Marnie-LeighB

MarnieB



Assignment #2
I teach 2 online (distance) course at the college (through LEARN) and I can see some frustrations in my students as they only have pdf documents to view (mostly only text) and their textbook. I think these courses could easily incorporate additional technologies that include videos, articles, and forum discussions which would make these courses a little more pleasing to go through. I love the idea of learner-centered teaching; I believe that students/learners should be taking a more pro-active approach in their learning. Students need to learn how they learn, and once they know then they can learn pretty much anything. With technology learning gets even simpler. Instead of driving to the library and searching for a book about dinosaurs, students can now go online (google) and easily look up dinosaurs on their computers (or other electronic device) and depending how they learn they can read/watch/ or interact with a website and learn instantly. So back to the article I think Mary Bart did a great job on identifying different ways technology can satisfy the goals of a student-centered classroom. I really like #1 ( Shift t he balance of power toward the learner ) and #5 (Evaluation provides a way to foster learning). For the courses I teach (computer programming), it would be very helpful to have multiple websites that students can go to and learn how to code. One of the websites in particular would allow a student to type some programming code (snippets of code) and see exactly what it does and then incorporate it in their overall program. Another would be a forum that discusses programming so that if students are having problems with their assignments they can ask or search for help. Another (and this is my favourite) would be a website that will allow students to analyze someone else’s code and identify what it will do. Kind of like an online quiz, which would be a small total of their overall mark. This would give (at least my students) a chance to evaluate themselves.

Assignment #4 - Flipped Classroom
Flipped classroom

What is the flipped classroom?
A flipped classroom is when students view a small lecture (usually on 5 to 7 minutes) at home (or on their own time) and then doing their “homework” in the classroom. This in general will eliminate “homework” at home. This is a very short article on this subject but basically it gives some good insight. It is a pretty basic idea that I think will help students. So in the article it talks about how the traditional classroom is giving a lecture and then giving homework whereas the flipped classroom is doing an activity in class and then having the next lecture as homework (online). It also discusses how 2 teachers Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams from Woodland park high school in 2007 discovered software that recorded PowerPoint presentations.

So what is driving the flipped classroom, there are 2 key factors

 * 1) Poor learning outcomes (only 69% of students finish high school)
 * 2) The availability of online videos and student access to the internet

So how does it work?
Teachers create 3 online lectures a week, students watch the lectures at home (or on their own time) and then class time is reserved for doing labs or interactive activities. Teachers now have the time to support students in class who might not have technology of parents to help them outside of school.

So is the flipped classroom a success?
Well before the flip (as per 736 students) more than 50% of freshman failed English and 44% failed math, with the flip (as per 249 students) only 19% of freshman failed English and 13% failed math. I would like to see how this would do in a college setting, were some lectures can go for 1 or 2 hours (with or with-out hands-on learning)

Pros
It gives students the opportunity to ask questions about “homework” in class instead of struggling with it at home. Note taking will become easier; when in class you can miss key concepts because you are trying to write down notes, with pre-recorded lectures a student can pause, take notes and resume play. As a mom I think the flipped classroom might makes sense for my child, so my child and I can watch the video together at home and then there is no frustration to finish homework as his homework will be done at school the next day.

Cons
The problem with the flipped classroom is the internet (not all people have the internet), also what happens when students don’t watch the lecture? The lecture should be entertaining and fun and easy to watch (and kept short). Now what happens if a student does not finish an assignment or activity during class time. Some students need more time, so if the student doesn’t finish his assignment during school hours does the instructor (teacher) have the student finish the assignment (activity) at home?

Assignment #7 - Role-Play
I really like the idea of role-play. In some classes I can see it really working and other maybe not so much. In my eBusiness I can see using role play very beneficial, there are quite a few lectures that could be turned into sometime of role play activity. Ex: Auctions: like I said in my assignment #8 presentation I would have students act out an auction. There are 6 different types of auctions and it would be really fun to see what props are brought in and what they(the students) come up with. I can see this as being a problem as some students don’t like to talk in front of the class and this could make them un-easy. I agree when the author stated “that the natural anxieties of students being taught in a radically different way from what they have in the past”. I know when I was in school I hated being in front of the classroom presenting, I would make myself sick just thinking about, but the more you do it the easier it gets. I would like to try and implement more role-playing activities in my classroom as I think this would help students solidify their knowledge of the concept taught and will help with leadership, collaboration and research. Which is very useful in any job.

Assignment #8 - Learner Center approaches
Stefan
 * Elaine**
 * Love the powerpoint slides (with pictures)
 * Great Rubric
 * Very detailed
 * Michele**
 * I like the case study component
 * I agree that it was really done well for someone who has never taught before.
 * Melody**
 * Love the prezi
 * I had some issues in deciding what type of learner-centered approach my idea was also (When it comes to webquest vs flipped classroom)
 * I like the peer evaluation
 * Michael**
 * I think that having Role playing for identifying health history is a really good idea.
 * I really like concept of concept mapping, but I have difficulties seeing something in a mind map, I would prefer written information in bullet format
 * Roxy**
 * I like the peer evaluations
 * I really like the information on storybook telling
 * I usually teach in the computer programming department and it is mostly males dominated and my ebusiness class is about half and half, so I do find I teach differently based on gender.
 * Donna**
 * Very nice presentation I really enjoyed learning about Collaborative Sharing and Webquests
 * Barry**
 * Barry I like the fact that you give your students the website they need to go to instead of having them do a Google search. It will also give them a narrower scope then the world wide web.
 * Gil**
 * I love having the students evaluate themselves. Some will grade themselves higher or lower than what you as an instructor would expect, but you as the instructor can always change the marks.
 * I love the flipped classroom idea, I really want to try it in my course one day. I like your idea of having students watch a series of video and not just you lecturing in a video and then having them come up with their own questions.

Bryan David Debbie Tom M Wade BrendaL
 * I love how you would have your students create a quiz for another group of students. What great cooperative learning. Great Presentation
 * I really like the simulation part. I think students learn best when they can actually do "it" instead of just reading about it. There is also better retention and room to fail without "breaking" anything. I alos love all the pictures you put in (real people on the job)
 * I really like the K-W-L information. I didn't really know how to use it so I just skipped over it. It is good to see it being used in a real situation and now I can visualize using it in my class. Great presentation
 * I didn't understand webquests at all until I did assignment #10 and then it all made sense. I like the idea of having a webquest for job interviews skills. I think this is a skill that all students should know. Oh and I love the prezi!!!!
 * I like the idea of digital storytelling. Very informative presentation about tourism. Good job!

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Assignment #5
Elaine MicheleD MelodieR Tom M Michael Donna Barry
 * I really like your presentation. Very interesting about the paint brush being combustible, I did not realize that. yikes!!!
 * Love the wine making topic. Congrats on the nuptials.
 * I have always wanted to start my own blog, great idea. I love the momsoverthirty.com domain name.
 * I love the idea of your blog.
 * Great presentation...I would really like one of those.
 * I love these presentations about wine making and beer making...so interesting. Maybe one day I will actually make some of my own alcohol.
 * I love the idea of redoing hardwood floors. Very well presented.

Gil Stefan Bryan David
 * Really well done, I love the subject. Good luck on modifying your truck. I hope you send pictures when you are done.
 * Very interesting, I really like how you did it. I will have to show this to my bother in law who is very interested in guns.
 * I loved your presentation - I understand the frustrations. I have a camera that has so many different types of settings that I have no idea what they do. I usually just leave it on standard. It is nice to know that I am not the only one that has problems with their camera.

Debbie Wade Roxanne BrendaL
 * Wonderful presentation - I will be watching the video, my husband has pretty bad eye site and we have been talking about lazer eye surgery,
 * I love the drumming experience, I remember asking my parents for drums when I was a kid (15 I think), it was more because a really good friend had drums. He is actually in a band now in BC.
 * I have always wanted to learn how to change a tire. I do the summer/winter tire switch each year and I always see my neighbour switching his tire. I also always wanted to learn how to change a flat tire. I had to learn in a bike, when my bike tire went flat, but I have never tried car tire. Really good info, thanks for sharing.
 * Brenda ... what an interesting topic. My daycare lady is from Guyana and she always does henna tattoos for wedding and special occasions. It is always very interesting when my kid goes up to her arm and asks what that is. Really good presentation.

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Assignment #10
I would like to create a webquest for my ebusiness class. What types of products sell best online and what types of products don’t sell very well online? My students do a term long project that involves picking a business idea and then they have to identify and analyze several of the key issues around developing and launching a successful ebusiness. My students are grouped and they work on the project for the whole term and then do 4 presentations throughout the term on their ebusiness. Students usually struggle with trying to come up with an online business idea and I think this webquest would be beneficial in helping them decide what to sell. I would first have students come up with 2 or 3 choices of business ideas and then research those ideas and see if they fall within the best to sell list. I would have students use the following websites to determine if what they think they will sell would be a good idea or not. They can use other websites that corresponds with their choices or ask people who already sell something similar about their effectiveness in the online world. Websites that I would like students to use… (these websites were specifically chosen to help them decide based on top sellers, what not to sell, dropshipping, and wholesaling) [] [] [] [] [] [] I would hope that this webquest will give my students extra knowledge on how to come up with an appropriate online startup business. I currently have students that come up with items that would never actually sell online.