Final Self-Reflection

by Lee Putnam

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In writing a reflection of my experiences in this course of study, I find that I am coincidentally introspective and contemplative.  In introspection, I will assess my effort, the degree to which I have met the expectations of the course, and ultimately my perception of what I have learned.  In contemplation, I will look back on the experience holistically.

 

From the syllabus for this class, Dr. Rivera describes the class as, “This course focuses on how to use the internet for teaching and learning.  It helps students develop skills and strategies in integrating the Internet as an essential resource into the curriculum.”  From this description I take away two key elements: first, use of the Internet for teaching and learning, and second, integration of the Internet into curriculum.

  

Research and Investigation

 

Research and investigation are essential skills needed for learning.  As a species we are gifted with the ability to use historical knowledge as a base upon which we can develop new knowledge.  The ability to learn from and then create new ideas from the knowledge passed on to us enables innovation and progress. 

 

Our use of the Internet for research and investigation of educational resources that are available on the internet were not explicit assignments of this course.  However, those two elements were implicitly a part of each of the assignments that we undertook.

 

The value of the Internet as a research tool cannot be overstated.  The Internet’s value as a research tool can only be truly appreciated by those of us who formerly did not have the resource.  The days of our dependence on the card catalog at the local library are gone; usher in a new era of sitting in the comfort of your living room, opening a web browser, and visiting the Google website.  Today the challenge is not in finding a single obscure card amongst thousands.  The challenge is in finding the best resources amongst the thousands of resources returned by a web search.  Progressive refinement of the search, using the web search engine, allows for organization of the search results into a manageable set of key target items.

 

When guided by the course to investigate a particular Internet resource I often found myself investigating other Internet resources that would perform a similar function.  The competitive nature of the internet ensures that there will be more than one choice for any given application.  Global access to the Internet market makes it a simple matter for an application developer to advertise and promote a product.  The diversity of applications available to us as educators is growing daily.

 

Communication

 

When we write about the Internet, the predominant descriptor should be; a global communication tool.  The Internet is a construct which, by the very nature of its design, is dedicated to the sharing of information.  Sharing information is what we strive to do when we communicate.  The global reach of the Internet, arguably, makes it the premier communication tool of our age.

 

Internet based communication tools enable us to scale our connection with others.  The people we communicate with can be next door or literally anywhere in the world.  We can choose to connect with an individual or with a group of people.  We can use the written word, our voice, or video.  We can be live or what we communicate can be placed in the cloud for what will likely be posterity.

 

In this course we communicated using email, in blogs and in threaded discussions.  The class was entirely online, forcing us to communicate effectively using Internet based communication tools.

 

As a group we contributed to a class blog (http://ed638spring2014.blogspot.com/) and individually created our own technologies in education blog (http://leesedquest.blogspot.com/).  The class blog was used to communicate our holistic thoughts on what we were learning.  Our personal technology in education blog was used to showcase internet resources that we appreciated and chose to share.

 

Writing and publishing a blog was at first disconcerting.  Knowing that what I was writing could be viewed by the world when it was published carried a great deal of weight.  I am a fairly private person, so sharing my thoughts in such a public way concerned me.  I felt that I was exposing more of myself than I cared to.  After I discovered a few worthwhile Internet resources and wrote about them in my blog my attitude toward blogging changed substantially.  I found a sense of gratification in sharing what I had discovered.  I was communicating in a way that I had never communicated before.

 

In one of our final assignments for the class I was introduced to and investigated the power of Google Earth (http://www.google.com/earth/) as a communications tool.  At my job, I work with Geographic Information Systems daily.  Years ago I recognized the power of a GIS as a communications tool.  Being able to link information to a geographic location and then to share that information with others is an important ability for the management of global resources.  With a GIS that is connected by a network, a geographic picture of resource positions can be shared in a near real-time manner.  This is a level of information sharing, communications, that only become a reality in this generation.

 

On a less tactical level, Google Earth allows us to explore and experience a place that we might not otherwise experience.  You simply find the location that you are interested in and then zoom in to street level and you are there.  For my investigation I choose to take a look at the house where I grew up, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  As Google Earth transitioned to street-view I found myself looking at the house as if I were actually there.  I was able to virtually walk around the block where I grew up.   I walked to school along the same route that I had last taken when I was seven years old.  Street view in Google Earth is in the process of expanding to include live feeds of either still or video imagery.

 

Information Management

 

With the vastly overwhelming amount of information that is available through the Internet there is evident need for management of that information.  We explored sites that provide access to and management of educational resource material such as; Kahn Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/), TedTalks (http://www.ted.com/), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/), and TedEd(http://ed.ted.com/).  These sites provide users with access to lessons, lectures, documentaries, and videos that are valuable resources for educators.  The resources can be used to empower a flipped-classroom where students study the material prior to discussion in class.  This is a concept that presents significant advantage.

 

 I have also spent time investigating and learning to use personal information management tools such as; LiveBinders (http://www.livebinders.com/), GoogleDrive (https://drive.google.com/), Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/), Apache OpenOffice (https://www.openoffice.org/), and Zotero (https://www.zotero.org/).  I find that LiveBinders is an invaluable resource for organization and management of website information.  GoogleDrive provides an effective means of collaboration.  Dropbox allows for synchronization of document storage between personal computing devices as well as allowing members of a group to share documents across the cloud.  Apache Open Office is a free alternative office suite.  Finally, Zotero helps a researcher catalog, document, and cite references found during research on the web.

 

For educators that manage classes of any size a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Course Management System (CMS) provides automation of course development, administration, evaluation, and reporting.  Many LMS/CMS also provide communication elements that enable functionality of the course in the online environment.  While I have taken a cursory look at six LMS sites; I focused on two, enGrade (https://www.engrade.com/) and CourseSites (https://www.coursesites.com/), for in depth investigation.  In each of these sites I implemented a skeletal twelve week course on Maritime Search and Rescue.  Of the two I found that I preferred CourseSites, a BlackBoard product.  Of the sites that I investigated I found that CourseSites provided the best balance of application diversity and ease of implementation.  All of the LMS sites that I looked at had one valuable trait in common; they all provided guided structured development of the syllabus, lesson plans, activities, and testing material.

 

A Holistic View of My Performance

Having persevered through a number of false starts and what at the time seemed to be insurmountable obstacles, I am satisfied with what I have learned during this course.  I will be taking away knowledge and skills that I am confident that I will continue to use long after the class closes out next week. 

 

Prompted by my exploration of Internet tools I discovered Apache Open Office, an alternative to the MS Office suite. Open Office has enabled me to cast aside a product that I have come to loath.  Dropbox has allowed me to solve document version control problems between the platforms that I use.  LiveBinders and Zotero have become invaluable tools that I use to help organize my research.

 

The learning curve I experience in the course nearly defeated me at times, but I am gratified that I worked through the challenges.  The challenge has been worthwhile.