WebQuest

The final project in EdTech 502 was to create a WebQuest. A WebQuest is an educational strategy that allows a teacher to guide students to a higher order thinking activity by using a formulaic process (see the picture below to see the 5 steps to this process) and guided research.

For my WebQuest I created a multipage website which guides students through the Nadir of Race Relations. This is the time after the Civil War and Reconstruction into the 1920s. I wanted students to understand that not everything gets better for African Americans following the Civil War. I had students do this activity and their products turned out pretty good! They created newspapers reporting on their findings using the website Newspaper Club. I actually created this assignment to benefit my classes and I think it went fairly well. I did allow students to use Google Doc Newspaper Templates to do this assignment as some of the students could not figure out the internet software. An example of a successful product can be found here.

As I conclude 502, I feel that my confidence in working with website design and coding has greatly grown. I also feel confident that I can create web programs for students that will have added educational value.

Virtual Tour: Asian Regions

Last week I was instructed to create a Virtual Tour for my 502 class. A Virtual Tour is a learning strategy in which you can help show students different areas of the world (or museums or timelines) using internet activities.

For my V-Tour I constructed a webpage about Asian Regions. The point of the website is to have students learn about the different regions in a way that allows them to explore the internet. This allows students to be more engaged in the learning process, but it also allows me to tailor the material and provides a way that I can ensure every student has access to the same high quality materials.

Creating this webpage was a lot of fun because I was able to blend together several techniques I had previously learned in the class. It is great because I am building on my prior knowledge that I have gathered! I included banner images, background gradients, a concept map with navigation links, plus, I am just able to construct websites! I am learning how to make quality webpages that pass validation and are well designed and laid out.

I can see myself using V-Tours in my class in the future in order to help students visualize different information. For instance, they could be super helpful as I teach a Geography class. I could have students explore certain parts of the world to understand geographical features and cultures. In my US History class I could have students also explore locations or I could construct a timeline V-Tour where students could process information that way!

EdTech Homepage

For this week’s homework we had to create a homepage or default page for our 502 page. The purpose of this assignment was to learn how to use CSS Templates. This is essential to know how to do because it simplifies the process of creating websites. With templates you can quickly and easily make a professional looking website.

As a teacher this could prove to be very helpful as I try to create online materials for my students. I don’t always have time to design and stylize a website plus add content. With the CSS Templates I can instead focus on finding good resources and plugging them into the website template.

I really like the way my default page turned out. It is simple, but very functional. Plus, it just seems so “me!” I took the banner picture that weekend in the mountains above my home. I really do think of this program as a journey and I know I can make it through!

M-Learning Activity

M-Learning stands for mobile learning. This type of activity utilizes the fact that a lot of our students use cell phones. It enables students to learn where ever they are. This type of activity has a lot of potential as cell phones are getting more and more powerful and prevalent and as learning outside of the classroom is more appealing.

In 502 we were instructed to create a M-Learning activity for our students. I chose to make a M-Learning activity where students would leave the classroom, roam the school and discover the Five Themes of Geography for themselves. I liked this activity because it asked them to apply the material we learned during class and find unique situations that related to the Five Themes of Geography. This means that my students could then have a more personal and interactive way to learn the material. Therefore, they might be able to grasp the concepts better and remember the information longer.

For this project we used fluid design layouts on Dreamweaver. This is an important feature because it allows for the webpage to be responsive to screen size. For instance, you can view the webpage on a regular monitor, a tablet, or a small smart phone screen and see all the pertinent information. The webpage will change size depending on screen size.

This was actually my worst artifact for the 502 class so far. I struggled getting the page to look nice and some of the video links wouldn’t resize properly. In the end I decided to celebrate my birthday (or birthday-week) instead of stressing too much about perfection! My grade in 501 suffered this week too… Oh well, I’m another year older and wiser and now I know about M-Learning and Annotated Bibliographies (see my 501 post from tomorrow…wow, this post is from the future!).

Jigsaw Activities

I really like designing. I like being forced to go make a new lesson plan for my class. When I am doing my assignments I always try to think how can I use this assignment to be helpful in my class. Then, I do my best work because I know I will actually try to use it in my class one day.

For instance, this week in 502 I was supposed to create a Jigsaw activity. Jigsaw.org has some very clear instructions about what a Jigsaw activity entails. Basically, it is supposed to divide a large amount of materials into 3-6 groups in which a student will become the expert on that material. Then, the student will teach people who read different materials the information. This way a lot of material is covered and a student understands at least one section really well. I’ve always known about Jigsaw activities and I have used them to varying degrees of success. Some of my fellow teachers really hate them because they feel that some students don’t do their part and that no one ends up learning anything. I do think you have to be careful in that you make sure people in the same expert groups get time to review the material together and make group conclusions so that they all understand. Whenever I use Jigsaws in my class I try to make sure that the students know that they are expected to be the expert on the material and that the other students need them.

For this activity I created a Life During the Civil War Jigsaw Activity. The purpose was to allow students to learn about daily life and how the war impacted various groups of people. It was a lot of background work trying to find secondary and primary sources that were at level with what I needed my students to read to understand the topic. I also included questions to help focus their reading so that they could be sure to share important concepts with their groups.

I can foresee myself using charts and jigsaws in my classes often. I have a lot of material to cover and I want my students to teach the material and really own that material. A chart is useful in collecting primary sources and videos and really making sure that the information given to students is reliable.

Concept Map

It is awesome to look through my 502 webpages and see how much progress I have made! I really have learned something (reports Katie to her learning log). I am fairly confident in the use of HTML and CSS.

This week I learned how to add pictures, gradients, and concept maps to a webpage. In addition, I experimented with Fireworks for the first time and mastered some basic skills. Now I actually know what that program does and can do! I made a concept map using Fireworks and Dreamweaver. View my concept map and webpage created about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict here.

Concept maps could be very useful in a class to help illustrate a principle discussed in class. In my example I linked the pictures to videos and articles to further explain the concepts. This could be a beneficial way of helping students delve deeper and give students reliable material that is related to the content. I made my page about the perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but I could have easily made it into a timeline of events, comparisons of two sides/events/places/people, or a flow chart of information. The possibilities are limitless!

A Piracy Treasure Hunt

This week for 502 I had to make a scavenger hunt for students on the topic of copyright. I chose to make a Piracy Treasure Hunt. Of course I went all out on it and translated a lot of my text into pirate lingo, included a video of copy right information with pirates in it, and included reward links to pictures of treasure and walking the plank. I had a lot of fun creating something that I thought might be a little bit engaging! Needless to say, I spent way too much time!

From the coding perspective I gained many skills in “experimenting” with design. I have now mastered HTML and CSS to a level where I can try to add new features to my webpage. However, because of my experimentation I made many mistakes. For the first time I had errors in my code when I went back to validate it. I had nearly 20 errors (true they were all about the same thing, but still!! 20 errors is a lot!). So I spent over another hour working on fixing my code. It was a lot of work, but now I can say I have good troubleshooting skills.

From the perspective of copyright I now have a much deeper understanding of copyright. I almost wish that I hadn’t had to learn this topic because I no longer can plead a lack of knowledge in my defense. I became much more aware about what resources I can and cannot use. I am afraid I have often broken copyright laws (don’t arrest me, please!). Now I can try to put a better foot forward and teach my students how to use copyright as well.

I like the scavenger hunt activity because I can easily see how you can apply this to a classroom environment. There is so much information on the web that this type of activity can help focus a student on where to look for information instead of just letting them roam free!  

Web Accessibility Hot Links Page

The Web Accessibility Simulation Hot Links website I created.

HTML and CSS are no longer scary! I’ve created 4 webpages now and I’m getting the hang of it! This week’s project focused on making a Hot Links Page about Web Accessibility. I found this very easy. I’ve been putting links into my other pages. The new coding elements I learned about was how to link to another area of the text and how to make the link change colors when you click on it. I also learned that you must do certain things to make your webpage accessible to people with disabilities. You can check to see if a webpage is accessible by going to the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool.

For my web accessibility project I focused on simulations that help students (and educators) know what it would be like to have a certain disability. These simulations are important so that we can gain empathy for our students, classmates, and colleagues. I would definitely recommend you to go and try and experiment with these simulations. In addition, it is important to know that gathering information while having a disability will be exponentially more difficult and time consuming. This is essential for teachers to know as they try to coach their students through the process. I learned about 4 different types of disabilities that need adaptions to make the internet more available. Cognitive Disabilities or Intellectual Disabilities make it hard to concentrate and pull information from the page. Beware of content overload. Visual Disabilities impact vision. It is important to make content that is easily read and easily converted to screen readers. Don’t forget the impact color-blindness can have on a person trying to read a website. Next are Auditory Disabilities. These will affect the hearing. It is especially important to remember to caption videos. Finally, there are Physical Disabilities which will make it hard to use computers. For Physical Disabilities there is adaptive equipment that one can use.

Simulation to show how hard it is to process information with cognitive disabilities.

In addition, as we create webpages it is important to make it accessible so all students can use it. Some tips for making accessible webpages are:

1. Use backgrounds and fonts that contrast.
2. Include alternative text when you have pictures included.
3. Always caption videos.
4. Make your webpage easy to follow using headings.
5. Use CSS style sheets which make it easier for screen readers to strip a website of formatting so that a reader can just get down to the content.
6. Test your websites using the WAVE Tool.

Netiquette Webpage

I created another webpage for my 502 class. It is exhilarating to be able to create something new using codes I have never used before. I am getting to be a lot more proficient at coding. I now know how to use HTML and CSS. Mostly, I’m just really good at following directions. I am slightly upset that I never have enough time to do everything I would like to do. I am too busy teaching and grading papers that I can’t devote as much time on assignments to go above and beyond. I accomplish the learning targets, but I would really like to spend more time experimenting and making things look even better. Alas, time restricts me!

I had never heard of netiquette before, so this project was a good introduction for me. Netiquette is simply using polite behavior on the internet. I made a set of guidelines for my students to know how behave correctly. For instance, they need to be aware that there are real people on the other side of all the comments they make and that tone is hard to sense. In addition, it is important to think through all comments using the internet and that it is best to wait a day before posting something that causes strong emotions.

Click here to see my Netiquette Guide.

CSS Stylized 502 Webpage

I’ve been working on learning the ins and outs of HTML, coding, Dreamweaver, and CSS. This has definitely been a trial by fire. Most of the time it makes sense. I just need more time to play around with the programs and processes. I am not 100% confident in my skills so I am always afraid I am going to make a mistake.

While doing this assignment I learned how to stylize my plain HTML file and I turned it into a much more colorful website. Mostly, I gained a deep appreciation of all the work others do to make flawless (or semi-flawless) web designs. I will stop moaning about when something isn’t quite perfect in others’ websites.

I also learned about the power of following directions and learning the patterns that can guide you in the process. I made a mistake in looking at my classmates’ websites and I was dismayed to find mine was so plain! I’ll have to go back and try to figure out how to stylize mine even more!