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.