I have little to report on the IT6135 FIT assignment other than to say I will post a brief self-introduction early this week. I am scheduled for Groups 4 & 9.
I will be alternating varying modes of communicating my reflections for the various weekly reports. This week I will begin using the standard text-based blogging format and will switch to audio or video for the other weeks. My plan was to use Talkr.com, however it no longer seems to be available and I am not currently running any podcasting recording applications on my Mac, so please bear with me until I can get that straightened out. It looks like I'll be finally purchasing an iPod.
Reading Reflection Week 4:
On R2D2...
Bonk and Zhang (2008), provide a very easy to use model for sampling and integrating instructional technology activities in the K-12 curriculum. I think the ability to access the model from any of the four phases of the model (Reading, Reflecting, Displaying and Doing) present a unique utility that many instructional models cannot duplicate. My only complaint with the book thus far, is that the resources presented were not available during my student teaching last Fall! I could have used some clear, easy-to-follow guidelines for integrating some of the suggested activities into my many lesson plans.
To date, I have successfully tried or participated in the following Reading-based activities (the first R in R2D2): Online Scavenger hunts, guided web tours, WebQuests, Online synchronous tests (drat!), Webinars, Online lectures, Wiki's, Podcasts, Video-based explanations/tutorials, etc,. In addition, I have been exposed to many of the Reflecting-type learning activities in the second phase of the model. Like many of you who have completed several online university classes at WSU or other institutions, I have enjoyed some of the reflective activities such as; Chat, Self-Check quizzes, Online discussion forums on Bb, Personal Blogging, Collaborative Wiki's, Synchronous and Asynchronous discussions, Group Reflective Writing, among others.
Some of the activities mentioned above are very useful for achieving a sense of learning accomplishment, or just being a member of a successful learning community. It will be interesting to see how many I can foresee being utilized during my observation and participation as a F.I.T for IT6135. Given the rate of growth of Online learning in K-12 and Post-secondary institutions, it only made sense to register for this course (IT7130) to gain exposure and make mistakes in a safe learning environment before being faced with my own course in the very near future. My goal is to take as many of the resources presented by Bonk and Zhang and through a series of trial and error, begin to sort through which are best applied in a given instructional setting. I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate as a F.I.T., regardless of how far it takes me out of my comfort zone as an instructor-in-training.
On Salmon's 5-Stage Model...
Since I am just getting into the reading of this text (e-moderating), Salmon (2007), I would venture to say that as a community of learners in this class (IT7130), we are somewhere between Stage 1-Access and Motivation and Stage 2-Online Socialization (see p. 29). Dr. Zhang has presented the concepts and ideas in these first two stages and we are just getting comfortable with the many ideas using interactivity to enhance learning. It should be noted though, that, we all bring a high level of personal motivation to the group as the model suggests. Very soon we will all be exposed to the Information Exchange Stage (3) within our respective F.I.T. assignments.
I guess that's it for now,
Brad.
