Technical Difficulties, Part II

Just when I thought the technical difficulties were out of the way, I ran into yet another one during our class meeting yesterday.

As I’ve mentioned before, when the course was designed, it was designed with the old version of the textbook and the designer had very little time to update it to the new textbook (which apparently changed a LOT of the chapters).  This lead to lots of inconsistencies throughout the course that we have all had to navigate through (quizzes not matching the material, Chapters being titled incorrectly, etc).  I usually catch them all, but yesterday, I missed one…a big one!  I had designed my class around the Digital Technologies lesson which is the material they were being assessed on, however, the powerpoint listed was on Assistive Technologies which a completely different chapter.  So, when I went to show the powerpoint to the class, it wasn’t the right one, and unfortunately I did not have one for Chapter 6 :(  I winged it and we discussed the digital technologies, did the activity below, and went on our way.  I felt like it went ok and since this chapter was fairly easy, I felt like they got all of the information they needed to know :)

As one of their assignments (actually the one that is due this Thursday), the students are supposed to create a Wiki (if you are unsure as to what a wiki is, it is basically a collaborative tool in which multiple people can edit its content…think Wikipedia), so I thought I would create a class wiki so that they could get used to using it during class.  Yesterday, we talked about different digital technologies that could be used in the classroom (digital cameras, scanners, handheld devices, etc) and I thought I would have the students research one of the tools and have them, as a class, contribute their ideas to a class wiki.  Good idea right?

Although I have used wikis in classes in the past, I have never had an issue with them, however, I learned an important lesson yesterday:  a wiki is a collaborative tool, but cannot be used for simultaneous collaboration.  Basically, every time a student would type in their idea, it would erase everyone else’s…it was a disaster!  Thankfully, I was able to think on my feet and have them input the information elsewhere and then I added it to the wiki (which by the way can be found at http://cat200fall2010.wikispaces.com/Digital+Technologies)

Anyway, hopefully my technical difficulties are out of the way…however, being a technology teacher has definitely kept me on my toes ;)

Things I liked:

• I really enjoyed the collaborative activity (although the technology didn’t work).  I think this will be a great resource for them in the future!
• I like that we were able to turn the class into more of a discussion rather than a lecture…I hate to lecture, but it is way the course is laid out and because it is part of the NCATE certification, I have to make sure I cover everything in the course.

Things I would change:

• Figure out a better way to use collaborative tools simulataneously.
• Create a wiki/blog/or discussion board for questions.  That way students can see the questions that have already been asked and either answer them themselves or see what I have answered.
• Make the changes needed to make sure that all material matches up (I won’t take time to list that all here, but I do have a running list :))

Until next time… :)

Technical Difficulties

I’m a little late in posting this, but it is midterm time and things are a bit crazy!

Before our last class meeting (which was almost two weeks ago…Yikes!  I told you I was behind!), I created a survey to really find out what was working for the students and what wasn’t and how I could help them do well in this course.  Although I am tender-hearted an often don’t take criticism well, I realize that it is for my own good and I can use it to improve myself which is exactly what I hoped to do with this survey because I certainly don’t want to be blasted with bad evaluations at the end of the semester when I can’t do anything about it.

Anyway, the survey results were fairly positive…almost all of my students told me that the jeopardy review game from the last class was extremely helpful (although they did fine on this week’s quiz without it), which made all of that hard work pay off.

I also asked the students if they would like me to send out messages through a CAT 200 Facebook group and over 50% said they would, so I have recently done so and have been sending out messages through both eLearning and Facebook.

The only thing that “irked” me (for lack of a better word) was one response.  I know that it honestly amounts to nothing, but because I am such a perfectionist, it rubbed me the wrong way.  This was the response that elicited that emotion:

Note:  the grading forms I’m referring to are what eLearning calls the built-in rubrics that I have been using the past few assignments.

Can you tell what irked me?  No, well let me point it out for you…

Ok, let me tell you why this irked me.

First of all, it had nothing to do with the question I asked…all I can figure is that particular student thought I was asking if my form of grading was helpful…I’m not sure.

Taking the comment as is, I was a bit offended because I go out of my way to make sure that I am doing everything I can to make sure these students succeed which includes being extremely clear about my expectations and assignment due dates (calendar on the syllabus, course calendar, MULTIPLE e-mails every week, reminders in class etc)

In saying that, the thing that bothered me the most is that students are EXPECTING to receive reminders about assignments.  Although I obviously don’t mind sending out reminders, it bothers me  that they feel that they are entitled to these reminders and unfortunately at this level, having professors that constantly remind you about assignments is RARE.  I hope that these learn this before it is too late!

Although the survey was completely anonymous, survey monkey allows me to pull out that one person’s responses, which I did and this particular student told me that they currently had a C in the class, so I realized it was just a student scorned and shouldn’t take it to heart.

Anyway, moving on!  This session, we talked about lesson planning and the assignment that is actually due next week actually deals with lesson planning (I’m not sure why the assignments were not switched to match up with units, but I’ll deal with that later).  For our in class activity, I actually had students go onto ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange), check out the state standards, and choose a grade level, subject, and standard they were interested in.  As part of the assignment the students are to create a wiki and paste their lesson plan there, so I went ahead and had them create the wiki so they are good to go for the next assignment.

During the class meeting, I gave students a tutorial on how to use the Wimba LiveClassroom which we would be using in the assignment due that following Thursday.  I walked them through step by step and even pointed them to the video the course developer made on how to complete the assignment.

I was hoping that this would alleviate some of the questions I would receive, but boy was I wrong!

I was BOMBARDED with questions about this tool.  I understand it is hard to learn, but this was crazy!  Every time I got the same question more than once, I would send out an e-mail to the class.  I don’t mind helping students, but what I do mind is when I go out of my way to help them (like send them e-mails on how to troubleshoot), I do expect them to use them before they send me an e-mail asking the same question that I just addressed.  When I found myself answering the same questions that I just addressed in MULTIPLE class e-mails, I got a bit frustrated that I was going to all of this trouble to send out multiple e-mails and them not even bother to read them.

Because the students were having so many problems, I ended up extending the assignment until this past Monday.  Although we didn’t have class, I spent the entire day answering e-mails from students and redirecting them back to the e-mails I had previously sent (Alth0ugh I do get e-mail alerts on my phone, because of the eLearning mail tool setup, I actually have to go log in on a computer to reply to their messages, which means on days like this, I am literally tied to the computer.)

Thankfully I did get the majority of them through the assignment with only a few minor breakdowns (both mine and their’s), but it was an exhausting process.  I was feeling very defeated until I received this e-mail from a student who had literally had a breakdown.

It definitely made my day and made me realize that all my hard work is worth it :)

Anyway, here are the things I have done:

• Made note of all of the problems students have ran into using Live Classroom to be better prepared to help students in the future.
• Submitted midterm grades for my students and was happy to see that I only have about 6 students out of 6 with grades lower than an A :)
• I made a Facebook group to communicate with my students Note:  I am not friending any of my students, they are just allowed to join a group I created and I send messages through there.

Things I want to do or would change:

• Type out a troubleshooting/FAQ pdf to use for future classes and direct students there when questions are asked.
• Create a FAQ on a discussion board/blog so that I can refer students there rather than having to answer the same question multiple times.
• Figure out better, quicker, and more effective ways to communicate with my students (i.e. maybe create a class e-mail account?)
• Fix the discussion questions and assignments so that they match up with the units.

Anyway, I meet with my students again on Monday so I’m looking forward to another great class! :)