Do I Fit as an On-line Instructor?

After reviewing the self-evaluations and competencies for online instructors I found that I am almost a perfect fit.  I am very detail-oriented and my lessons are extremely well organized and planned.  On top of that I have pretty high level technology skills (thanks to my master's) and am extremely good at diving into a digital tool and messing with it to figure it out.  My written communication is actually pretty nice considering I have a  math/science brain.  I am also a very motivated and self-disciplined person so I think I would be able to work from home and manage my time wisely.  I am actually one of the technology leaders in my school so helping students with using technology along with the subject matter should be pretty similar to what I am doing now.   I am also quite proficient at recording my direct instruction lessons for students to view and with the amazing capabilities of Blackboard Collaboration I think it could translate well into my need to directly instruct topics and get student participation/immediate feedback.  Quite honestly the only thing I am NOT comfortable with is trying to figure out how to assess learning of students in the math and physics realm.  I HATE multiple choice questions for computational problems because I miss out on the "meat" of the assessment.  I like seeing the process students go through to solve a problem and I like being able to point out mistakes so that students can go back and make corrections (which aides in their learning).  Not that all my assessments are computational because I do many investigations and performance assessments, however, there has to be a balance.  I just know how much of a pain it is to "type" in the math world and you miss so much from not seeing the students actual work.  So if anybody has suggestions on how to do that I am all "ears"!!!






Note:  If you are confused I had to change my post from yesterday because I missed the detail about writing about the online self-evaluations instead of the technology!

The Social Bookmarking Battle

Out of the several social bookmarking options I reviewed I would have to say Diigo and delicious are my favorites (just like the millions out there).  Both of these bookmarking tools help you easily organize and save different websites by using a tagging system. They also let you retrieve these bookmarked sites no matter which computer you are on, which works great for people like me that use multiple different computers a day. The way the tools organize, tag, and share seem to be about the same with both tools. One big difference that I have found, however, is that Diigo seems to have more cools tools besides just tagging. I love that Diigo has a highlighter, sticky note, and a capture tool and what makes it even cooler is that all the things you do actually stay on the site. I especially love that the text that I highlight goes to my Diigo home page and it acts as a type of a "notecard" saving and organizing all that important information I found.  I have the free educators upgrade in Diigo so I am not sure how it compares to the normal version. I haven’t fully investigated all its uses, but I think it would be a really great tool for students who are doing research on the web. Not only can they take their notes on the web page, but it can also be shared with you so you can actually monitor their progress and give them tips and ideas. As for delicious I really liked it when I was using it, but now that I have seen all the Diigo can do I will most likely use Diigo full-time (in- and outside of this class) . This tool would be great when you find a really cool website and have a tendency to forget where it was or what it was about.  There have been several times that I have been thinking of an activity and then I have to spend my prep period searching for the darn site that I got the activity or idea from.   With this tool at school I could tag it (for example Algebra II Graphing Quadratics worksheet generator) and then I could start compiling my resources and save myself a large amount of time.    

I still have not downloaded Diigo to my school computer yet but that is because my school computers are frozen so anytime I download something it disappears the when I shut down.  I really think that Diigo would be an amazing tool when students are doing a research project.  (I was also thinking of having my math students doing research on the use of mathematics in the real world or of a famous mathematician). They could bookmark their sites, tag them, and then take notes using just one tool. How cool is that? Diigo is like the modern day notecard method of doing research.

Learning About On-Line Teaching

I have spent many days (and long nights) being an on-line learner for my Master's program so I am well aware of what it takes to be an on-line learner; however I have no idea what it is like being on the other end of that learning.  Do I have what it takes to make it in the virtual world as a teacher?  I know that I am willing to give it all that I have!  I am hoping my strengths as a mathematics teacher in the classroom (and the fact that I am a technology junkie) can help me take the leap to the virtual classroom. 

As for what I am hoping to learn--I really would love to learn about the more social features of Google that I have not explored such as Groups (which I tried messing around with but never really went anywhere with)and Hangouts (which I didn't even know existed).  I have been investigating and searching for ways to incorporate a blog into my google sites for my classrooms but have not found a way in which I could post a topic and have my students all reply to that post--so that would be really amazing if I found a way to do that.  I am also really excited to explore Blackboard because this has that "face-to-face" aspect that other on-line course management systems seem to be missing (like Moodle).  I love the idea of blending Blackboard with Google applications which creates the best of both worlds.  What is funny is when I was watching the recorded session of blackboard (since I joined that class late) I was imagining how I would be using it and could really see myself making it work for me).  (Not that I think it would be an easy task to manage a large group of people at one time, but I really can see the value of getting together as a class in "real" time and actually being given the opportunity to talk with each other.)  This is just something that I really struggled with as an on-line learner myself--I just really missed having actual conversations and seeing the person not just their words.  I have to be honest, I have used Moodle and really do not like it from a management stand point.  I found it tedious and quite cumbersome to upload things, organize units, and navigate.  So anything better than that would make me extremely happy.

I am easy to please when it comes to technology and it is usually fairly easy for me to find creative ways to apply it to my subject area or other areas (which is why I think I have become one of the technology "leaders" in my school).    When I first started my Master's program I was just trying to find ways to integrate technology beyond just calculators and a SmartBoard.  The more I learned, the more I realized that this is how I connect with my learners and "think" and "do" as they do.  These communication and collaboration web tools are way I can get my students to start "talking" about the mathematics they are learning in class, but "talking" in a way that makes sense to them and the world they live in.

The Journey Begins Yet Again

It has been quite some time since I have made a post but everything came back to me very easily.  When I was first required to create posts for my other course I took (about Web 2.0 tools) I remember dreading making the posts then as time went on it seemed almost therapeutic.  I also love that I can go back and read what I posted in the past.  (All things still near and dear to my heart!)  So why did I ever stop--mainly because I always feel uneasy putting my feelings out there for the "world" to see--maybe it is because I am more afraid that no one really wants to "hear" what I have to say!  So my technology journey begins again...