Week 8 Reflection
This has been another hectic week! (Do I say that every week?) I had a grant due today, that I finally finished last night! I spent a lot of time refining my podcast, but still do not have the RSS feed quite right. I did manage to create and upload the file and made an RSS feed that validates, but I cannot seem to subscribe to it.
I have had a relatively busy MSN week also. I have talked to Phyllis, and Nia, and David, and Lisa, and Dr. Powley. David was a great help in trying to get the RSS feed to work, Yolanda and I commiserated on projects that were not quite up to par, and Dr. Powley and Lisa and I discussed virtual reality. (Thanks for the site info Dr. Powley...I have been hanging out there quite a bit!)
I found the information on Wireless in the classroom to be quite interesting. Here in the States, wireless computing often means laptops and PDA's, though in many other countries, wireless computing is done on cell phones! In my school we are recipients of Freedom to Learn laptops for our middle school students, so all 6th - 8th grade students have wireless laptops. We have several access points in the school, so they can be used in various classrooms. I am also hoping that we will soon have PDA's in the 3rd through 5th grade classes if my grant is accepted. DO you also have wireless technologies in your schools?
Week 7 Reflection
I have spent a good deal of time using Messenger to chat with other members of the class. In this past week I have chatted with David, Dianne, Georges, Nia, and Dr. Powley this week.
I have found this week's topic on synchronous and asynchronous learning to be quite interesting. It was a challenge finding a way to meet the needs of 40 students in different time zones!
I have been working on my multimedia presentation, a podcast, and have found it to be a bit more challenging than I had thought it would be. I had no major problems creating the mp3 file, I am having a bit of difficulty with the RSS feed...I have a couple of days to work it out!
Feeling Disconnected
Our server crashed at school today...and some of the files in the OS were whacked when I got it back up. I had to call the help desk, they sent out a tech who siad "Oh, your server crashed, I can fix this real quick." After about half an hour he decided that some of the files were corrupted and he needed to reload the OS. Of course, even though I told the help desk that the OS had to be reloaded, he did not have the disk. So, maybe Monday afternoon sometime I will be reconnected. I went through some major withdrawal today. I was ready to check my email on my cell phone...Iam glad to be home and connected once again!
Week 6 Reflection
As always, life is busy! I think that I have mentioned that I help take care of my aunt who is paralyzed?? We had to take her to the hospital the other day, her blood pressure was way too high....so I have been a bit less visible for the last few days...
I have chatted online with Nia and Yolanda and David in the last few days. David shared some files with me through the messenger window. Most of my discussions this week seemed to center around learning, learning styles and self-motivation. I have enjoyed talking to and getting to know many of the members of the class.
I am interested in the topics this week. I believe that they appeal to me most directly due to my learning disabilities. The ability to listen to a lecture over and over again as needed is so appealing to me! Although I enjoy blogging, email and IM's, they still are centered around writing and I prefer not to have to write due to my dyslexia. I also take longer to process information, especially new information, and really think the media discussed this week are best suited to my abilities.
Karen
Week 5 Reflection
This has been another hectic week! I have written two grants in the last two weeks and am so tired of writing! I have one more grant this week, due Saturday at midnight. I certainly hope I can get a few of them funded, it has been difficult the last year or so to get anything funded.
My grandbaby is going to be two next month so we have been busy taking care of the details for the party.
This is also a busy time of the year at school. I am in charge of all of the technology in the building. I finally have all of the computers set up in the classrooms, but still have 9 printers to install. Unfortunately, over the summer someone stole 27 Freedom to Learn Laptops from the school. They were in a locked metal case in a classroom with a steel door. There was no sign of forced entry on either the door or the case the laptops were stored in, so we know it is an inside job. The Dell TechKnow program, that I am in charge of at my school, has just started this week. I work with 20 students a semester and teach them to take apart a computer and then put it back together. At the end of the program they get to keep the computer and get a free year of Internet access. It is a great program, but I am tired!!
I have been very interested in the information presented in class this week, and found a site that is geared for students in science, engineering or technology courses. I spent a lot of time working on the activities...
K
