Wk 2 Wimba Session Blog

Dr. Gibson Video's were clear and easy to understand. I was able to rewind it to really get the significant differences between the systems. I know that I won't remember them just like when we give our assignments to our students but being able to go back at anytime is a great benefit.

Wk 4 Blog Post to Cedric McCLain

I completed the lesson and I liked the content. It was a little hard to understand where to go per your instructions. After trying it again, I got it. Simple Probability is a very difficult subject for many and this is a good way to get started with learning them. Good Job.

Wk 4 Blog Post to Joy Flack Udutu

Joy, I really liked the simplicity of your project. I have the awesome task of training teachers who are reluctant to using technology. The ability of teachers to be able to access this site would ease some of the tension. Your using the words "if you want to change this" really made the tutorial friendly. Google being a free resource gives the user the ability to go through and beyond if they desire. The navigation and menu use was easy to follow as well. Good Job Joy.

Wk 2 Blog Post to Karen Smith

Wk 2 Blog Post to Joy Flack

Wk 2 Reading Activity 8 – What Do CMS/LMS Cost?

This article is a real eye opener. My district spend millions of Moodle and it is under served. I did not know the cost associated with the Moodle and I am taken back a little. It surprises me that even with the cost of the LMS, it still is beneficial in ways that are more than financial. Large corporations have the time and money to invest because their vision does not necessarily change within the 18 month timeframe needed to develop a moderate system. That is where the LMS and CMS differ. GOT IT.



Another amazing journey is the course layout for Fullsail. It is truly a process that has been proven to allow for change, error, and assessment. I like that the process involves using the input of other levels of management and also the students prior to implementation. Clearly, every course has been examined and human hours can not be readily accounted for if the class is not approved. The article takes on an approach of success of a ventured LMS but I don't really think you can account for failed ventures. Energy and time are always under rated when the total cost is established.

Potential Venture costs calculations are eye opening. Here is the sample from the readings. Step One: Assumptions Item

Assumptions

1.1) Life Span of Course - 3 years

1.2) Total Number of Students - 800

1.3) Student Learning Time in Classroom - 14 hours

1.4) Reduction in Seat Time- 50%

1.5) Burdened Compensation for Instructor - $304 p/d

1.6) Burdened Compensation for Student - $164 p/d

This is only Step one of a five step Process. What a job developers have. I could not have imagined the amount of pre-planning and forecasting that is necessary prior to any birth of a course or training. What I do see as beneficial is the train the trainer model. That is cost efficient all around. I see this model being used somewhat effectively with the Reading and Math Coaches. They are trained and then they bring the information back to their campus.



Brandon hall also has a process to analyze low costs for LMS that seem to be a bit more real. Unfortunately the information on the sites are two years old so maybe this system is being phased out or just no new information is necessary.


http://www.brandon-hall.com/free_resources/feature_scope.shtml
http://www.brandon-hall.com/publications/lclms/lclms.shtml

Wk 3 Blog Response to Louria Ann Macon's

Wk 3 Blog Response to Amanda Beery

Hewett-Christina Wk3 Reading Activity 11 – New CMS Directions

In looking at the 6 Trends described, I am familiar with the need for change and there is yet another new trend to add. With new innovations in technology comes new ways to use technological resources. V-Books are the newest trend in online learning. Video books or V-books are snippets of videos strategically place in the reading to enhance learning. Retreive Rechnology has a site which explains why and how to use video books and it also has a small inventory for online learning and it has inventory for v-books (see below). The information from Clay Shirky "It’s all about the transformation of media in the age of Everybody, and it’s focusing on a subject very dear to our heart – oldteevee vs. newteevee" clearly addresses the possibility of mass popularity.

Times are changing along with the way things have been done. Although online learning is a vehicle used to teach a particular subject, you are also learning a craft by learning to use the very technology that teaches you. Benefits are numerous in an e-learning environment which includes flexibility, convenience, a collaborative online environment, inexpensive, reliability, and fun.

I've learned new terms and conventions that are being used as trials and pilots currently in schools. Study txt is an excellent example of e-learning and how to meet students where they are. Our limited vision in our heads keep us spinning if we don't open our eyes to what is being done outside of our little heads. Technology is a tool of now and not the future. We can't continue doing the same thing expecting different results. "Overall, the largest benefit gained by the use of technology is the has been the ability to get information to students on their own terms".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn5h8YHlQRU
http://www.petermellow.com/2010/After_School/StudyTXT/index.html

Month 10 AR Blog

When I started this program and the project my vision for teachers integrating technology into the classroom is as exciting to me now as it was when I started this program. Now I have made many shift in the magnitude and number of inductee due to many circumstance but I am still excited and determined to finish the mission. My method of teaching the teachers is simply the idea of getting them to be teachers of technology to their students. Okay I realize now, one step at a time.

Is there a connection between the data produced from your Cycles and the research reported in your Literature Review?
The is such a vast amount of information available on the need for teachers to use technology in the classrooms but I am not finding substantial information on actual trainings and methods that are currently being used school wide to properly equip teacher to become classroom users of technology. One of the biggest hurdles that I am facing is the time to train, I mean really train teachers where they are comfortable enough to even try the tools once I am not in the room. The answer is yes, the data produced from my cycles and review are connected but the key element of how to is missing. I’m not surprised that is why this course is preparing me for ground breaking assignments.

How will LMO impact your Action Research Project?
This class will be the catalyst for my hosting of the trainings that I give the teachers. I understand the differences now between the current systems in place and what the acronyms stand for. I am really interesting in seeing the new system that was discussed in the video because I believe that the data analysis part will give the district the necessary component to implement. LMO will also give me the tools necessary to help stear my school into the different types of systems available and why a Moodle shell would not serve our purpose but Facebook platform could bring more collaboration. Just a thought.

How Important is online content delivery or personal learning environments to your Action Research project?

Online content delivery and personal learning environments are the meat and bones of my project and vital to its sustainability. Using these tools to refresh, retrain, teach, educate and a number of adjectives is what my vision is all about. Teaching the teachers of how to preserve their teaching on a online platform for student access at anytime surmises my through and beyond portion of my project. I am excited to say that the following trainings for the teachers will be available to them 24 hours a day. My content base currents has tutorials on : smart notebook, airliners, iGoogle, box of links, Google groups, Ed tech profiles, and student email. My project is coming to life. I am pleased.

Wk2 Project Udutu Setup

1. Hewett, Christina
2. Prior Project Selected – Formulas on Demand. Students learn formulas to math using visual applications
3. Students are video taped singing and performing to arrangements to formulas poetry. iMovie, Iphone video, and Garageband are the resources.
4. EMDT Class March – Musical Theory and Education Application project.
5. Initial Appraisal of Udutu Scenario seemed very abstract for my type of project because I was not familiar with the format. Because my content is more visual and musical I found it hard to manipulate the information. After practicing, taking still shots of the formulas and introduction of students was a great way to make the project effectively work in the format.
6. http://www.myudutu.com/myudutu/main/workspace/CourseNav.aspx?CourseID=36328

Wk 1 Blog Reponse to Louria Anne Macon blog

One of the first use of technology in distance learning was radio. “In the years between the World Wars (1918-1946), the federal government granted radio broadcasting licenses to 202 colleges, universities, and school boards (Nasseh, 1997)”. However by 1940 there was only one college-level credit offered by radio and it did not attract enrollment. I missed this one. I am clearly, from this assignment, learning the definition of virtual. The radio indeed is one of tools that qualifies as a virtual medium if used for learning. Also, the one college course being offered by the radio is excellent. I am going to take this information to my students. Good Job Louria Ann.

Wk 1 Blog Reponse to Karen Smith's blog

Hewett-Christina- History of Virtual Learning Environments

The History of Virtual Learning Environments was interesting more because it is like a Timeline and information is minimal but the good part is the facts of the time period. The question of is it reasonable to trace history from 1728, absolutely yes. The information is rich. History is the story of what has happened before. One of the major proponents of growth is learning what was done before and doing it better. Reinventing the wheel is not a good use of time when one has already started to create a plan that effective works. It was very interesting to find out the shorthand was considered a form of a virtual learning environment. 1728 : March 20, Boston Gazette contains an advertisement from Caleb Phillipps, "Teacher of the New Method of Short Hand," advising that any "Persons in the Country desirous to Learn this Art, may by having the several Lessons sent weekly to them, be as perfectly instructed as those that live in Boston."[1

I am a certified Smartboard trainer and I did not know that they are from 1991. Here it is 20 years latter and I ‘m still trying to show the benefits and the word is not spreading fast enough. People are afraid of what is new. To my surprise, the Smartboard is only new to education. It was and has been used in the industry since 1991. In Datacloud: Toward a New Theory of Online Work, Johndan Johnson-Eilola describes a specific computer-supported collaboration space: The Smart Board, which was introduced in 1991. According to Johnson-Eilola, a “Smart Board system provides a 72-inch, rear projection, touch screen, intelligent whiteboard surface for work” (79). The revisions to the system are indeed more user friendly but platform itself has been around longer than we/I knew.

The word popular in regards to distance learning is questionable. Distance learning has been termed many things just like the terms CMS for our purposes today. I took a class back in the 80’s and it is the same as what I am doing currently at Fullsail. It was not a degree but it was a class. However, the data presented did not include the students who have been sick and doing distance learning in the 70’s. All the data suggests the pilot programs have all mirrored the success of one another. The 1980’s was the first citing for k-12 distance learning but I know this source is not the only one but the vitality of the information is housed here. Successmaker is a K-12 learning management system with an emphasis on reading, spelling and numeracy. According to the Pearson Digital Learning website, the South Colonie Central School District in Albany, New York "has been using SuccessMaker since 1980, and in 1997 the district upgraded the software to SuccessMaker version 5.5."

Wk1 Project: LMO Overview

The following are the sites for the sources that I used.

www.smarttech.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning
www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media11561.pdf
Dr. Gibson, LMO Moments: Learning Platforms Terminology Mindmap Part 1 and 2 Videos