ENKOS KAKHULU -THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Just want to convey my deepest appreciation first to Prof. Rubel for a lovely journey we had in class. It was really fun and I would also like to express my gratitude to all my classmates who were ever willing to help when one needed help. To all I would like to say ENKOSI meaning Thank you all in Xhosa language. Wish you all the best in your next adventures.

Journey of a Thankful Heart

Knowing that we are coming to the end of this brings me mix motions. One that celebrates the journey and the growth one has experience in this class in terms of professional development and skill set and the other feeling is a sad feeling that this journey is coming to an end. Even though it was an online class, the collaboration we experienced during this class as equal as to be in the physical class with all those wonderful people. The skills and information we gained in this class is beyond my initial expectation. I wish we could some sort of an archive where we could store all the information and resources we gathered in this class. I hope I am not the only one who has enjoyed this class. Hope all of us will apply in our classes all what we have learned and shared in this class. Thank you all for being a part of my journey. Thanks a million, Prof Kimberly for all the support and lectures.

Reflection # 13: DigiStori

Today as I reflect on the assignment for this week, I couldn’t help it but be thankful of the journey I took when I enrolled in this class. I also considered that this assignment provided me with necessary and relevant skills I will use in my class to present lessons on video. I really enjoyed the trial and error period as I was trying to come up with the relevant short digital story. Starting with deciding what story to tell to finding the right images, audio and script to use for this story.  I enjoyed every step of it. Please enjoy my journey.

Reflection # 12: Digital Story

Today’s assignment on digital story assignment resources were eye opening in the sense that many if not all of my students can benefit from short and interesting movies about any topic that could be adapted to any situation. With such flexibility, I believe I can make social stories my students can see and identify action words as compared to just reading them. I really taken by the simplicity of how to create impactful and professionally looking videos in just few clicks. Hope we can have an archive of such resources for both teaching and leisure for our students as well as parents and teaches.

I believe if these resources can be made available to all the stakeholders, they can contribute to the advancement of learning and communication processes. Just imagine difficult communications simplifies in just few images and some music and demonstrations. This can take our educational partnership with our parents and students to the next level.  I hope to embark on a journey of finding more easy to use and inexpensive resources for my teaching and collaborating with my fellow teachers and parents.

Reflection # 11: Virtual Reality Education Platform

The resources for this week’s assignment were awesome. I really liked the discussion on virtual reality as shaping the way we teach.  It is somehow overwhelming at some point to know that, as old school teachers, teaching will never be the same as we know it. But it is interesting to venture into this little-known terrain. What concerns me is the level on which is unleashed to the education platform. The pace is to much. I feel we need to establish some guardrails as to prevent unplanned accidents and mass exodus of old and traditional teachers because of the pace on which it is unleashed. If it could eased in in small chunks that are manageable, may the old guards like myself can stay a little longer while trying to marry our old ways with this new found teaching platform.

Reflection # 10: Audio and Video Projects

I really enjoyed the activities on this assignment. I more than the other enjoyed the audacity assignment because it was short and easy. However, the massive features in the audacity are great and sometime seem intimidating. I was able to record the assignment and many more which many of you may not be privy to. The other assignment was really engaging and challenging for me because it required me to type fast of which I have deficit on. It took me longer than needed. It also gave me problem with editing. But I am glad that I was able to to figure a way to align the text with the spoken word. Another nugget I enjoyed was the website Newsela. loved it. It fits well with my students who perform at different levels.

REflection # 9: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

This project has been an eye opener and a bundle of both the good and the bad. First, the good. I finished the power point. It was a tasking experience to prepare the presentation. I started by deciding which presentation style I would love to use to make it simple and engaging.  The bad was that I tried several software tools like Prezi but only to find out that it posed technical headaches for me. I then tried some of the software suggested in class but could not marry the presentation with many different software. It was a heap of clumsy and confusion. Indeed, in times of such level of confusion and stress, I decided to settle for what is easy and simple to operate, that is, the one and only traditional power point presentation.  In this presentation tried to ensure that I condense important information as a guide as to how the lesson will go. I really enjoyed trying different options when planning my classroom lessons. It was an eye opener.

Reflection #8 Website Building Made Easy

This week had an opportunity to try to website building tools. They seem easy to use and provide different feel and use. What I liked about them is that they are very much easy to understand and their interface is so simple, that is, drag and drop which is my favorite. You don’t need to be an expert to create a simple website for yourself.

On our assignment point, I don’t know if many of our fellow students experienced the frustration with the java assignment download. Every time I tried downloading it for an extra credit, the link would send me to the last html assignment I already submitted. Another frustration was the TechRocket site which didn’t allow me to register my account. I hope this problem is resolved quickly and it is not free. The basic fee is $19 a month. I really tried to find other options but the site would not allow me to register. So, I am a little disappointed for missing out on an extra credit and also practicing new computer language.

Reflection # 7

This week’s assignment was very much involving for me. Trying to come up with various ways to present the information to my students was as I mentioned earlier involving and exciting at the same time. Going through the state’s standards and ISTE was also fun. This process seemed too long for me but was worth it. Know that I have done diligence in making sure that all levels of performance were catered for. No student will be left behind during the class activities. The way I divided my students into groups was by their performance levels although I must admit that I was also tempted to mix the group because of their initiation and discussions levels. But at the end, I settled for groups that perform at similar levels. In future, I may divide them according to their varying levels to boost those that function at the lowest levels.

Reflection # 6

AMERICAN REVOLT

Today’s assignment was a little challenging to finish because of technical issues. But was able to finish the assignment. I enjoyed the process of testing different resources provided for this assignment. I wish the storyboard allowed the user to add his or her backgrounds or scenes and characters. I was a little bit frustrated when I couldn't find what I was looking fro in their image library. nevertheless, I really enjoyed using the resources and most of all enjoyed reading some of the stories my kids wrote created using the storyboard. They liked it and were all over the computer. I did a few of my own scenes for my lesson plan.   I am grateful for these resources especially that most of them cost nothing. I like FREE STUFF!!!

Reflection # 5

This week has been a week of mixed emotions. I didn’t know what to expect on the assignment that required collaboration. I was scared that I may not be able to handle it well due to lack of understanding what was expected of me. Most of the time I would just go through an assignment with ease but this one was different. I couldn’t figure out what to do and where to start. It made me second guess my decision of enrolling in this class. But when we started the contribution and chatting with classmates it made it easier for me to navigate.  The fear of failure consumed me up to a point of procrastinating the google hangout. I even thought of skipping it because of fear to embarrassing myself. But seeing the positive outlook of many of my classmates on the chat, it made me confident that I can do it even if I don’t do it all that well, I know there is always support from the prof and the classmates.

I feel very down after struggling to connect the hangout tonight. I feel like my fears of not making it were real tonight. All the preparations I made for presentation fell flat. I couldn’t open the hangout. Only hoping for a better outcome tomorrow.

Reflection # 4

The Age Of The Machines

This week we have been doing a web 2.0 assignment. Very fascinating process. It really opened up my eyes as to how far we have come with regard to technology.  Honestly, the past does not move me that much as the future only defined by the grib technology has on every corner of our lives. The assignment on creating the QR Code was interesting because I have never put much thought on those QR Codes due to the lack of enlightenment. But after this assignment, I had a blast with my little daughter creating as many QR codes as we can. I am glad that I now know what QR Codes do.  I must admit though that I am still technologically challenged and still needs a lot of help. I am, however, grateful of the other channels of communications like google docs where I can reach out to my classmates when I experience frustrations.

However, while many and myself included hail the advances of technology, it also makes me pause for a moment and think of what the full IT world will look like in the coming years. Will we recognize our world then? Will we (humanity) eventually relinquish our control to the power and domination of the machines. At this point, I don’t know whether to fully embrace it or limit my interactions with it. Looking at web 2.0, with all the other advancements in technology, it looks like web 2.0’s time is just coming to an end before millions of us ever know what web 2.0 is.

We are currently witnessing the advent of web 3.0, the augmentation technology. Every area of our high-tech conversions always includes the strange fascination of the Virtual Reality technology. We started with Web 1.0 way back in the early 90s to mid-1990s at that time where websites only spoke to the website visitors. It was a one-way communication. Then in the second half of the 90s and into the 2000 we began to see the start of Web 2.0 where visitors for the first time allowed to speak back to the website. In other words, visitors were now allowed to generate content and upload pictures and videos and further contribute their content to the websites.

Now looking at all these advancements in technology, all one could ask is, what’s next…….

Reflection # 3: Website Review

For this assignment, I was required to review the website I intend to use for my classroom activities.  I chose to review histoty.com website. This site’s primary focus is to provide extensive and interactive information on many topics on our American Heritage.

On the display and arrangement of this site, I found it less intimidating and easy to browse. It has a combination of large text, responsive images, videos and very interactive. I like the fact that it provided different ways of learning. For example, for the student who is comfortable with just a text, it has well written and easy to read text organized into small and manageable read. For those who do well with images and videos, the site also provide plenty of images and videos too.  What I like the most was that it also made available the interactive mode where students can interact with ease on any text or topic.

I also considered its owners. This is very important because the strength of any website is as good as its owners. I check this website’s owners and found that they are owned and published by a reputable network, that is, A&E Network which own various cable educational and entertainment programs. As I mentioned earlier, the website is very much friendly to many users.

 I tested its usability by asking my nine-year-old to try and find a video without much instruction and could get the video on her own.

Well after going through this site, I came to the following conclusion, the website is safe to use and has balanced content for diverse readers. I am also aware that the website has a potential of encouraging content that is friendly toward it objectives, like many other for profit organization do, I am confident that it will do no harm to my students as they utilized the site.

Reflection # 2

People always make decisions on what they eat, wear or use for their daily living. And those decisions are made through filtering what is good for consumption and what is not.  I was taken aback during this week’s lesson when I was required to make such decision on the website I intend to have my students use for lesson activities.  This activity has taken me through the process of weighing what is factual against what is not. Knowing what I know now about dangers of just consuming unfiltered or verified web information, especially, the thought that information can be weaponized, I gladly took this activity to heart. Another lesson I learned was that there are a million of internet tools one can utilize to make a lesson fun and manageable. Even though we have such manifold of tools to use, we must always remember that not all tools are equal. We should therefore choose carefully which tools to use for what purpose. One of the things that came to mind as I was evaluation this website was the question of the tools appropriateness, relevance and ability to meet my students needs and goals.  I am concerned on how these tools will impact my student population. I am constantly reminded that while we have all these wonderful arrays of diverse tools, their impact in their use is as good as their appropriateness and relevance to the student who uses them. So as a teacher, I am constantly made aware of the fact that the tool I use is as good as its ability to make teaching and learning easy and fun for all of us in the classroom.

Reflection # 1

How does one reconcile the fear of the unknown and the excitement of being part of the adventure. I guess I just need to have faith in this journey. This is to me the year of the firsts. This is my first blog and my first online class where I virtually do all of my classwork alone behind the 14" screen and that's scary. My first assignment scared me because I literally didn't know what to do and how it was all going to turn up. I hope I turn up good at the end of this semester. I am looking forward to learning many of the skills I need to succeed in the 21st century class.