Monday, October 29, 2007

Rapid eLearning - Business as the Customer



I just completed my second podcast on Rapid eLearning. It took me all evening, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. As I continue to learn more about Rapid eLearning, I realize both how challenging it is and how little people understand about its potential. As the world continues to move faster (at least my world does), we need to maximize our learning efforts. Using Rapid eLearning tools and techniques is not easy, but I believe it can be tremendously beneficial and profitable. I encourage you to listen to my podcast to gain a little better understanding of the growing phenomenon. Click on the play button below to listen.






Sunday, October 14, 2007

Ferdi’s Assignment for Leigh Zeitz’s Class

What technologies support students in mastering the ISTE NETS?


1. Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

A. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.

B. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

http://animoto.com allows students to create music video style presentations from pictures and images that they upload. It’s extremely easy and can involve quite a bit of creativity if the various options are used.

C. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.

D. identify trends and forecast possibilities.


2. Communication and Collaboration

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:

A. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

www.rapidshare.com makes uploading and sharing large files a snap. Students can use rapid share to work on large projects which might otherwise be difficult to access online.

B. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.

C. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.

D. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.


3. Research and Information Fluency

Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:

A. plan strategies to guide inquiry.

B. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

http://www.zotero.org/ is a great tool for tracking and saving information found on the internet. Copies of resources can be saved for later access. Zotero also helps with saving reference information.

C. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

D. process data and report results.


4. Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving, and Decision-Making

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students:

A. identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.

B. plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.

C. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.

Excel is, in my opinion, still one of the best problem solving tools available. Teaching students how to use a spread sheet to collect and analyze data will benefit them greatly.

D. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.


5. Digital Citizenship

Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:

A. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.

B. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.

C. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.

D. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.

Encourage students to find and participate in online blogs and discussions on current social or political issues while being careful to closely follow netiquette rules.


6. Technology Operations and Concepts

Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:

A. understand and use technology systems.

B. select and use applications effectively and productively.

www.logmein.com/ allows a person to access another computer from anywhere with an internet connection. It’s simple and secure and is a great way to take advantage of the resources on a home computer while away from home.

C. troubleshoot systems and applications.

D. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Surrounded by Technology

Technology is so much a part of our lives, I'm not sure how we would survive without it. The following clip illustrates how much my family depends on technology.

Monday, October 8, 2007

My First Podcast



I just finished recording my first podcast. Well...it's not really a podcast yet, just an mp3, but it could be a podcast. It was really quite a challenging task. Figuring out what to say for 10 minutes was the hardest part. You'd think that wouldn't be hard for a preacher, but it was. Then I had to find some music. There is lots of free music available, but none that was just exactly what I wanted. I finally settled for some music that was "ok" and went to work. I used the beta version of Audacity 1.3. It is almost as easy to work with as GarageBand and it runs on a PC, which is what I have. I got everything recorded, added in the music and worked to get it all set just the way I wanted it. Of course, once I exported it to mp3, I found several things I could do to make it better. The only problem with using a beta program is that it can be unstable. When I opened the podcast file back up, the program crashed and messed up my file. Fortunately, I still have the mp3. It's just not quite as good as I would have liked for it to be. Oh well, maybe next time. Happy podcasting everyone!

Addition: It is now officially a podcast. Check it out and tell me what you think.
http://swacheson.podbean.com/

Monday, October 1, 2007

The Death of the Lecture


I just read an interesting blog by Tom Crawford entitled The Death of the Classroom. He makes a point that most of us already knew, that lecture is the least effective way to teach something. He goes on to discuss how simulation and performance support are really the only effective methods for teaching/learning. In other words, the student learns best by doing. It sounds a little bit like Constructivism. I would recommend his blog.