There was no web conference scheduled for Week 5

week 4 web conference

Unfortunately I missed both web conferences this week.  I feel that reading the overviews and rubrics is just as helpful as attending the web conferences.

Week 3 web conference reflection

I attended the web conference on Saturday, September 14. Unfortunately, this conference was a bit confusing. In reading the assignment my group and I understood that we were to individually create an ebook and a UDL lesson plan. We did this as we thought it was supposed to be done, individually, and then posted our finished products on our google site. During the web conference, Dr Abernathy stated that we were only create one ebook and one lesson plan! However, she told those of us that had already finished the assignment that we did not need to redo it. So our efforts were not for naught.

EDLD 5364 week 2 conference reflection

I attended the Sunday afternoon  6 pm web conference. It was nice because there were only 10 of us. We were able to ask questions and get answers much easier. I was glad that I was not alone in feeling overwhelmed. Dr Abernathy gave some great feed back about the way we should complete our lessons with our team mates. I think I always kind of feel this way at Week 2 in my classes. But by Week 5 everything gets done!

EDLD 5364, Week 1 Web Conference Reflection

The first web conference of the course was scheduled for Thursday, August 29, at 8:00 pm. I waited for it to begin and at 8:30 was told the conference was cancelled. There had been no communication for this change in plans. I had not planned on attending the web conference on Saturday because I would be out of town for a 12:00 pm football game. I brought my computer with me and logged on at 10:00 am. I was only able to stay 30 minutes.
In that 30 minutes Dr. Abernathy talked about the specifics of our group project. She focused on the Week 1 assignment. There was a discussion about how many references were to be cited in our reflection on the videos and readings. There were many unanswered questions, that hopefully will be cleared up in future web conferences.

My EDLD 5366 Course-Embedded Assignment Reflection

Digital Graphics and Web Design are of particular interest to me because my son is a web-designer. It was nice to be able to talk to him about design techniques. The use of Creative Commons in developing my website/page was a new experience for me. I was very limited in the images in my previous website. They were “pre-selected” and only gave me a few options. As I began my web page assignment for this course, I researched for icons and images through the Google Search tool. Unfortunately, some of the icons and images I came across were not for public use. By using Creative Commons I was able to type in a subject on the search page, look at the results and know that I was getting a product that had been filtered. The Scratch website made it easy to try different sounds and motions to fine tune my animation. I gained a lot of confidence using graphic-design tools through participating in the activities in this course. “Because the world is going digital, technology has become a major player in the learning-teaching equation. Being as such, developing the necessary digital skills to meet the learning needs of our digitally wired students has become a pressing necessity.” (Kharbach, 2012) I was extremely lucky to be on a team truly supportive. The feedback that they gave helped me to become a better learner. Learning to work with other effects both students, teachers and the school as a whole. “School leaders who foster collaboration among novice and veteran teachers can improve teacher retention and teacher satisfaction, according to studies conducted by Susan Kardos and Susan Moore Johnson.” (McClure, 2008)  “The use of technology, the web, in particular, has become an important skill for both students and teachers to master. The Internet has a vast amount of information and infinitely many uses, but it takes practice to learn to effectively navigate its resources.” (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005) Teachers can use websites to communication with parents and students about their classroom, assignments, projects and other information.  Interactive websites help support learning of basic skills in the primary grades. In the upper grades, students can create websites with information to present their knowledge or to help teach others. Sharing thoughts and ideas with others who either agree or disagree helps students learn how to express themselves. References Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (2005). Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved from Teaching Today: http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/3 Kharbach, M. (2012). 21st Century Digital Skills Graphcs for Teachers. Retrieved from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/03/21st-century-digital-skills-graphic-for.html McClure, C. T. (2008, September). The Benefits of Teacher Collaboration. Retrieved from DA District Administration, Solutions for School District Management: http://www.districtadministration.com/article/benefits-teacher-collaboration

Reflections on EDLD 5366 Web Conferences

For some reason I had a hard time remembering to log in for these web conferences. I did try to get the required 3 in but the last scheduled conference was cancelled. This course seemed to be pretty straight forward so maybe that is why I did not feel the need to attend the web conferences. Having a great group of people to work with also helped. We were able to answer each others' questions. The web conferences did allow me to see how other people were doing. I plan to attend more web conferences during my next course.