In a blended class, it seems especially important to make maximum use of face to face class time. If this is done correctly, students also have the opportunity to make maximum use of online time. As we planned last night’s class, it was clear that we had a very full agenda and Evrim suggested that we agree on time allocations for each piece of the agenda. This approach seemed to work well for us as we addressed all our agenda items and finished right on time. We should now be in good shape for an online class the week of Feb. 14, giving students time to concentrate on their digital story creations.
One of the highlights of the evening was Lindsay’s resource review on Brain Pop. Her review was clear, well organized and very effectively communicated. I look forward to the follow-up discussion this week.
The Imovie teams produced pretty impressive one-minute videos on “What is Learning” and made good use of many of the Imovie features. I feel confidant that this 505 group will produce some amazing digital stories and that we will all enjoy viewing these on Feb. 21.
I can feel our community of learners developing, both face to face and online. We had a successful online presence during our first online class last week and I look forward to that same presence the week of Feb. 14. I am interested to know student reactions to our blended format and your suggestions for how many face to face and how many online classes we should plan. Chime in!
I definitely appreciate (when communiting) that we have a blend of face-to-face and online. I'm sure my daughter appreciates not having to travel from Gowrie, to Ames, and then back to Ogden as my husband and I do our switch of vehicles (he works at ISU). As I mentioned before, I think that it actually helps to get to know people through online interaction. I like the every other week format... I suppose it depends on what is planned for that week and whether that can be accomplished best online or face to face. I know I would have been a little intimidated had I just watched the digital story examples and then had to create my own without being in class.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the blend of face-to-face and online. At first I was a little worried about how the online week would go but after watching the video it went extremely well! I have only had one other online experience and it did not go well and this one works out great! It's also very nice that when we come across a question we can jump on Facebook and ask. I do like the every other week as we are going right now but I do agree with Shelby in that is does depend on what we are going over.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Lindsay's Resource Review! What a great resource to have in the classroom for any age!
I'm still getting used to the blended environment. I am one of those people who takes forever to respond to messages and wall posts in Facebook, and I feel that I have transferred that to this course. I'm going to try to do a better job in both.
ReplyDeleteI am also getting used to the blended environment, but I am really enjoying it actually. I think it is a good combination going every other week right now like we are because then you do not go too long without meeting face to face. I have to admit, having the online class is kind of nice and it gives us the opportunity to practice our online presence. I am trying to work on communicating more in the online environment.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding the blended environment to be an interesting experience. In the past I've had a lot of purely online courses (most of my MA) and a lot of purely on campus courses (most of my BS) and several on campus courses that use webCT/blackboard, but this is the first course I've taken that is 1/2 and 1/2 with actual online content learning being included in the computer part. I find the combined format really interesting because we seem to do a lot of the more physical-lab type assignments in class and do more of the intellectual type assignments online. This means that for things like the discussions we have more time to think about them before making comments (and edit comments) but we also have the benefit of having a person there to help when working with new technologies.
ReplyDeleteSo far I think it's going well, though as Todd said I have to make a concerted effort to remember to check all of the different online environments and post to them. My only complaint would be the use of so many different sites. I understand each has its benefits, but it becomes difficult to me to remember to check all of these (plus the others I've got for other courses) and not forget something.
I also commute like Shelby, so the online meeting is very convinient for me. But I agree with Amanda when she mentioned the many different sites to check. I want to be a part of our online community, but it it sometimes more time consuming to check all of our sites. I also love the fact that we meet face-to-face on a regular basis. I know my Moodle presence is far more developed than my Facebook presence, but that is due to a lack of time and the fact that Facebook is blocked at my school. I think meeting in person and online holds people more accountable and also gives your online classmates more that just an online persona. I think the online relationships and repore we create in discussion boards is better reinforced and developed when we also meet face to face. I love the links, resources and examples of student work available in Moodle. I think this has been the most useful and helpful part of this class.
ReplyDeleteI like moodle for discussions because it allows you to do it in your own time and gives you more time to respond to posts and put your ideas together. You also don't loose previous discussions and can always look back upon them, unlike in a verbal conversation.
ReplyDeleteI love the in class portion where we are given small tasks. I learn so much by being given a small assignment and being shown new technology face-to-face.
The face-to-face keeps me on track and updated and gives me the feeling of the fact that this is an actual class.
As a teacher, I enjoy the Moodle discussions because I have time to carefully consider student responses. When I am leading a face to face discussion, I listen to student responses, but I am always thinking about where we will next after each comment. Online, I have no need to lead or direct the discussion, so I can "listen" very carefully without another agenda. Online discussions are a good way for me to see how students are thinking about class material.
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ReplyDeleteI like both online and face-to-face sessions.
ReplyDeleteHowever,
I feel the time we use for week 5's weekly discussion (share the similarities you find in Chapters 1-‐2 in Papert and 1-‐4 in Bransford) overlapped the time for week 6's reading (Chapter 5 in Bransford and Chapter 4 in Richardson: Wikis).
Also,
I usually start the reading for the next face to face session on the second date of online session.
This past week made me feel like doing two weeks' loads of reading besides resource discussion and big assignment on digital storytelling.
I would be appreciate if we could have the discussion posted on the second day of face-to-face session since we will know what to read for next week and post thought right after reading.