Global Learners

Round 1 done

2005-04-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well it is an exciting day as I just posted my Assignment 1. At least I hope it posted since I was having porblems attaching anything to the course e-mail.

I am now busy working on a course web design for another course. I am busy developing material and trying to find the best layout possible, keeping in mind that several of the teachers that will use the material have never taught through distance ed before. ....like me. If anyone has any links to course sites that are well laid out, I would be happy to hear from you. Every little bit helps.

After finding out how expensive Web CT was, I was a bit discouraged, but have since found www.moodle.com has many of the same features for free. I still need to review this. I also found out that the University of Calgary may sponser our school for the use of web CT which would mean that we would get access to a password for a year for testing. They are trying to get the Alberta Government to sponser the use of WEB CT software for free. I won't hold my breath on this one though, but if you don't ask, you won't get.

Well that is all for now...I'm off to do that teaching thing again.

almost time

2005-04-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

First of all thanks to those who took a look at my web site. Your comments were appreciated.

Well just a few days before our first assignment is due. I've been busy doing the final touches before handing it in...I've aucutally just sent it to my english teacher friend to review...I bow to the english teachers with their knowledge of propper grammer or is that grammar. :)

In other news I was looling into getting web CT to help for the development of another web site for another course I am taking....I almost had an attack yesterday when I found out a licence could be about $80,000...this is not an offical cost, a co-worker had looked into it before. I don't know for sure, but I don't think I'll get approval to spend this amount of money :) Don't most school divisions approve unlimited teacher funding?

Well that's all for now...haven't had my morning tea and my cat thinks that the computer mouse is an actual mouse, so excuise any typo's in the posting.

Cheers
Louise

web site

2005-04-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've posted my web site to our assignment at http://studentweb.usq.edu.au/home/w0007802/edu5471/Homepage.htm

I know everyone is busy with the assignment, but if you have a minute or two, it would be great to get some feedback as I am still very new at the web design thing.

That's all for now..busy, busy with everything. I'm glad I took a few days off over the weekend to catch a breath.

Another Day

2005-04-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, just another day in the life of working full time while taking two courses. I've been busy working on Assignment 1. I should have the web-page ready for review by Thursday, that will give me a few days to do any revisions and post my final draft by next Wednesday, giving a few days for any bumps in the road along the way. (of course we all know this can happen with any course) I have most of the links for my web-page, but am being a little challanged in making it visually appealing. Because it is an information site, I don't think there is a lot of need for several graphics, and how creative can you be when listing web-sites and short summary's of what those sites are? Any suggestions would be useful.

Well I'm off to continue my web-page....deadlines to meet...students to teach.

Working Away

2005-04-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well today is another day. I have managed to post my questions and replys today on the two forums I joined three weeks ago. It was the first time I had acutually posted anything. Mental note....write down your passwords when you join a forum...after a few weeks you may forget. :) I am looking forward to seeing all the replies. I have gotten one response in the past few hours.

The web page is also starting to take shape. The links are all set, but now I'm trying to jazz it up somewhat. It has been a few years since my last web-site, so this is proving to be very interesting. My goal to to have this finished by next Friday.

And last but not least, I'm trying to track down a waver that we use in our school. To be honest, I think our division has one, but we have never used it in our school as our web-site has no pictures. I will post it to our discussion board if I can track one down.

Just a short note as I have to get ready for parent-teacher interviews and complete some marking.

Have a good one.

Forums

2005-04-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start today saying how pleased I am with my 13-14 year old students who replied to my blog yesterday. Out of a class of 23, only one had heard of blogging and while working in groups of 5 they all posted a comment to my blog yesterday. They were very excited about the whole process and concept.

On another note, much to my suprise, after much fustration of finding forums that are not jibberish, I am enjoying the two forums I joined. I have been observing them for the past three weeks and am ready to post and respond to postings....as soon as I build up my nerve:) . I should be fine by tomorrow...the great part is that I'm showing a few students in my computer class how the process is done and I said I would show them how to post tomorrow, so there will be no backing out. I wonder if students realize that sometimes the teachers are learning things just before they teach them....hmmm......some things are left better unsaid.

Gotta go for now and finish comparing the two forums.

Pope John Paul 2

2005-04-05T07:55:00.001-07:00

opps. I posted the above twice. I didn't want to delete it since someone put a comment with it.
Baby steps.
Louise

Pope John Paul 2

2005-04-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

Grade 9 Class:

As part of a class assignment, I would like you to reply to the following questions in groups of 3-4 students.

As you all know, Pope John Paul 2 passed away a few days ago. I would like you to reflect on the following questions:

What did Pope John Paul 2 mean in you life and the life of others?
Did he have a special impact on you?
What legacy d0 you think he leaves?

Place your group number at the bottom of your comment.

Blogging

2005-04-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter Break. It is amazing what a few days off can do to revive you.
I’m sure everyone is busy putting together your first assignment. When I first started this course, I had never heard of a blog, but now I am finding out they are very popular and useful in the educational setting.

If you are still feeling your way around blogs, I found a few sites that host you blogs, Some have been mentioned in this class and other courses.

Blogger http://www.blogger.com
This site is owned by google and offers free publishing

Movable Type http://www.moveabletype.org
If you use this site for personal use it is free. You must pay for it if it is being used for a business. IE. Marketing

LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com
If you are using this site for basic publishing and hosting it is free. If you would like extra features, you must pay for it.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers

ICT Resources

2005-03-31T15:33:00.000-08:00

I came across a great site for those of you who are implamenting ICT outcomes into your schools.

Site Map for Enhance Learning with Technology
http://members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/sitemap.htm

The site is based on Alberta Education, but can be used by anyone who is trying to implement ICT incomes into their schools. I would start with the link “Questions” “Where it start”. For those of you who are wondering where to start the ICT process this is a great start. Close to 300,000 people have accessed this site since April 6, 2004… they must be doing something right.

Student Cheating

2005-03-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hello again:

I was watchng Dr. Phil today...I know, I know ...anyway, he spoke on the topic of cheating going on in the schools at an alarming rate. Students are using cell phones(text messages) , developing web sites which give answers to tests the night before, and it was stated that 40% of students use plagiarism from the internet to write papers. I have to say that although I am more than aware that cheating goes on, this high number suprised me. What also suprised me is who is doing the cheating...students who are competing to get into the best universities. It is a price we are paying for technology.

There were a few solutions given:

use the following web site www.turnitin.com to see if students are plagiarising. You simply post the report on this web site it will do a search to see what % of the paper has come off the internet, among other things. What a great tool.
an easy solution is for teachers to write test after test so there is no chance someone has a copy from a previous class....such a simple solution.

Can anyone come up with more solutions? By saying nothing or giving a slap on the wrist are we telling our young students/children that cheating is now acceptable? Should all schools, not just universities be giving more stern consequences..and what should these consequences be? And the most important question....Why are schools and parents just giving a slap on the wrist for cheating...could there be some self motivation(rankings/grades)?

Something to think about

Cheers

Happy Easter

2005-03-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter. I can't beleive it has been a few days since my last posting. I guess that is what happens when you are taking two courses while working full time..in saying that, my group project is finished for my other course, so I can concentrate on this course for a bit.....ahh the life of juggling everything....and your right, we pay for this and do it on our own time..ya gotta love it.

Well, time for me to get back in to the discussion groups to see if anything interesting is going on...let's not forget about Assignment 1 that is due in a few short weeks...enough of my babbling, tune in tomorrow when I won't be rambelling about nothing...isn't that what one does sometimes in a diary?

Bullying, it is a Problem

2005-03-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

For those of you in my course, we did a reading about bullying a week or so again. I commented about how students being bullied are starting to bring guns to schools. Just yesterday there was another school killing. A high school student killed seven people at their Minnesota school. If anyone who thinks bullying is just one of those things that kids do, they should re-think their point of view. I believe there should be a zero tolerance for bullying in every school throughout the world…just my thoughts.

On another note, when I was reading the article, there were many stories of hero’s. Chase Lussier, a 15 year old student jumped between the teen gunman and two girls. He took a bullet in the head. Through all of this sadness, we should remember that our world is full of hero’s like Chase…by spreading a bit of kindness and encouraging our students to do the same, we may just be saving lives.

If you do one thing today, pick out a student who you think may be having a hard time and say hello...maybe even give them a candy...then enjoy the smile they give you.

That's all for today...have a good one!

Forums

2005-03-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Today is another good day in relation to finding my way around Forums. If you live in Canada, The University of Calgary has a good site for posting articles:
http://commons.ucalgary.ca/events/index.html
There is lots of information on ICT and distance learning if you work your way around this site.

Another good site I found was Educational Listserves http://www.cln.org/lists/home.html This is an international site. From what I have seen thus far, this site has several daily postings and is very good for general topics. I find it interesting to see how different teachers think around the world. It is good to think outside the box.

I am also trying to figure out how to post pictures to this site...hopefully by the end of the day I will have it sorted out. " A picture is worth a thousand words"

In The Beginning

2005-03-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

In the Beginning:
I started this task about a week ago by developing a blogg on my own, but then I decided to use the blogging site that was recommended. I found that logging on and getting started to be quite painless and straight forward. Like many others, this is my first attempt at blogging. I can see it being a benefit in working through the course, remembering how you feel throughout the process and keeping you on track. It is a good lesson for teachers to remember that just because something is easy for us now does not mean our students find it easy. They often need a way to work through the thought process of school work, and blogging may just be the way to do that.

Forums:
About a week ago I started to find on-line forums. At first I found this task to be..How can I say it, "Very Frustrating". I have participated in a forum before, but it was set up on a certain topic and for a day. I was given the time and website to go to. When I was searching for appropriate forums for this course, I found that most forums I looked at were outdated, had very few postings, or had posting that were gibberish about nothing.

After joining several different forums, on several different topics, I have decided to compare what I consider a good forum and what I consider a bad forum. Because time is so precious to us all, I am still not sold on the forum idea unless it has been pre arranged. I still tend to pick up the phone or send off an e-mail when I have a question related to work. The one thing that does intrigue me is that you can send a question out without anyone knowing where it is coming from, and the responses you receive should be honest. One web site which helped me with what a forum is and some hints on how to use them is: http://www.bateuto.com/php/help.php

That is all for today. I am sure you will see many changes as to what I am putting in this blog over the next little while. It is really nice to be able to observe other students blogs to see the great work everyone is doing.