Sunday, July 23, 2017
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Evaluate Reflection
How has the Evaluate module prepared you to meet each standard listed? Link to or provide specific examples from your work in Evaluate. What strategies will you take away from the Evaluate module and apply to your teaching? What lessons were most beneficial for you?
I will take away several strategies from this module to apply to my online teaching. First, I will keep in mind to provide regular and specific feedback to my students. This help will propel them to success in the course. Next, I will be sure to differentiate assessments based on student performance and needs. Upon first thought, one might think that differentiation in a virtual setting is not as important as the regular classroom setting. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Differentiation is paramount in the online classroom. The tools in most LMSs will help teacher build an individualized learning path for students based on assessment outcomes. The most beneficial lesson for me in this module was building a competency structure. This reminded me of standards-based teaching and learning. Building these specific pathways for students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding is an engaging way to teach and learn in an online course.
Click on each standard below to view specific examples from my work in this module:
Standard D: The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.
I will take away several strategies from this module to apply to my online teaching. First, I will keep in mind to provide regular and specific feedback to my students. This help will propel them to success in the course. Next, I will be sure to differentiate assessments based on student performance and needs. Upon first thought, one might think that differentiation in a virtual setting is not as important as the regular classroom setting. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Differentiation is paramount in the online classroom. The tools in most LMSs will help teacher build an individualized learning path for students based on assessment outcomes. The most beneficial lesson for me in this module was building a competency structure. This reminded me of standards-based teaching and learning. Building these specific pathways for students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding is an engaging way to teach and learn in an online course.
Click on each standard below to view specific examples from my work in this module:
Standard D: The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.
Standard G: The online teacher demonstrates competencies in creating and implementing assessments in online learning environments in ways that ensure validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures.
Standard H: The online teacher develops and delivers assessments, projects, and assignments that meet standards-based learning goals and assesses learning progress by measuring student achievement of the learning goals.
Standard I: The online teacher demonstrates competency in using data from assessments and other data sources to modify content and to guide student learning.
Evaluate 3 - Self Reflection
Submit evidence of reflection on your individual teaching abilities. Include artifacts, evaluation feedback, your own reflections, e-portfolio links, professional growth plans and anything else that showcases introspection into strengths and weaknesses as an online educator.
My experience with teaching includes middle school math, science, and Algebra I. As I reflect on my teaching abilities, I look back over the thirteen years of lessons learned and accomplishments. One of the many lessons learned was the importance of integrating technology into teaching. So understanding this, I worked hard to incorporate technology and 21st century activities in teaching mathematics. This resulted in good teacher evaluations and always meeting and exceeding exceptions. Wanting to be the best teacher I could be, I began on the path of becoming national board certified teacher. This quest helped me to begin blended learning with my students. I was one of the first teachers in my school to structure a blended learning environment for my Algebra I students. We used Edmodo as an LMS to collaborate, communicate instructional materials and videos, have class discussions, and deliver and upload work. My strengths as an online educator have developed from my experience with the blended classroom and also my experience teaching a blended virtual graduate course. The best practice is the skill of providing feedback to online learners. Both students and adults benefit from effective feedback, and that skill develops with practice. The most growth that I have experienced is the change in my assessment practices. I adopted assessment strategies that allow students to reassess when they miss the mark. This has made a big difference is the success of my students.
Click Here to view my blog that houses a few of my experiences as a teacher and instructional coach with technology integration tools and best instructional practices, which could be viewed as an e-portfolio.
Click Here to view my entry into the National Board Certified Teacher directory.
My experience with teaching includes middle school math, science, and Algebra I. As I reflect on my teaching abilities, I look back over the thirteen years of lessons learned and accomplishments. One of the many lessons learned was the importance of integrating technology into teaching. So understanding this, I worked hard to incorporate technology and 21st century activities in teaching mathematics. This resulted in good teacher evaluations and always meeting and exceeding exceptions. Wanting to be the best teacher I could be, I began on the path of becoming national board certified teacher. This quest helped me to begin blended learning with my students. I was one of the first teachers in my school to structure a blended learning environment for my Algebra I students. We used Edmodo as an LMS to collaborate, communicate instructional materials and videos, have class discussions, and deliver and upload work. My strengths as an online educator have developed from my experience with the blended classroom and also my experience teaching a blended virtual graduate course. The best practice is the skill of providing feedback to online learners. Both students and adults benefit from effective feedback, and that skill develops with practice. The most growth that I have experienced is the change in my assessment practices. I adopted assessment strategies that allow students to reassess when they miss the mark. This has made a big difference is the success of my students.
Click Here to view my blog that houses a few of my experiences as a teacher and instructional coach with technology integration tools and best instructional practices, which could be viewed as an e-portfolio.
Click Here to view my entry into the National Board Certified Teacher directory.
Evaluate 3 - Personalized Teaching and Learning
Provide sample data from student results for a course within your field. The data can be entirely theoretical and written out in text form.
Examine your sample student performance data. Create an action plan that you would implement in your classroom to personalize teaching and learning. Provide both a class and individual approach in your plan. Answer: How could the data be referenced to identify the needs of each student? How could the settings of the LMS be used to create personalized learning paths? How would this data change your teaching plan? How could it help with remediation or enrichment, etc.?
Above is a snapshot of results from a unit assessment. At the top, in grey the standards are listed (MGES8.G.1, MGES8.G.2, MGES8.G.3, MGES8.G.4, and MGES8.G.5). Below each column there are three colors green, yellow, and red that give me the number of students who mastered, nearly mastered, and need remediation for the standard, respectively. This is highly informative data because from this snapshot, I can see that for standard G.1, only 8 students need remediation and this could be individualized help, versus standard G5, there were 39 students who needed remediation so this would result in me having a whole group session over this standard or adding an additional synchronous class session to review this standard before the final assessment. Looking at this data and analyzing it informs my next steps as a teacher. This data is also will alert me to individualized student progress. For instance, look at the student with arrow. This student clearly needs a more significant path of remediation because he has not mastered three of the five standards in the unit. With this case, students with all green and yellow would have a path of enrichment with optional videos or tasks to review, but the students with two or more reds would have a learning path that requires them to do more learning activities and retest.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Evaluate 2 - Competencies
Set up a competency structure using standards for one unit of your sample course. Associate the assignments in that unit with the competency. Submit both a screenshot of the structure and a detailed explanation of why you created the structure that way. Include a discussion of the various pathways a student may go through to attain the competencies in the unit and document all in your blog.
Hopefully, I will be teaching math, so I used the GSE standards to create the competencies for the unit. Since "...competency...focuses on what students should be able to do after successfully completing a course instead of listing things they should have learned." I used the deconstruction of the standards to create the skills for each competency (I can statements). In order to attain the competencies in the unit, a student may go through various pathways such as, learning the unit vocabulary, partner activities, research and reporting, a webquest, self-check quizzes, video instruction, and synchronous meetings.
Evaluate 2 - Data Driven Instruction & Analysis
Review the artifacts on student enrollments and student progress in the course. How might the teacher adjust the course in the future based on the previous activity of these students? What uses does data have for online instruction? What advantages do teachers who utilize data have over those that do not?
After reviewing the artifacts shown in the lesson, I noted there are various way of viewing student participation, such as how often they are logging in to the platform and how they are progressing through the course. Knowing how often students log in or the number of completed assignments they have show how the students are measuring success. This is an imperative feature for online instructors because there is not a reporting place everyday to verbally give students a reminder or help when needed. Sometimes students don't ask for help immediately when they need it, especially middle school students. Since analyzing data and providing feedback are two extremely important practices in e-learning, data allows teachers to modify instruction when needed or reach out to students and parents before undesirable course outcomes are at hand. This gives teachers who utilize data a huge advantage over those who don't. It is imperative that online teachers keep a contact log just as in a traditional class. I always kept a contact log in my classroom for each phone call, email, or correspondence mailed home. If the log displays that students have not completed their orientation within the first two days of class, they and the parent should be notified. I found a great tool, Dialmycalls that will send a voicemail to a group. I plan to use this for communication.
Evaluate 1 - Summative Assessments
Showcase an assessment created and include what method was used to assess the validity, reliability, and security. What process was used to determine the validity, reliability, and security of the assessment? What was the result?
Validity The assessment was multiple choice and the generator makes sure the choices have detractors to differentiate students who really understand the material and those who don't. There are choices that seem reasonable because they are near the correct answers.
Reliability I expect that the item analysis will show the scores of the assessment and the overall average in the course to have high correlation.
Security To maintain security, students must log into the LMS to retrieve the link for the assessments. I would like to use a tool that allow the instructor to limit the time on the assessment.
Reliability I expect that the item analysis will show the scores of the assessment and the overall average in the course to have high correlation.
Security To maintain security, students must log into the LMS to retrieve the link for the assessments. I would like to use a tool that allow the instructor to limit the time on the assessment.
Assessment by Angela on Scribd
Evaluate 1 - Quality Feedback
Provide a student work sample and accompanying feedback. Answer: Why is it important for an instructor to consider student performance data when providing feedback? How can feedback be both observational and instructional?
Below is a student work sample and accompanying feedback:
Evaluate 1 - Formative Assessments
How might a teacher employ ways to formatively assess student readiness for course content and method of delivery?
To demonstrate this, create a formative assessment related to a learning standard. Post a link to the assessment or activity in your blog. Explain.
During a synchronous class session, use of the Poll tool is a great way to formatively assess student readiness for the content. The teacher, as wee as the student will know immediately if there thought process is aligned to the learning goals, or if they need to adjust their thinking before moving further in a task.
However, during an asynchronous session, an online instructor may use Padlet to assign as a formative assessment. Students will benefit from gaining immediate feedback in a non-threatening environment. Many times students are afraid to practice for fear it will count against them. With this tool, students may practice and self-assess or self-check themselves before moving to a more formal assessment. You may also create interactive games with the content to increase engagement. Below is a formative assessment related to Solving Equations.
However, during an asynchronous session, an online instructor may use Padlet to assign as a formative assessment. Students will benefit from gaining immediate feedback in a non-threatening environment. Many times students are afraid to practice for fear it will count against them. With this tool, students may practice and self-assess or self-check themselves before moving to a more formal assessment. You may also create interactive games with the content to increase engagement. Below is a formative assessment related to Solving Equations.
Create Reflection
How has the Create module prepared you to meet each Standards for Quality Online Teaching? Link to or provide specific examples from your work in Create. What strategies will you take away from the Create module and apply to your teaching? What lessons were most beneficial for you?
The Create module was an extensive quest to prepare me to meet standards B, C, E, and K. The most valuable lessons were the time management and the open educational resources lessons. Having experience with using web tools will not be as beneficial if you don't know where to find the appropriate resources and how to manage your time as an online instructor.
Standard B states the "teacher understands and is able to use a range of technologies, both existing and emerging, that effectively support student learning and engagement in the online environment" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). One example this module provided was exploring, identifying, choosing new tools and testing how they apply to the content area that I will teach online. This link takes you to WEB 2.0 tools that demonstrate differentiating instruction and assessment with their use.
Standard C states "The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning, application, interaction, participation, and collaboration in the online environment" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). Use of Padlet as a collaborative tool during a synchronous session allows me to facilitate and monitor online instruction that promotes learning through higher-order thinking and group collaboration.
Standard E states "The online teacher models, guides, and encourages legal, ethical, and safe behavior related to technology use" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). For this standard, I learned how to use tools like Turn It In and Grammarly to help ensure students maintain integrity while working online. Also, I learned several resources to include in my online courses to teach students about Fair Use policies. The TEACH Act will also be helpful as an online teacher to use shareable materials for educational use.
Standard K states "The online teacher arranges media and content to help students and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively in the online environment" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). For this standard, I demonstrated how to modify and add content and assessment, using an online Learning Management System (LMS), EasyGenerator.
The Create module was an extensive quest to prepare me to meet standards B, C, E, and K. The most valuable lessons were the time management and the open educational resources lessons. Having experience with using web tools will not be as beneficial if you don't know where to find the appropriate resources and how to manage your time as an online instructor.
Standard B states the "teacher understands and is able to use a range of technologies, both existing and emerging, that effectively support student learning and engagement in the online environment" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). One example this module provided was exploring, identifying, choosing new tools and testing how they apply to the content area that I will teach online. This link takes you to WEB 2.0 tools that demonstrate differentiating instruction and assessment with their use.
Standard C states "The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning, application, interaction, participation, and collaboration in the online environment" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). Use of Padlet as a collaborative tool during a synchronous session allows me to facilitate and monitor online instruction that promotes learning through higher-order thinking and group collaboration.
Standard E states "The online teacher models, guides, and encourages legal, ethical, and safe behavior related to technology use" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). For this standard, I learned how to use tools like Turn It In and Grammarly to help ensure students maintain integrity while working online. Also, I learned several resources to include in my online courses to teach students about Fair Use policies. The TEACH Act will also be helpful as an online teacher to use shareable materials for educational use.
Standard K states "The online teacher arranges media and content to help students and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively in the online environment" (National Standards for Online Teaching, 2011). For this standard, I demonstrated how to modify and add content and assessment, using an online Learning Management System (LMS), EasyGenerator.
Create 4 - Aggregating Lesson Material
Research and identify two tools that can be used to aggregate and present learning material, other than the two mentioned in the lesson. Link to the two tools in your blog.
Thinking about instructional design, how does each tool benefit the learner by aggregating and presenting material in a cohesive manner? Are there drawbacks to the tools you researched?
Moodle is an open-source learning platform. It benefits the learner by allowing users to have a collaboration and communication space where all materials needed for a course can be housed. It gives the teacher control of enrollment, courses, assignments, chatting, discussion forums, quizzes, and resources. Moodle is effective for teachers and students, and, best of all, it is FREE. The only drawback I experienced was having to download the software to my PC. Students may not have a device with all of the specs needed. The download was not user-friendly for me, but there is a global support community.
Blackboard is similar to Moodle except that there is a price associated with this platform. Blackboard is commonly used among commercial eLearning software. Several universities use this platform, as I did during my graduate work.
EasyGenerator allows teachers and students to collaborate with each another. Teachers can create courses with ease by using learning object templates. What's best about this platform is that it is free and cloud-based, so there is no downloading. This great tool also has a grading feature for assessments.
Friday, April 7, 2017
Create 3 - Locating Resources
Post the three links to the resources located above and give proper citations.
1. Text:
By MathingDivby (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By MathingDivby (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Basic addition / Addition and subtraction / Khan Academy. Retrieved April 7, 2017, from
http://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/additionsubtraction/v/basic-addition
http://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/additionsubtraction/v/basic-addition
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Create 4 - Build Portable Learning Objects
Using your lesson topic, build two high quality, reusable learning objects. Link to the two high quality, reusable learning objects built by you. What is the intended use of your learning objects? How might the objects be used in an online or blended classroom?
CLICK HERE to view the course that I created which contains the two learning objects. One learning object is a vocabulary match and the other is a multiple media video lesson with multiple choice questions. These are perfect learning objects for online or blended classrooms because they provide the students opportunities to learn at their own pace and get immediate feedback to their answers.
Create 4 - Learning Object Authoring Tools
Based on an understanding of learning object authoring tools, locate two learning object authoring tools (free or fee-based). Link to the tools in your blog.How might each tool be used in an online classroom? What features should an online teacher look for in a learning object tool?
Accoridng to Wikipedia.org, "a content authoring took is a software application used to create multimedia content typically for delivery on the World Wide Web. Content-authoring tools may also create in other file formats so the training an be delivered on a CD (compact disc) or in other formats for various different users."
Based on my understanding of learning object authoring tools, two that I located, free of charge are Microsoft Learning Content Developmet System (LCDS) and Smartbuilder. These tools might be used in an online classroom to assess students and provide an engaging learning experience by preensenting content with graphical design and animated tutorials.
Based on my understanding of learning object authoring tools, two that I located, free of charge are Microsoft Learning Content Developmet System (LCDS) and Smartbuilder. These tools might be used in an online classroom to assess students and provide an engaging learning experience by preensenting content with graphical design and animated tutorials.
When choosing a learning authoring object tool, teachers could look for those that will work across multiple devices, like PC, android and IOS tablets as well. Also, one should tak into consideration the costs, what types of media file types will be used, and the ease or difficulty of the authoring tool.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Create 3 - Fair Use and TEACH Act
How might an online or blended classroom teacher use Fair Use when gathering resources for educational purposes? What observations have you made about Fair Use and the TEACH Act and how has it changed your approach to finding reliable content for your students?
As an online instructor or teacher of a blended classroom, teachers my use Fair Use to legally obtain resources for the class. Having a working knowlege of Fair Use helps teacher understand what resources are available on the internet, permissible for instructional purposes. The TEACH Act is an extension of the guidelines to use and display resources for online teaching, which affords many digital technologies for the online teacher and learner. Together with Fair Use, the TEACH Act is extremely helpful for educators as long as they adhere to certain guidelines. Doing so allows teachers to be exempted from certain copyright laws if the resources are used for instructional purposes. Additionally, it equips online instructors with knowledge regarding resources that they may and may not use.
Knowing about these policies has changed my approach to finding reliable content for my students by making me aware and check that I am supplying and displaying appropriate materials. It is important to model the proper use for students.
Adhering to Fair Use and the TEACH Act will prevent teachers from violating copyright laws. There are several guidelines that online instructors should follow when using and displaying resources. A checklist is found here: www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/copyright/FairUseChecklist.pdf
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Create 3 - Open Educational Resources
Spend time perusing the vast amounts of open educational resources and examining the different usage rights regarding Creative Common items. Create a post with the definition of OER and the various Creative Commons licenses one may encounter when searching for these resources.
OER or Open Educational Resources are resources for teaching and learning that are free and openly available online for anyone to use. These resources are readily available for immediate use. These resources include course modules, full courses, assessments, games, lectures, syllabus and other digital resources across a range of subject areas from around the globe. These resources can be used and reused for instructional purposes. They have a licensing called Creative Commons or CC. This licensing allows users to distribute, display, webcast and copy the work as long as the user adheres to the conditions of the license.
These are the different types of licenses:
1. Attribution- users must give credit for use of the resource. I the user doesn’t want to give the owner credit, the user must ask for permission.
2. NonCommercial- prevents users from using the resource to make money. Permission must be obtained for the user to use for commercial use. Users may copy, perform, display, distribute, but not for profit or commercial purposes. Credit must be given to the owner.
3. Non Derivative Works- users may copy, reuse, display, distribute, resources but cannot alter in any way. If users want to alter the resources, they must get permission from the owner.
4. ShareAlike- users may copy, display, distribute, and modify, but must ensure that the altered or modified resources are made available on the same terms as the owner originally selected. If users would like to change the terms, they must get the owners permission.
Create 2 - Web Tools for Differentiation of Student Assessment
Using your lesson topic, create an assessment that allows students to produce a summative assessment product using web tools. Isolate one web tool that aligns with differentiation and student assessment. Post the tool to your blog. Create detailed instructions explaining to students the assessment requirements. Then, create a sample product that uses the web tool to guide your students.
Link to the sample product in your blog.
I plan to effectively use this tool with students to allow them the opportunity to explore content and present their learning in different. Ways. When students have the opportunity to explain how they reached a conclusion or solution, they are engaged in reflection and self-correction. Zunal differentiates assessments by letting students produce a variety of products to assess their knowledge. An online instructor could easily assign webquests based on different levels of difficulty to differentiate the assessment. There are suppository of webquests shared by other teachers that may be used or copied and updated.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Create 2 - Web Tools for Differentiation of Teacher Instruction
Select one of the web tools mentioned in Create and build a new learning focused tool to differentiate instruction.
What tool did you choose? How do you plan to use the tool effectively with students? How does the tool differentiate the lesson? Explain.
Teachers who practice differentiating instruction may use a variety of methods like, design lessons based on students' learning styles, group students by shared interests or ability, and assess student's learning through formative assessments. A tool I mentioned in the Create lesson was Padlet. I will use it to differentiate my instruction as an online teacher. With Padlet, I can assess where my students are with a standard and provide students an opportunity to "show" their learning and think critically about the content, while engaging in commenting on images, documents, and video. The tool differentiates the lesson by allowing students to choose which method they would like to use to contribute to the VoiceThread (upload document, verbal, audio, text comment, and video comment). So basically, the lesson could appeal to their learning modality.
Create 1 - Explore Web Tools
Find five instructional web tools that offer a variety of opportunities for learners. Link to each web tool considered in your blog.
What is the intended use for each tool? How might you use each tool in online teaching? How might a student use the tool? Is there a cost associated with the tool?
1. Google Slides; Used as an online presentation app that let's users create and format presentations. These presentations are also shareable. As an online instructor, these slides can be viewed by students during a synchronous session and share afterwards so that students will have the as a point of reference.
2. ExplainEverything; This awesome tool is imperative for the virtual math classroom. Teachers and students can use the app to record and create shareable, explanatory videos.
3. Voice Thread; An interactive collaboration and sharing tool that allows users to add images, documents, and videos, which other users can then add comments by voice, txt, audio or video. There is a free version, as well as a premium $60/yr version.
4. LiveBinders; Intended for creating a central location for all resources. An instructor may curate all of the resources for a unit in one place and share with the class. Free
5. Quizlet; Pprovides free study tools for students, teachers, and learners of all ages that can be used in and out of the classroom. Vocabulary to study may be assigned by the instructor or students may create their own study lists and share with coursemates. Free
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Create 1 - Appearance
Find ten instructional websites that offer a variety of opportunities for learners. Link to each website considered in your blog.
Which sites exemplify sound design ideals? Why? Which sites do not adhere to the design elements discussed in this lesson? Why?
Provide a screenshot of 2 websites considered to offer a compare and contrast of design elements.The five sites listed below exemplify sound design ideals because the information is easy to locate, the layout is not too busy, the lines are clean, and they make a good visualization for students to easily navigate.
1. Khan Academy
2. Brain Pop
4. ck-12
5. ixL
The five listed below could use improvement because the design is very busy, there are a large number of adds that take you off of the site, outdated resources, limited recent art work, or lack visual appeal.
1. Cool Math
2. AAA Math
5. Math Pickle
Below are two of the instructional websites that vastly contrast with each other:
Create 1 - Content Map
Isolate a web tool explored in this lesson, and then create a Content Map for the chosen topic using that web tool. Be sure to highlight technology tools used in your lesson plan.
Include this content map and a link to the tool used in your blog.
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