Final Reflection on the Course

I have a computer background, so I did not expect to learn nearly as much as I have in this course. We started off by creating a Google account. My thought was “Just what I need, another email account.” It turned out to be a lot more than just an email account. We used it for email, a place to save documents for use in other applications, such as the blog. We also used it to create a web page. We also used it to create, join and participate in group activities. We were able to make comments, start discussions and store web page references. I plan to explore the Google account further in the future, because I am sure there are other applications I have not yet discovered.


We started a blog for the class. I had previously started a personal blog, but had only updated it twice. By using the blog for this class on a regular basis, it inspired me to use my personal blog a lot more. I am learning on two fronts now. The blog was also a great way to keep up with assignments throughout the course.

We learned about some web tools which can be very useful for developing plans on teaching, evaluating and testing lessons. The tools helped to automate the processes. They would make it really easy, once you had developed a lesson to modify the tests and evaluations for other lessons. Throughout this class we learned many ways to automate tasks to make the job of teaching easier. We also learned ways to make the lessons more interesting for the students. Using tools such as power point, movie maker and web pages would enable the students to feel comfortable due to the utilization of technology. In addition, several of these tools would help to keep the communication channels open for the parents.

We also spent a lot of time discussing special needs students. There are many tools and organizations available to assist the teacher and the students. Tools which help the student be able to grasp the concepts, to participate and to motivate are allowing special needs students to be a part of the classroom rather than isolating them. These tools can also be used to engage the parents of the special needs students to help them work with their children for positive outcomes.

Over all, the class was filled with information that I am certain I will be using in the future.

Reflection on Assitive Technology

This week we were to create a power point presentation demonstrating the use of some Assistive Technology tools available with the operating system of our computers. I did have to do a little adjusting since the instructions seem to be written for Windows XP and I have Windows Vista on my home computer. I was aware of the assistive tools, but had never actually used them prior to this assignment. If I were to use them in the classroom, I would be sure to practice a lot more with them before trying to teach a special needs student how to use the tools. This was a very informative lesson. I haven't had to work much with special needs individuals and have become more aware of the fact that their needs will require a lot of planning, research and attention to fully include them in the lessons.

Please view my artifact here: Assistive Technology Assigment

Reflection on Plagerism Detection Tools

The lesson for this week was using a program called "Turnitin" as a check for plagiarism on papers turned in to teachers. We first copied and pasted items from web sites to answer the questions provided and then uploaded the paper to the Turnitin website. My submission scored 99% Similarity Index. This meant that 99% of my paper was similar to sources found on the internet. I next answered the questions in my own words and uploaded the new paper to the Turnitin website. The new submission scored 25% Similarity Index. This was primarily due to the questions having been previously posted. The content of my answers had very little identified as similar. Teachers using this tool will be able to determine if students are tuning in their own work or if the student took shortcuts and used someone else’s work and how much of the work was not original.




View my artifacts: Copy and Paste submission. Report on Copy and Paste. Original submission. Report on Original submission.

Reflection on Web Site Assignment

Creating a web site is definately a tool with a lot of applications. A teacher can use a web site to pass information to parents or students. Assignments, upcoming projects, class rules, supply lists and any other items which need to be passed to others.

I learned during this assignment, that it is possible to create a simple web site in a fairly short period of time. However, to try to make the pages look and act the way you want them too, may require a lot of work.

See my artifact: Quilt Class

Reflection on Movie Assignment

WOW! Now I can make a movie! This past weeks assignment was to use Windows Movie Maker and create a project. It was a lot of fun after getting through the steps of putting it all together the first time. There are a lot of steps, but taken in sequence they are not too difficult. I did have to go back to the tutorial to learn how to add the second audio string to the file.


I can certainly see how using this tool in a classroom for presentations would encourage students. They could redo it as many times as needed until the desired results and not even be aware they are leaning the topic they are presenting. I know I was always terrified of public speaking, maybe having a video to assist would have helped.

Movie maker could also enhance presentations from the instructor to the students. They could be saved where the students could access them anytime the student needed a review of the topic. I can see applications such as math. Each frame of the movie could be a step in solving the problem, or science; each step of the experiment. A teacher could use the same movie files from year to year with minor updates if needed or even share with other teachers. You could get a group of teachers together and pool expertise, each making some of the lessons.

Click here to see my artifact: The Mystery Quilt

Reflection on Group Project Collaborating on a Word Document

Our project was to collaborate on creating a concept map and a word document. We created the concept map without much trouble. Creating the word document we could collaborate on was more of a problem. Dr. Wang had to show us, to upload the document as a google document before we could both open it for editting. We then learned that we could both edit the document at the same time, however when one saved the changes the other editor's changes were lost. This project taught us we would have to cooperate to collaborate when working on a word document in google docs.

View my articafacts: Click here for the concept map and click here for the word document.

Reflection on Ways to integrate digital images into your classroom

Students today are used to being bombarded with images in every aspect of their lives. They encounter images watching television, on the computer, riding in a car down the street, and even in the school house. By adding digital images to presentations, handouts and room decorations we create a type of normalcy for them. The images help to keep them engaged in the current topic. Images are also valuable in showing rather than telling about events or items we are trying to get them to relate to or understand. The expression "A picture is worth a thousand words" is as true today as when it was coined years ago.


Images can be captured from anywhere. They can be scanned from documents, books, magazines, newspapers and countless other hard copy sources. Images can also come from photographs taken with a digital camera, a cell phone or even a video camera. The images can then be uploaded or downloaded to slide presentations, handouts, web pages or printed and put on the walls, ceilings, doors and windows. The images can be manipulated to look like anything you want them to. A little imagination, a few pieces of equipment (camera, computer, printer, etc...) and you have an attention grabbing lesson for your students.

Reflection on Concept Mapping Assignment

I found the concept mapping to be very interesting. I have used similar tools when developing computer programs, but the programming tools were not as colorful and diverse as the Inspiration tool. It was confusing at first, having so many options. By taking the project one step at a time, I was able to make decisions on how to present each part.

This tool would definitely be great for getting down on paper which individuals would be doing which parts in collaborative projects. This might help to more evenly distribute the workload in groups where normally you would have one or two strong personalities who end up doing the bulk of the work.

View my artifacts: Word Document Format, GIF Format, and Inspiration Format

Reflection on Groups Assignment

The assignment was to establish a Google group. Kristine was designated as the Group moderator for our small group. We were each to post a discussion question and respond to the other group members’ discussion questions. We were supposed to also post a page with links to items for a topic relating to something in the class. Finally we are to create a word document to be saved in Google Docs and posted to the Google group and then posted to our Blogfolio.

I have used Yahoo groups in the past and find them easier to use, but that may be due to being already familiar with them.

I didn’t have any trouble setting up a group in Google Groups, but trying to follow the postings was confusing to me. It seems to all run together. I couldn’t tell if a posting was for a discussion question, a response to a discussion question or the page/list of links we were required to post without opening the post. Perhaps if some guidelines had been established as to how to name the subjects of the posts it might have made things a little clearer for me.

I also get frustrated when I log in to try to respond to posts, but some of the students wait until the day of class to do their postings. I work and have to come straight to class from work and so am unable to access the websites prior to class. One of my co-workers is in an on-line class. They are required to make their initial posting within 3 days of the class and the responses must be posted within 5 days of the class. This allows everyone a couple of days to do the response and gives the instructor a couple of days to view them.

All in all, I am learning there is more than one way to accomplish some of these actions. There are tools available to anyone who is willing to spend some time figuring out how to use the. An investment of time up front may be rewarded with time saved later on. Knowledge of these tools will go a long way in allowing a teacher to come up with innovative ways of getting information to the students.

To view my artifact for this weeks reflection on Groups Assigment click here for the page of Ethics Links

Reflection on Lesson learned using online tools

This lesson covered using on line tools to create Rubrics, tests and URL Bookmarks. Rubrics are a new concept for me. Where  I work we use objectives to determine the subject and level of expectations for projects or what we call performance checks. An objective will have 3 parts. First will be the tools that will be provided, the second will be the task required to be performed and the third is the standard. For example: "Given a PC with the correct software/database and a set of source documents, input the training tasks with no more than 2 errors and 2 instructor assists." The student will either meet the objective or not. In other words, pass or fail. A Rubric is a scoring guide which allows degrees of success based on the amount of work or understanding the student demonstrates. Using the online tool to create the Rubric gaurentees the format will be correct and with the predetermined topics already having suggestions for criteria, the entire process will be much quicker than having to develop the grading tool from scratch.

I have written many multiple choice tests using guidelines such as spreading the letter choices close to even, ensuring the answers are top to bottom in length, chronologically or mathematically; ensuring all objectives are covered by the number of questions corresponding to the amount of time spent in discussion and many other criteria. I can see that using an automated tool would relieve some of the stress. You would not have to be as concerned with the format and would be able to concentrate on substance.

Creating on line bookmarks and placing them in a location that can be accessed from home, work or school is a good tool as well. It would enable the teacher to offer suggestions or limit the sources for research as needed. A student could also benefit from using this tool. Keeping track of all web sites used for their research, they would be able to easily document or backtrack from anywhere as well as share with classmates.

View my artifacts, Rubric, Test, Test Answers, Online Bookmark, Online Bookmark in Text Fromat.

Chapter 5 Reflection on how to use Wikis for collaboration for professional purposes as well as in the classroom.

Wiki is a Web 2.0 application on the Internet. The man credited as the creator, Ward Cunningham described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work." It is a simple to use content management system. It is widely accepted. It can be used as an internal knowledge base, a collection of templates, reports and memos in a centralized resource. A Wiki can be used by professionals as an instant global communications tool, as a knowledge base that can help solve the most common problems. Synergy of ideas or brainstorming without having to be in the same room or even the same country can save time and money on projects. A Wiki can help organize and provide historical documentation for projects, creating a common source of information.

Wiki is also an excellent tool to be used in the classroom. The teacher can build a Wiki to use for collaborative projects for a classroom or they can reach outside of the classroom and include other classes or other schools. The teacher can load acceptable web sites or sources for research to control where the students can retrieve information. Examples of outlines, documentation and reports can be placed in the Wiki. Students can demonstrate their knowledge by participating. Students and teachers will be able to access the Wiki in class, at home or anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Chapter 3 Examine an open source title (such as Open Office) and list advantages and disadvantages of using the open source program.

Open source software licenses are offered free of charge which means students can be given copies of the software to use at home regardless of their financial situation at home. It is often able to be installed on older computers, because the open source programs normally use less computer resources, such as RAM and disk space. Open Office is a good example. The current free version requires 256 Mbytes of memory and 650 Mbytes of disk space. The regularly priced $149 Microsoft Office Suite for Students requires 1 GB of memory and 1.5 GB of disk space for all of the applications to work. Microsoft claims Open Office is "The flexible word processor, powerful spreadsheet, dynamic graphics, database access and more meet all requirements for an office software package." It runs on most major operating system platforms and upgrades are released several times a year, so it is easy to take advantage of new features quickly. It is quick and easy to install (reviewers claim 5 minutes.) As for disadvantages of using, I know of at least a few instances where documents created in the purchased Office were not able to be opened in the Open Office. It appeared the Open Office was not able to pull enough system resources. This would not be a problem in an environment where both students and instructors were using the same free Office. Another problem might be if tech support were required. Microsoft is not required to support the free software, whereas they have a warrantee period for the purchased products.

Chapter 1 Reflection on ways to manage the classroom during technology integration.

I work primarily with students recently out of high school. I have found that preparation and planning are crucial first steps in using technology in the classroom. The instructor must stay at least one step ahead of the students. The rules of engagement must be clearly stated up front. For instance, I have the students sign a network user's agreement before they are allowed to use the computers. I also state the objective of the lesson at the very beginning. I lecture and then demonstrate the lesson prior to sending the students to the computers to practice. I use a Smart Board to show them step by step what will be required. I also provide them with written instructions which include screen shots to guide them as much as possible for their practices. Having all of the steps of the process mapped and documented helps answer many questions before they are asked. The theory is the more answers they find on their own when the instructor is available, the more confidence they will have and the more productive they will be when they have to work without direct supervision. Sometimes not all of the computers are functioning. When this happens I have alternative work for the individuals waiting to use the computers. Review questions, quizzes and reading assignments are some the tools I use to keep them occupied. This helps to keep them from distracting the students working on the computers. The better prepared I am, the less stress for everyone.

First Post

My name is Jere' Funk. I am an instructor at Keesler AFB I prepare Airmen for their first assignment in their new career-field. I have worked with computers as a software programmer and database administrator. I started when you had to put your code on punch cards. For the past few years, I have focused on software installations. I am currently taking a class at USM. I am looking foward to learning more about using current applications. I am attending this class to learn more about using technology in developing course material. My ultimate goal is career progression.