Module 2 - New Technology

The new technology this week was definitely a challenge for me - and I'm normally one who catches on to new things pretty quickly.  I guess I can now say that I understand what some of my students go through - both kids and adults!

I really liked VoiceThread and Screencast.  Audacity was okay once I figured out all that I needed to download.  But after doing the voice recording, I think I would almost rather take a video of myself rather than just hear my voice!

I do think that I will definitely be using Screencast or a simple video recording to introduce any new Modules.  In my opinion, having my online students "see me" at the beginning of each week is almost a must.  This gives them more of a sense of community and I can now see how that will work.

I also think offering the F2F lab session is a great idea.  I could not attend this week's with Rick, but possibly offering something like that via Skype might be feasible.  Or the students and I could work something out.  I like having the ability to "teach to my class" anywhere that has wifi - but I do think that F2F sessions are extremely important.  That will definitely be something that I need to plan and be accessible.  As always, this is a work in progress!

Comments

  1. I thought this week was challenging too! I do like the idea of using screencast as a way to introduce myself to my adult students prior to them walking into the classroom. It takes the mystery out of the professor so to speak. I too feel this is a work in progress, and i'm much older than you :)

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  2. I agree that video seems to make things a lot more personable. I think audio has its place when it's paired with something else, like for narrating a slide show, which can be done in tools like Prezi or making an avatar talk.

    I also really like making screencasts for my students. Often, instead of trying to explain things with text, I can more easily make a short screencast.

    I am certainly open to more F2F sessions. I just need to know some times that would work for people.

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  3. Hello,

    I also agree that it was a bit challenging to learn and implement these tools. I actually like Voicethread and Screencast, too. When I just listen without a picture or video, it seems like it's a bit harder to focus only using my "hearing" When I'm in person and listening though, I'm looking at the person for the body language, facial expressions and gestures to aid in receiving the speaker's message. Obviously, only hearing a voice is not the same and sometimes I have to listen to the message another time to make sure that I got it right!

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  4. With all of the new tech tools at our disposal, I found that it isn't too hard to use them, but it is difficult to find the right tool for the job.

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