Final Blog Post

As I look back over all that I have accomplished over this course, I am really amazed. I learned so much about project-based learning as well as technology integration. I really have come to realize the educational value of a blog and also fell in love with Voice Thread. The discussions in this course were very thought provoking and have influenced some of my thoughts and future ideas about what I should be doing in my classroom. In addition, the peer reviews allowed me to see many different projects using MovieMaker, VoiceThread, Blogger, and Comic Life. The reviews opened my eyes to the different possibilities that these tools have to offer. Of course, I am very much for technology integration, but now I can see how PBL and technology integration go hand in hand. I look forward to implementing some PBL assignments in my computer elective class and also plan to use academic material for their content. As with all of my classes through the University of West Georgia so far, I have learned and gained so much from being enrolled in this program.

PBL School Wide Project Part 2

Well, we are finally winding down our PBL school wide group project. It has been quite challenging but I've been lucky to have such great group members. I think that Google Docs worked well for us, but I have to say a face to face meeting with all 5 of us at some point might've helped...or perhaps a work session one day. I know that may defeat the purpose of an online class, but I just think it might've made things more cohesive. Kristin L. was in charge of our website and it looks AMAZING! I am really impressed and proud of our final product. I am interested in seeing what other groups did because I think we all might've had a different take on what was expected. As the researcher, I definitely learned a lot more about project based learning and its benefits in the classroom. I also located many cool ways to use Voice Thread and Comic Life in the classroom. Even though I probably won't implement something like this at my school, I will use some of these things in my classroom and intend to work with the academic teachers at my school to create technology related projects. I am very excited about this! Overall, this was a good experience and it was great how everyone fell into their own role/part in our group.

PBL School Wide Project

Recently, I have been working with 4 other classmates on a project that introduces project based learning with technology integration to an elementary school. At first, we were all a little bit confused, but once the roles were decided upon we hit the ground running. Each person in our group played an important role. My role was to provide some research about PBL and examples of how Comic Life and Voice Thread can be integrated in the classroom. We all collaborated using Google Docs. I really like Google Docs, but after a while it took a long time for the document to download so that I could add something else. Overall, it has been a good experience working with my group. We are putting the finishing touches on our project now, and then we will prepare for our face-to-face presentation. I am glad that I am a part of a group that was so willing to get started and help each other as well.

Lessons Learned from the Design & Development of MovieMaker Project

Prior to this project, I had used MovieMaker a handful of times before—leading my students in very simple projects to expose them to the software and also making end of the year photo albums for some elementary teachers. This project was a little more challenging. I think one of the hardest parts was coming up with a topic and then working on a way to make the topic come alive for viewers. I went with the character education topic tolerance with an emphasis on forgiveness. It was a challenge to add sound that flowed smoothly and it was hard to choose the type of music. I didn’t want the video to seem depressing, but I also didn’t want it to be too upbeat. My hope was that people would think about someone in their life that they need to forgive. Working with MovieMaker is relatively easy, yet very tedious to apply each effect and each transition. It was also a little frustrating to time things just right. Overall it really is a useful program. I hope to do a MovieMaker assignment next semester with my students. I am thinking about letting them do the words to a song like you might see on YouTube. I am hoping they will be interested in that; however, it will be challenging to get the timings right. I am really looking forward to checking out everyone else’s projects. I already looked at one about “being different”, and it looked so professional! I was very impressed.

Google Docs

Our group is just getting started using Google Docs for our PBL project. I used Google Docs in another class but it was fairly limited use and it seems to me the Google Docs has a different feel or layout to it now. (Or perhaps I just don't remember) I see a lot of potential for using Google Docs, and as I work with my team members on this project, I am sure I will get ideas for using this in my classroom. The only problem I can see is the email issue. I am not sure if my county will let me ask all my students to sign up for a gmail account. So far, we have just done a little discussion in our group but I look forward to checking out some more of the options. I think it is cool that people can be working on the documents simultaneously.

Thoughts on Discussion 8

Discussion 8 was a neat and interesting discussion. It was great to see everyone’s ideas and creativity with a variety of subject areas and a variety of grade levels. I certainly learned that my classmates have some great ideas. Some of them have even implemented similar PBL in their own schools and classrooms. What also discovered is that we all seem to have the same concerns about implementing a PBL project for an entire grade level or school. Some of the issues and challenges we think we will face are: time limitations, willingness of other teachers to help, and logistical issues such as scheduling. In addition, there are concerns about reaching all students through the PBL activity regardless of whether they are honors students or students with special needs. I am very interested to see what plan each group comes up with for the PBL project (including my own!)

Voice Thread

Dr. Baylen's Voice Thread project was my first experience using Voice Thread. I had briefly viewed a peer's voice thread in another class a while back but didn't remember all that much about it. I did my project using adults that I work with. The cool thing about this tool is that anyone can use it from Pre-K to adults. Of course, the younger students will need a little supervision but it is so simple for a teacher to set up identities and allow his/her students to comment on a particular topic. This web 2.0 tool can be used individually or collaboratively. I actually think there are more options than what I used for my project and probably more creative uses for it as well. Voice Thread offers a nice alternative to regular presentations such as PowerPoint. It adds a new level of excitement and motivation. None of my colleagues had heard of it, so it was fun to share with them as they helped me with my project. I am looking forward to evaluating and reviewing my peers' projects so that I can get more ideas. Luckily for me, this tool is not blocked in my county (yet!). :)