposed, and then I can add layers, which I love! I've used it to edit multiple scenic photos. I love how you can add borders and textures to the photo as well.

So, how does this relate to educational technology? Next year, I'll be teaching a Commercial Photography class. I'm very excited about the possibilities that these apps are offering. More and more students now come to class with a smart phone in tow. As an educator, it's difficult to be okay with allowing the use of smart phones in the classroom, but can you imagine the possibilities and learning opportunities available because there's an app for everything? I recently joined the Instagram community (a social networking app for iPhone users who are crazy about sharing their photography). Because of this, I'm imagining my photography class taking photos for specific purposes, posting/sharing them, giving them a relevant caption, critiquing them, and via this experience, understanding that photography can be much more than just taking a good profile pic for Facebook. It can also be an art form that connects you socially to people around the world.

I am very excited to see how education and smartphones will "mix" in the future. Hopefully, we can find ways to integrate these new resources without being afraid of them....and in the mean time, I must admit that I am an iPhone addict, and because of all the great things there are to offer out there, I may be powerless to change it.

Helpful Sites:
Hipstamatic Site
Camera+ Site
Photostudio Site
Plastic Bullet Site
PhotoForge2 Site

Non-Traditional Student Resources for Blackboard

2010-12-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Thought I might post these so that more people have access to them. A friend (Jenn) and I created these in Captivate last year for TTU students so that faculty/instructors would be able to place links in their online courses for those that may need a little help getting started with the Blackboard CE 8 interface (AKA the "non-traditional" online student). If you don't know why you would want to do this, check out my post on the CHICO rubric for course design.

Here they are organized by tool:

The Assignment Tool:

Turning in an assignment

The Grade Book Tool:

Checking Your Grades in My Grades

The Communication Tools: (Mail, Discussion)

The Assessment Tool:

Taking and Submitting an Assessment

The Learning Module Tool:

How to go through a learning module in Blackboard

All have audio and all should have the option to turn on closed captioning. It's so important for the student to have what's necessary to succeed in an online environment, especially the non-traditional students. This way, they can focus on learning the content rather than learning the system.

Course Design the CHICO Way

2010-11-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

I've spent several years in Higher Education now and what I'm realizing is that, more times than not, faculty members are assigned online or hybrid courses without any consideration for if they really are comfortable with technology or not. These faculty members (or instructors) are given access to whatever course management system (CMS) is available and then set loose to create an environment where students are supposed to learn something incredibly valuable. Many times, they get this "news" about two weeks before courses start, adding to the problem. Sound familiar?

There are concerns with this scenario on multiple levels. First of all, the pedagogical considerations for an online course are completely different than a face-to-face course. So many faculty put their syllabus and lecture PowerPoints up and add one or two quizzes and call it an online course. Second, many faculty members have very little experience with technology and may not feel comfortable creating content for an online environment (or even know what to use). Third, in order to really be able to teach a course, the faculty member must understand the components that are available to them within a course management system and what the face-to-face activity would translate into in an online environment. Lastly, the faculty member needs to be able to know how to use the CMS.

Enter Instructional Designer. As a faculty member, your university (or college) may have instructional design teams available to help you design and develop your course. However, this process generally begins at least 6 months prior to the course going “live” if not more, so knowledge in advance is incredibly important. They can either a) give you suggestions for how to “digitize” content (i.e. placing lectures in Adobe Presenter and adding a voice-over component for more social presence), or b) digitize it for you. However, this process generally takes much more time than the two weeks that you may have available to create the course.

So…what do you do? One of the best resources I’ve come across is the CHICO rubric from Cal State. I’ve been support for Quality Matters as well, but for faculty, I always point them towards CHICO as QM is much more for instructional designers. The CHICO rubric is also free for use where QM is not.

There are six major categories listed in the rubric: Learner Support & Resource, Online Organization & Design, Instructional Design & Delivery, Assessment & Evaluation of Student Learning, Innovative Teaching with Technology, and Faculty Use of Student Feedback. But…before you get overwhelmed with these terms, what I love about the rubric is that it explains each category well and in more every-day language.

Here’s my take on what you need for these categories:

Learner Support & Resource:

Links to online learner resources and support such as a link to the student disability services site and contact information, links to the university library system and/or any requesting site for library resources, etc. If the CMS doesn’t have a specific “Web Links” tool, you can copy and paste into a Word document and create a sort of “Hotlist” for student resources and post on the course homepage. I also would suggest any links to university provided training for students on how to use the CMS for the more non-traditional student. You might also place links to any outside resources you might use for the course.

Online Organization & Design

This just means that the course is easy to navigate through. You want to be careful not to link to one document in multiple locations, make sure there aren’t too many clicks to get to content from the home page (one or two tops), and you want to have something like an introductory module that explains where students can find your course content (e.g. “you can find assignments for the course by clicking on “Assignments” on the course menu”). The less complicated you make the organization of course content, the easier it is for students to focus on the content and not the course design.

Instructional Design & Delivery

This means that you have lots of social interaction and content interaction going on in your course. There are three types of interaction that you want to make sure is happening in your course: student-instructor, student-student, and student-content. For student-instructor interactions, you will want to make sure you consistently check email and communicate with your students. Don’t leave your course for weeks at a time and then come back to it. You’ve got to be present and make sure your students know you are present in the online course. For student-student interactions, you can have discussions set up where students must interact, chat rooms for encouraged communication, group projects, etc. They just need to be placed in situations online where they can communicate about content. Finally, for student-content interactions, you will want to make sure there’s enough content in the course to adequately describe what you are teaching, whether it’s a site with information, images of something, graphic organizers, journal articles, or something else…just make sure it helps the student learn the content.

Assessment & Evaluation of Student Learning

One of the most important parts of your online course is assessment and evaluation. You have got to add in various forms of assessment to make sure your students “get” the material and you don’t often have the luxury of observation or face-to-face question sessions, so you have to get creative. I had a wonderful instructor who used the assessment tool as a teaching tool. She would give assessments, but in the feedback for each question, she’d give the students pointers for that question, not necessarily giving the answer, but giving students pointers for where to find the information. She’d then release the results as soon as the student had finished taking the exam. In this way, the assessment tool became both a learning and assessment tool, helping the student and the instructor. You can also assess via discussions on the discussion board, or through assignments in the assignment tool. You just need to make sure you have that built in. One other thing that’s incredibly important when considering your assessments and evaluations is making sure you are actually assessing student understanding of your course goals and objectives.

Innovative Teaching with Technology

This means that you need to use the right technology to teach what you want to teach. Here are some suggestions:
1. Instead of using PowerPoint alone, use Adobe Presenter to add audio and export as a Flash presentation.
2. Use .pdf files instead of Word documents to convey information – this way you are protected and documents are much easier for students to open.
3. Use what’s out there that’s already created: MERLOT is an open source content repository where there are online resources to teach pretty much everything.
4. Use websites to teach content, but make sure to have students answer specific questions using that site so they don’t get “lost” in the information.
5. Use Skype or another instant messaging tool to facilitate group projects and communication.

Faculty Use of Student Feedback

This means that you give students the opportunity to give feedback on how well your course “worked.” You can do this using a student survey through the CMS and if it doesn’t have one, there are survey tools out there online that are free such as Survey Monkey where you can create and collect survey data from your students. You can also have students leave anonymous posts on the discussion board. Once you get this data, you can restructure your course accordingly.

The last resource that I use for almost every course I design is the CHICO checklist. If you don’t know what to place in the course and want more specifics, this is a great resource.

And…for those of you who might find yourselves in this situation: Don’t panic. You can do this throughout the semester, so it doesn’t have to be done right away! So…calm down, and look for resources on your campus and online. Resources are everywhere. Check out the CHICO rubric as well – hopefully this will help you on your road to creating the best online course you can.

Social Photography a la Me

2010-10-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty sure that this is not a new phenomenon, but I recently decided to join Shutterfly via my sis and brother-in-law. I've heard about the books, gifts, etc. that you can make, but what made me incredibly happy was the fact that I can create my own site for free where I can invite others to be members and have access to any prints I put online. I can also limit access if I don't want anyone else to get to them (protecting any copyright infringement). I love it. I’ve used it several times now and love that you can create your own site and share with others. They have pre-made layouts that you can choose and customizable background color. Not only can you show pics on this site, but you can add other section types as well, including videos, photo books, single picture frames, text, a journal (or blog), bookmarks, and files. There’s a recent activity feed where you will see any recent changes I’ve made to the site as well. Guests can also leave messages for you on your board, which makes it a little more personal. It’s photography plus social networking (two things I absolutely adore) so what could be better than that?

There are a lot of options and it does take a while to get situated to the environment (and where you click to get to what), so it may take a while to master, but it’s worth it. So exciting when you find something this fabulous! So…if you love photography and want to share as much as I do, check it out.

To join, go to: http://www.shutterfly.com/ and create an account.

Once you've done that and get to your control panel, go to the Share tab and click on "Create a Site."

The Web 2.0 Copyright Revolution: Creative Commons

2010-09-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but hadn't had the chance to do it. I attended the Educause 2009 conference (via web conferencing) and got to sit in on one of the best presentations I've ever heard with Lawrence Lessig titled "It Is About Time: Getting Our Values Around Copyright Right"

It was fabulous because (number 1) his presentation style and use of PowerPoint left me feeling PowerPoint presentation-inadequate and gave me great ideas about how to use it differently, (number 2) because he has a way of making a revolutionary out of all of us, and (number 3), he gave me a well rounded view of what's happening with copyright and digital media that I'm so excited about.

For a couple of years now, I've helped faculty at my university develop courses and have gotten so many requests to "just upload a video" to their online course, or, being in Education, use whatever is found on the web (we are famous for adhering to the statement "Why reinvent the wheel?"). My response before this presentation was always "You can use it, but make sure you cite where you found it" or "DON'T use it! You can get sued!" However, now, I suggest looking for content that is branded with the Creative Commons licensing.

I've been watching the web evolve into this communally focused environment for years now (I remember when we got online with the "free" cds with AOL access mailed to us on a regular basis and went to scary chat rooms and discussion boards were new on the horizon) and I love it. It's so amazing that someone can create a recording of their music, upload it to a site and brand it with a Creative Commons license, and then let someone else take it, add to it under the protection of Creative Commons, re-upload it, and make it something completely new. It's the ultimate group project and the ultimate learning experience. It's also one of the best things that's happened in education that encourages shared creativity and motivation (which...let's face it, is hard to come by these days). It gives the layman a way to protect their work and possibly become the next Justin Bieber. Okay, maybe not that big, but it's nice to have that capability.

If you haven't heard of Creative Commons, please please please...check it out (especially if you are an artist). If you get a chance, listen to the presentation by Lawrence Lessig posted above. If you are looking for open-source content for your class (open for use in any online environment), check out these resources:

MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching

OER Commons

OpenCourseWare Finder

SUPER COOL Find: edu2.0

2010-09-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

I started back teaching at Slaton High School August 24th so I've been very busy trying to get stuff going for my seven (yes, I said seven) classes. One of the best resources I've found just happens to be a free tool (or a tool with a free plan). This tool is actually a Learning Management System (or LMS), aka Course Management System....and....it's FREE! (Yes. That's what I said). I have most of the same abilities as I have in Blackboard, except I don't have the support. But, if you are comfortable using new technology, it's very similar. I've messed with it now for about a week and am beginning to understand how to use it, so you may have to work in it before you use it with a live course.

This fantastic resource is known as edu 2.0 (mine is "for school"). You can find it here. I use mine for K-12 classes. I've created separate courses for all of my classes. I've added students to my site (giving them usernames and passwords and they search and enroll in the classes with course ID's but you can login as the student and add the classes yourself if you'd like more control). I can then create lessons with assignments that can be open-ended with attachment capabilties, quizzes, surveys, discussions, etc. I can create discussion forums and have a chat room as well. Students can create their own personal blogs and can create wikis for collaboration. You've also got a grade book where you can place student grades.

Basically, I love it. Only drawbacks? Not as easy to navigate to the site unless you type in the whole link. Manually having to import students (although, it looks like you might be able to mass import...just haven't figured it out yet). Bulky Announcements...I don't want to see everything that's due for all seven of my classes when I login and it takes me directly to my homepage.

So, if you are tired of Blackborg...er, Blackboard, check it out!

Blackboard Crash Course: Part III, Bb Tools

2010-08-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I decided to go ahead with some home renovations before school starts back and I've been out of pocket, but I wanted to make sure that I kept up with the Blackboard Crash course posts, so here's the next installment.

Blackboard is set up to “mimic” a face-to-face environment using various tools they have available to the instructor (and student). There are so many to choose from, but I generally tell Blackboard newbies to pick a couple of tools per semester and get good at these so that you aren’t overwhelmed with learning all of them at once.

There are communication tools, which are, in my opinion, almost the most important part of an online course. These include a discussion board, which is an asynchronous tool meant to provide instructors with the capability of facilitating discussion online (much like you might do in your face-to-face courses). Instructors can post questions for students and then students (at a time convenient to them) can reply to these questions with answers. These discussions can be seen by everyone in the course, or you, the instructor, can divide students up into groups to discuss where only students assigned to that specific group can see and respond inside the group. The next communication tool in blackboard is the email tool. This is like any other email tool, except the instructor, students, TA’s, etc. can only email inside the course. No outside email is allowed. There is also an Announcement tool that allows the instructor (or TA) to post course announcements for students to keep them updated. You can choose to make these “pop-up” when students first log in to the course. Finally, there’s a chat-room tool, which allows instructors to hold synchronous (everyone in the online chat room at a specific time) online meetings. In my experience, the chat tool has been incredibly unstable off campus at Texas Tech University, so I would encourage you to find another tool to use.

There is an Assignment tool, which allows you, the instructor, to provide students with a place to submit assignments online. These can be text submissions (students type a text response in a text box provided inside the assignment tool on blackboard) or attachment submissions (students write a paper in Word and attach it like an email attachment before they submit the assignment). Either of these methods are effective. Blackboard then lets you know in the Grade Book tool that the student has submitted the assignment. You can set up the assignment tool to allow students to turn in assignments on a specific due date and it also gives you the option to put a cut-off date as well. Assignments turned in after the due date but before the cutoff date are marked “late” and assignments turned in after the cut-off date are marked “missed”.

There is also an Assessment tool that allows you to create online exams and quizzes inside Blackboard. This version of Blackboard has nine question types: Calculated (for math questions), Fill in the Blank, Jumbled Sentence, Matching, Multiple Choice, Paragraph, Short Answer, True/False, and Combination (Multiple Response). You can create questions and then add them to any exam you would like. You can then change settings for that exam (under Edit Properties). This includes number of attempts, time given for the exam or quiz, how and when the results are displayed, etc.

There are also course organizational tools such as the syllabus tool, the calendar tool, and the goals tool. The syllabus tool allows you to upload your syllabus (either in Word or PDF format) to the course so that students can easily access it. You can also use the syllabus tool to build a syllabus inside the course. The calendar tool allows you to post anything you create inside blackboard on a calendar so that students can see the due dates for those tasks. The goals tool is a great way for you to keep track of how your assignments, assessments, etc. are meeting your course objectives. You can create goals, or objectives, for your course and then can associate them with your tasks.

One of the most important tools inside Blackboard is the Learning Module tool. This tool allows you to group your content into chunks, or pieces. As discussed in an earlier post (Blackboard Crash Course Part I: Planning Your Course), it’s important to decide the structure of the course. The learning module allows you to provide the structure you decide (i.e. grouped by week, by topic, by unit). The learning module tool is set up like an outline for that grouped content (see image below).

There are two different ways to set up a learning module. The first is the single module model. This is like what is seen in the image above. The course content is separated by headings. All content is linked within one module. This is beneficial for navigational purposes, but if your course is large with lots of content, it can become unwieldy. The second is the multiple module model. In this model, grouped content is separated and placed into individual modules that correspond with the topic, week, or unit (see image below).

My best advice for learning these tools is to just jump in and learn the tool by creating a discussion post and replying to it using the student view tab, creating an exam question and adding it to an exam, creating a learning module, and then inside, creating a heading and adding a file and organizing it using the indent and outdent buttons, or creating an announcement. Just start working in it. If you need help, there are great sites out there with tutorials. The TLTC at Texas Tech University has a site dedicated to both faculty and students for using tools in blackboard. You can find those here:

Blackboard Faculty Support Site: http://www.tltc.ttu.edu/content/asp/blackboard/quickstartguide.asp
Blackboard Student Support Site: http://www.tltc.ttu.edu/content/asp/blackboard/SupportStudent.asp

Make sure to check both of those sites out for how-to guides and tutorials.

Blackboard Crash Course: Part II, Bb Basics

2010-07-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun with the Bilingual Ed Faculty at the College of Education at TTU today! They had some great questions and seemed to do much better with so much content than I anticipated (so, way to go, guys! you're getting this quickly!). I wanted to continue the Blackboard Crash Course training today by covering the basic parts of Blackboard's structure that keep the course going and are sort of like the "back bone" pieces of the system. These include the three tabs (Build, Teach, and Student View), the File Manager, Manage Course (under the Designer Tools Menu on the Build Tab), and action-links.

The Three Tabs
Blackboard is built on a system of tabs. You will see this repeated throughout the system in various places (e.g. the grade book). What you can do in your Blackboard course will vary depending on which tab you are in. Your course will even look different depending on which tab you are in. It's important to understand what these tabs mean and what permissions are granted with each tab.

The first tab is the Build tab. In the build tab, you can design the course, create course content, and manage course settings. At TTU, section designers and section instructors have access to the build tab so these roles must be given in order to do the tasks listed above. The second tab is the Teach tab. Here, you will manage students, grade assignments, post responses in discussions, and send mail to students. Teaching Assistants and Section Instructors have access to the Teach tab, so you must have one of these roles in order to do the tasks listed above. The third tab is one of my favorite additions to the Blackboard interface. The Student View tab actually allows you to see the course from a true student perspective. When you click on the Student View tab, Blackboard "forgets" that you are who you have logged in as and you become "Demo Student." You can take quizzes and complete assignments as a student in this tab, which makes this tab great for checking your work inside Blackboard. Did the instructions make sense? Was it hard to turn this in? It's always good to get into the habit of checking what you've build in the Student View tab.

Manage Course
You can very easily change your course settings from the Build tab as well. If you click on the Build tab and then, under Designer Tools, select "Manage Course," you will see something that looks like this:

Three important things you can do in Manage Course are choosing what tools you will use in the course, organize the course menu, and change settings for your course.

If you click on Tools in the Manage Course menu, you will be able to check and uncheck tools that you want to use. For example, you may not want to use the Roster tool, so you can uncheck it and then click "Save" and the tool will no longer be available. This is not permanent, though, so you can always go back to Tools and change selections. Just remember to save whatever you change.

If you click on Course Menu in the Manage Course menu, you can reorder your course menu, for example, moving the syllabus tool or announcement tool to the top of the course menu for easy access for students. You can also hide certain tools on the course menu from students. This is where Blackboard is a little confusing. If the button by the object you wish to hide says "hide link," students can see it. If it says "show link," they cannot. So think of these as opposite to what is really happening in the course.

Finally, if you click on Settings in the Manage Course menu, you can change settings for tools or for specific roles (e.g. TA) in your course. You should always be careful when changing settings in your Blackboard course. These changes could impact the behavior of the tools in your course, or the course itself. One thing that I am very excited about with this version of Blackboard is the ability to create a journal for students using the discussion tool. Only the instructor and the specific student sees these journal entries, so it is a great tool fro student reflection. You must enable Blog and Journal-type topic creation in the discussion tool in the settings menu if you wish to use this option. To do this, click on Settings, then Discussions, and finally, select "true" next to "Enable Blog and Journal type topic creation." Remember to always save any changes you make!

The File Manager

In Blackboard, everything that you upload to your course is housed in the File Manager. Think of it as the "My Documents" area of your course. However, these files are usually housed on a server that the university owns, so your content is portable. You can access the content from anywhere as long as you have Internet access and can log in to your course. There are specific limitations to the file-size which will be set by the university rather than Blackboard. One thing to understand about the file manager is that files can be manually pulled in (using "Get Files" and then "My Computer") or they can be automatically added. For example, when using the syllabus tool in Blackboard, you upload the file to the tool and then the file automatically shows up in the File Manager. You can also organize your content in your file manager much like you can in your My Documents folder on your computer. You can add folders and place related content inside the folder.

Action Links
One of the most important things to understand about Blackboard is that it uses objects called Action Links to provide the user with options for a specific object. Action Links will look like this:

Action Links are like “right click” in Windows in that when you click one, it brings up a menu for that object. This menu allows you to see what you can do to that object but will be different for each type of object.

These things are incredibly important to understand when you begin building your course inside Blackboard. Make sure to check them out and then use them to see what they do so that you feel comfortable using the system.

Blackboard Crash Course: Part I, Quick Tips

2010-07-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will be giving a workshop to instructors/faculty at the TTU College of Education about Blackboard. It's incredibly difficult to understand the program in one workshop, but I'm attempting anyway. Here's a recap of what I'll be covering and what's important to remember when building an online course in Blackboard and just a few tips for teaching as well.

Learning Managment System (LMS) Basics
One of the most important things to remember about any Learning Management System (such as Blackboard, WebCT, Angel, Moodle, and Sakai) is that there are commonalities. Most LMS's have common tools that can be used to facilitate teaching. Usually, you will find communication tools of some sort, such as an interior mail tool that allows you to control student to student and student to instructor emails, or a discussion tool, which allows students and instructors to communicate about content. In this version of Blackboard (Blackboard CE 8, formerly WebCT), there is also a chat tool, which allows for real-time communication, simulating a "real" class meeting. This tool, however, has been found to be unreliable and inconsistent at TTU, so I would advise using an outside chat tool such as Skype, MSN messenger, or AIM.

Learning Management Systems will also have some sort of Assignment tool where students can upload files and submit for grading. Assignment tools generally have some sort of text submission format (type in a box provided on the LMS Assignment screen) or an attachment submission (Word document, PPT file, PDF, etc). Blackboard has a built-in reader for Office Documents that are 2003 and below. However, it cannot open Office 07 documents inside the window. These will open in a new window. It can also open PDF files in the Blackboard window, so these are the best file-types.

These systems will also have some sort of Assessment tool where you can create quizzes or exams and can modify assessment settings for a certain date, for a certain amount of time, and for the delivery of the questions. Publisher files are not easily uploaded into this version of Blackboard because there is no question parser, so a program like Respondus may help in this instance.

Finally, these systems will generally have a grade book, where you can enter grades for students and review your student roster. At TTU, students are automatically pulled into the courses, but this may be different for your campus.

Social Presence in Your Online Course
One incredibly important piece of teaching online is the aspect of social presence in your course. One thing to remember about any LMS is that it isn't a teacher. You should remember that an LMS enables your teaching, but is not good for "teaching" your class. You are an important piece of the puzzle! This means that you should make sure that students know you are part of the course even if it is all online. Self-paced courses are great, but humans are social, so allow for student-student discussions and student-instructor discussions. Don't just put your content up and then expect students to learn. You've got to be active in the LMS environment, checking on student understanding. The easiest way to do this is to use the discussion tool. You can also ask for student reactions using the assignment tool, but always put some form of accountability to learn the content in the course.

Don't panic about having to be active in your course. With an LMS, you can customize the course to your teaching style and it can look very much like your face-to-face course, only with more writing (or typing). You can also build on your level of comfort with technology. Learn one or two tools each semester and spread out your learning curve so that you aren't overwhelmed with learning all the tools at once.

Planning Your Course
It's so incredibly important to create a plan for your course before you put it online. The more preparation you put into your course, the better the learning experience for your students. Here are a few things to remember when planning your course:

1. Decide the structure of the course(weekly assignments, topic-based modules, due dates, etc.)
2. Gather and/or create digitized content
3. Upload outside content in the right place in Blackboard (e.g. syllabus)
4. Create content needed with tools inside Blackboard (e.g. quiz)
5. Use learning modules to structure your course
*remember a “Getting Started” module: Treat this like you would your first day in
a face-to-face class.

You will also want to make sure that there is a discussion space for student introductions. You might want to set an example on the discussion board and introduce yourself. This helps students feel like there are other people in the course.

You will also want to create a contingency plan for if the system fails. What do they do if they can’t submit an assignment because Blackboard is down? Do you allow extra time? If so, how much?

Last, you will want to remember this: Keep It Simple Stupid. The fewer frills there are in a course, the easier it is to get around. Place only one link to each file in the course, not multiple links. Keep icons similar to default or use icons that really represent the topic they are labeling. Keep the homepage as uncluttered as possible, and don’t have multiple layers to the course. In other words, don’t have a folder on the homepage that opens to another folder that opens to another folder. Just have one to two layers (or hierarchies).

If you can remember these quick tips when desiging your course, it may help to keep your course as user-friendly as possible. One great resource for course design is the CHICO Rubric, which I've used for several years now. Here is the link to the CHICO course checklist which has been incredibly important for me to have when designing courses.

Technophobia

2010-06-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

So for the last few years, I've been getting my degree in Educational Technology while working in a higher-ed position where I helped faculty put courses online using educationally sound techniques, software, etc. While I loved being in a support role with faculty, instructors, and graduate students alike, I decided my real passion was teaching. I liked supporting software. I liked making suggestions to faculty. But, I LOVED designing and giving workshops over using educational technology in the face-to-face classroom as well as online. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. So, needless to say, I found myself teaching BCIS I and II at a local small high school. I've never been happier in a job. I can say this with complete confidence. However, I'm noticing some things that are different between Higher Education and K-12 Education.

I should have known. I mean, you think about the amount of funding you have at a university versus the amount of funding you have at a small title-I school district. You also have to think about the research institution and the push for all things cutting edge versus tried and true instruction. I don't think either is better. They are different.

I just attended a session at a technology conference here in town where we discussed how much freedom on the internet is too much. I guess you can call me a radical and as I sat there and heard educator after educator complain about how their students would find a way through the blocks that are in place to their Facebook accounts, Myspace accounts, and YouTube, I realized I am fundamentally different.

I guess I should provide some background information. I have been on Facebook for several years now and love it. I use the Facebook app on my iPhone to update my status from everywhere. I was among the first generation to use Myspace and have since outgrown it and given it up. I've been blogging for about 3 years now. I've created and managed wikis, and I'm about to embark on a new journey through pod and vodcasting. I'm one of a new generation of technology users that believe in sharing with others from other sides of the globe. I love the idea of creative commons licensing. I love how creative we all can now be and I love that we can share that creativity with millions of others online. I think that the idea of connecting with someone so far away in an instant is amazing and wonderful and provides so many new avenues of exploration for education. In my position at the university, I encouraged faculty to incorporate these things into their online, hybrid, and web-assisted courses. I researched and told them of the benefits of creating a community of learners and the importance of social presence in the online classroom, no matter how much of it is really online. I believe in the Web 2.0 revolution and all it stands for.

So, when I was sitting there in the session hearing all of these K-12 teachers debate the presenter on the value of allowing students access to Facebook and YouTube, I was quite discouraged. When I first arrived at my district, I had to request that the Google applications be unblocked. The "blog" or "forum" feature for these applications threw up a red flag to our internet security program. I've requested that Blogger be unblocked. However, I foresee a long road ahead of me full of requesting that tools like ning.com (social networking site where you can set up your own network, much like Facebook on a smaller scale) or linkedin.com where my students can learn the value of social networking in the professional arena, be unblocked.

So, that's the dilemma. That's the issue that I think educators will be facing for several years to come. We who believe in the value of such communal tools will have to somehow convince the technophobes that these things are not dangerous. They are amazing tools for education. They provide opportunities for active and social learning. They help with classroom management issues and can be great motivators for student learning. Can we, as educators, teach students how to use the internet safely? Can we then expect students to show greater responsibility for their choices in the classroom when on the internet? Can we trust that the benefits of these tools outweigh the costs? I hope so. I think we would be missing out on such a great resource if not.

For more information on using the internet safely, here are some sites I'd suggest:
NetSmartz Workshop: http://www.netsmartz.org/index.aspx
Safekids.com: http://www.safekids.com/
Microsoft Online Safety: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/
Stay Safe Online: http://www.staysafeonline.org/