I have finished my tutorial after about 10 different retakes, and I have tried all night to get it to link within my blog.  I believe I need something Internet based to do this, but I just can’t figure it out.  I thought it might help if I created a WebPage and linked the tutorial on it, but I can’t find a free WebPage Publisher.  I am so tired, and I really wanted to get this posted tonight to keep a daily running of posts for my final project.  I sure hope tomorrow is a better day.

After beginning my final project, I can relate to how Nate probably felt at the beginning of this class.  I can see how easy it is to think directions are completely crystal clear and then all of a sudden, you realize there is mud in the water.  I had a lot of questions concerning a blog and what you do, so there were a lot of emails back and forth.  Obviously at work we are not allowed to install instant messenger on our computers, but I have encouraged people to download them at home if they will (a lot of my co-workers only access a computer when they’re at work).  I am working on a tutorial of how to set up a blog and I am hoping to link that back to a couple of people that posted their interests in a blog.  I really have high hopes for this project–I am excited! 

I am so exited! My project is coming along nicely. You can check it out if you’d like–maybe you’ve got a comment :-).

http://franrbranham2.uniblogs.org/
I hope some of my co-workers create their own blogs so we can get linked–I think that would be such a great experience for my co-workers (I think they would feel a sense of accomplishment). I have given them the option of commenting also, but I am sure some of them are up for the challenge. I haven’t received any comments yet, but I am sure they are trying to adjust to this new type of technology. I am so happy that I can pass on something that I had so much trouble with at the beginning of this course.

I finally have my project underway, and it is coming along nicely. I have decided to do a blog on Decorative Expressions. The other day, I attended a meeting in which Distance Education was discussed intensively and there were several ideas for educational technology that were presented. The idea of Digital Imigrants was presented in this meeting, and I kept pondering throughout the meeting of discussions that we have had in this class on the idea that people of the older generation can adapt to technology the same way children that are raised with it can. I continued to think about the people I work with and how they are open to learning new types of technology, so I began to wonder how I could relate a final project to them. Nevertheless, I thought a blog would be so nice to develop as my project.

At the beginning of this week, I asked a few of my co-workers if they knew what a blog was and it was very interesting to discover that only one person out of the eleven people that I asked, knew about blogs. Therefore, I thought it would be very interesting to create a blog that includes my co-workers. With this, I will be able to defend my idea that the older generation can adapt to new techology.

With this new proposal, it took me a while of pondering on different ideas for a blog line. I wanted something that would be of interest and encourage feedback from readers. Finally after a few days of listing ideas, all of the decorating for the holidays inspired me to create a blog on Decorative Expressions. This blog opens up many windows for creative ideas, comments, and web links. I am very anxious to see the feedback that I get with this blog. This is definitely going to be an exciting project!

Over the last couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to participate in The Last Outpost. I am going to be honest, at first I became extremely frustrated with the game, but thanks to Dr. Lowell (Bent) he helped me with some functions within the game. I have never been much of a game player and this was like a foreign language to me. The fact that it is all print didn’t make it much easier, but was very easily adapted to. Nevertheless, I am beginning to understand the function of the game and how to play it. I am Lady, and I am proud to say that I achieved my next level all by myself. Where I am going from there I am not sure. I would assume that I will obtain a new quest, but we’ll see when I get back to The Last Outpost.

I want to participate in the extra credit assignment, but I am not sure what the game will consist of. I hope it isn’t too difficult. I am still trying to piece together how you play a game in a wiki–I have had a difficult time trying to figure out how the wiki actually works. Nevertheless, I am one that learns much better by jumping in there and participating so I guess I have an awakening ready to happen.

After I complete this assignment, I hope that I have a better insight to the uses of wikis and how I can incorporate them into my class. I am excited about this adventure, but yet a little uncomfortable at the same time.

I read an article by Clarence Fisher on “Verifying Information Online.”

http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/remote_access/2006/11/verifying_infor.html

This can be a very serious issue when dealing with students that are unfamiliar with search engines and verifying truthful information online. It always amazes me at how the wording of the search can play such a crucial role in finding the information that is needed. I was really amazed at the importance of phrasing our search just right to help narrow the search and hopefully obtain the desired results/information. As I was reading this article, I very quickly began to think back to the first time I ever searched for something on the Internet. I had no idea of key phrases and targeted word choices that I could use to narrow a search. I had never been introduced to the reliable, and false information that is available on the Internet–actually, I thought all the information in a search was true. Nevertheless, I had a teacher in high school that gave me an insight as to methods of using a search engine and ways to determine an unreliable source of information–much in the same format as the worksheet, in this post, is used to help students evaluate information that is found from a search. This would be a nice worksheet to use for evaluation of information that is found on the net and to determine if it is valuable information.

Are the goals and objectives changed when you take a course online compared to classroom-based instruction? Let’s think about this for a minute.

First of all, a goal is something that you are working towards–what do you want the students to be able to do as a result of a course or activity? Thus, your objectives are the steps that you will take to reach that goal. What are the building blocks to reach the ultimate goal?

Now, when thinking about the design of an online class the goals and objectives are still the same as long as the objective is a broaden objective instead of a specific activity. If you are teaching a History class in a traditional classroom and you decide to transfer the class online for the next year, your goals and objectives can still stay the same. Now, considering the tasks in the middle that accommodate, or the activities that are used to achieve the objectives and work toward the goal, they might need a little reworked to fit the distance education format. For example, if one of my activities, to accommodate an objective, is to role play the life of a slave–then such an activity might be transferred to a writing activity where the student writes about the life of a slave as if they are the slave. Overall, the goals and objectives for an online class are still the same, however, the activities used to achieve the goals and objectives may have to be altered a little to accommodate the world of distance education.