Reflections on DLMOOC

All that and then some!

Walking In Someone Else's World

This week in the  #WALKMYWORLD project we were to review someone else's Storify in the project.  I choose 2 people randomly and was amused.  I followed my intuition and continued to a  third person and that is where I discovered Kevin Hodgson.  As I read through his Storify I was intrigued, entertained, in awe of his digital curation. I felt like I was making a new acquaintance.

Here is Kevin Hodges's Storify.  It seems to me that he is a talented guy, who loves his digital explorations, his son, his dog, his poetry and has a good sense of humor.  I wrote to him to share my thoughts and wanted to share a picture of my dog but the file was too large so I will have to post the picture of my Beau here!

My New Look

This week we were to revise and review our Distance Learning Medium.  While I was in the revising mode I decided to also revise my learning hub.  So welcome to my new learning hub Technology For The Veteran Teacher .  As you will discover I have tried to reach those people who may have much classroom experience and little digital experience.

Included on the second page under Digital Tools and Texts is my revised demonstration using
Screencast-o-Matic to pull a specific report on our district data site.  You can also find this demo folded into the Digital Tools and Texts Repository here .

The process of revision is so important.  As I learn more I want to include more in my online identity and resources.  I am realizing that it is also a domino effect in that one revision may lead to another and to another.  I also am becoming familiar with how to utilize the revision history features on Google sites.  The other reflection of importance to me is that for some reason I have felt that projects need to be "perfect" before I share them.  I realize that if I let go of that concept and invite feedback than my opportunities to improve will be greater.  So feel free to view, critique, and share your feedback on my journey to digital literacy.

#WALKMYWORLD PROJECT

Over the past eight weeks I am one of many people who have Tweeted in a Project entitled Walk My World.  For a complete description of the project see THE #WALKMYWORLD PROJECT

The WalkMyWorld experience provided an opportunity for me to let the world know about a few things that are meaningful to me.  As I named aspects of my daily life I claimed them as part of my identity.  The naming/capturing small pieces of experience and posting them for the world to see is a type of historical archiving.  It allowed people to look at my own private history.  At the same time when I captured and posted to WalkMyWorld I was creating a separate identity from anyone else.  The posts show who I am as an individual separate from others in the world.  To view my journey along the walk click on the link below.

Walk My World Compilation

Reflection on My Micro Talk on the National Endowment For The Humanities

National Endowment For The Humanities

Last week I researched the National Endowment For The Humanities and made a brief presentation on the organization.  (Click on the link above to view the presentation) This blog is a reflection on that process.

I began by taking a good amount of time exploring the website.  I had heard of NEH but really did not know much about it.  After a few days of exploring I realized that there is so much that they do I needed to focus on just a few of the programs that I wanted to highlight.  The next decision I made was in reference to how I wanted to present my findings.  Since I have not used the Google presenter I decided to use that to outline my findings.  Next I practiced using the Screencast -O-Matic program to narrate the slide show.  After several "takes" the micro talk was ready for publishing.

It was exciting to get feedback form my colleagues.  Several people went to the site to look into the lesson plans on EDSITEment.  Several  people also commented on how they had plans to share the information with other teachers.  Our professor Laura was able to give some first hand feedback since she had participated in four of the teacher programs.

The experience was positive.  I learned so much form other Micro Talks done by my colleagues.

Showing What You Know, Assessments for Deeper Learning

This week we explored some "nontraditional" forms of assessing knowledge, specifically deeper knowledge. The two areas I explored were earning digital badges and high school senior year portfolio defense.  Both these topics are reviewed in my Storify entitled Showing What You Know .  

The concept of digital badges has many practical implication for education.  Badges can be earned by teachers as a professional development measure.  Teachers can develop badges which can be earned by other teachers and pre-service teachers.  Students can earn badges as part or all of their class work.  I envision myself learning more about badges in the future in my own lifelong learning process.

Mindsets and Learning Dispositions

If you have not thought much about the power of your attitude and mindset in terms of learning than take a look at some of the ideas presented in my storify entitled Mindsets and Dispositions for Learning .