Technology and Media for Distance Educaiton

This concept map is a little better.  There are more changes that can be made so observers could see the heiarchy or flow concept that should derive from a concept map. The main block should be bold or catch the viewers eye.
It was more difficult to separate the items on the dynamic side of the map. They begin to over lap because communcation places and content places can be the same resource. 
Thank you

Where do I stand on the continuum?  I would like to think I am moving towards the dynamic. It is fascinating to try these new methods on communication, but it takes me several tries and time.  Time is that element that alludes me many days.  Thus, I may not get the opportunity to try several times.  It is like spicy nodes.  I really liked seeing it, but I need more time to use it. 
So I probably take steps back and forth along the continuum. 

Technology and Media for Distance Education

This is a little late and not complete.  I will be back with a completed version.  My family surprised me yesterday, which took my usual time for the assignements.  It was big fun.

Self Critique. This was more difficult than the previous assignment. It did not fit. I also struggled with content, because it seems to over lap with collaboration. I will fill in the spaces.  I did try Margarets Spicynodes, but got a little confused.  That needs more time to learn.

Thank you.

Engaging Learners Graphic Organizer 2

Carrey, Sherri. Blog.  Will get correct cite and replace this.

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies For Enhancing Student Interactivity In An Online Environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193.

Siemens, G. (2007). George Siemens - Curatorial teaching.”Retrieved on April 21, 2011, from http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching/.

Graphic Organizer Engaging Learners.

http://www.slideshare.net/WaldenForest/engaging-learners-graphic-organizer

It has been frustrating and fun learning the devices of technology while learning to participate in distance or online learning.  The link is the only way, at this time, I can post the organizer to the blog. One of the elements that has been the greatest adjustment to me is the difference in presnece from f2f to distance education.  There are so many interesting parts of online learning; however, not growing up in the texting as socializing genre the idea of presence not being physical is an adjustment. Presence is the center foundation to the graphic organizer. The types of presence are intregal parts of the whole.

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies For Enhancing Student Interactivity In An Online Environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193.

Siemens, G. (2007). George Siemens - Curatorial teaching.”Retrieved on April 21, 2011, from http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching/.

Engaging Learners Pre Assignment Post

The reading for module 4 brought up many issues that kept popping up as I was adjusting to online learning. I often wonder how the facilitators/professors keep every 'thing' organized.  It is difficult, or a bit chaotic, keeping up with a couple classes that require the many online places you have to visit to participate. It is interesting, insightful, and exasperating.
It is about organizing the laptop or tablet with dividers and sections similar to the notebooks we carried around for f2f classes.  It involves the ability to make those organization categories applicable to easy use and access.  It also has to remain fluid so changes can be made.  I can't see the graphic organizer as organzied but as a fluid and connected outline of details.

These are early thoughts not the complete Module 4 assignment.

Live Scribe outline. For Video. I keep trying to make a storyboard that runs.

http://www.livescribe.comhttp/www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=LbkGWHpDMKBq

Assessing Collaborative Efforts

The problem of assessment is noteworthy in almost any educational setting.

How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed?  How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a ccouse affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?

Assessment, no matter where, brings up questions. 

There is assessment that tests skills that are memorized then regurgitated to provide proof that the material has been retained. This assessment is individual in nature. Seimens suggests that there is a shift away from this individualized and memorized relaince on assessment to a group, collaborative, assessment.  The online learning assessment is still guided by the professor.  The professor or the institution provides a framework, or boundaries, of a content area, through application, that needs to be assessed.  Online learning, schools, and hybrids can use the group to assess the paticipating memebers.  The group can be given a set of guidelines of which to assess each other using commentary that leads to an expanded experience.  Learning through application, learning by scaffolding, and learning through corrections provides the learner the ability to expand the experience. 

Interestingly, Seimens also mentioned a peripheral form of assessment. Lists? This is a new concept to me.  It is interesting that so many could provide a learning community with some expert advice, or contributions. 

Assessment in a community that is paid for as opposed to an open forum, a MOOC?...  We, even if a better system is yearned for, take our classes to obtain the paper that proves we made the mark.  The mark is the responsibility of the professors in conjunction with the institution.  Online learning communities can use web tools to count the amount of times a person logs on.  In addition, it can provide data of where the students went and the amount of time a person spends in an area.  This is also a new concept to me and made me wonder about quality.  How do you assess the quality of the data based on time and clicks?

The concepts of fair and equitable are issues I think we have struggled with online and in brick and mortar institutions.  The terms are not equal.  I don't think being fair means you are equally distributing grades in a classroom.  This lead me to ponder about the issue of objective and subjective grading?  The differences in the teachers', at any level, expectations and applying that expectation in mark form.

Collaborative learning and assessment provides a forum where a learners skills are not based solely on memorization. Although memorization of a skill can be vitally important.  This online collaborative assessment looks at the knowledge being applied. Montessori, in some regards, gone digital.  The members are providing "feedback that extends learning".

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Principles of Distance Education.