session5

=Week 3 Online=

First, please visit our "synchronous online class ideas" page to post your questions/ideas for discussion!!!
This week, you will be exploring many different types of Web-based lessons. ***As you look at sample lessons, WebQuests, Web-based lessons, Pathfinders, etc. begin thinking about what your Web-based lesson is going to look like. How will you organize it? Begin making notes about design, navigation, organization, etc.

==1. Below is a Voicethread presentation of our content for this week. You will hear my voice on each "slide". After listening to the Voicethread presentation, return to this Wiki to continue with #2 below. Click on the "play button" in the center of the Voicethread screen to play the presentation. Be sure to have your volume turned up on your computer! ***In order to read the text on the Voicethread slides (if it's too small), put your cursor in the center and click - that will bring it "closer" to you. (You'll see a plus sign). Also, here is the HYPERLINK to view them on the Web! ==

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==2. In the Voicethread above, we discussed Web-Enhanced Learning Environment Strategies (WELES) or models illustrating how Web-based resources can be used to enhance instruction. If you want more information, you can visit the WELES website. At the WELES website, you can download the WELES Handbook and Reflection tool (if you are interested). There, they describe the strategies more in detail. For this course, I felt that giving you an overview of the different types of lessons was sufficient.The purpose of this exercise is NOT to have you memorize the different strategies! The purpose is to expose you to different types of learning that can occur with the use of the Internet. ==

== Let's take a look at 6 different types of lessons that use the WELES strategies. After looking at the websites (within the survey), take the survey (below) to tell us which strategy you feel is used in each lesson! You will need to highlight, copy, and paste the URLs into your browser in order to visit the sites. After looking at the lessons on the Internet, click next to the method that you think was used during that learning experience. CLICK SUBMIT WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED! You can view the results here: Survey Results! ==

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==3. Below is our second Voicethread with this week's content. It is meant to be an interactive Voicethread. You will hear my voice throughout the slides. I want you to add your voice as well! Look for my prompts on each slide. You can create your own speech bubble or you can type your thoughts in a speech bubble. To comment on a slide, click "comment" under the slide. Then, choose either record or text. You will be prompted to log in/create your own account. Enter your information (create a password) and you'll be ready to record or type your comment! This will help us create a different type of "conversation" throughout the presentation!! After you enter your comment, it should show up as a speech bubble like mine.== == ***In order to read the text on the Voicethread slides (if it's too small), put your cursor in the center and click - that will bring it "closer" to you. (You'll see a plus sign). Also, here is the HYPERLINK to view them on the Web. == Several of you have made great points/asked great questions in the Voicethread below. I'd like to respond here: 1. We will be discussing "how to bring people together" in the synchronous online class next week! 2. When we discuss collaborating online, it's usually referring to collaborating with others not in that class. Think about collaborating with other children from other classes, experts, doctors, etc. around the world. You wouldn't need to have them converse online with students in their class b/c they can just talk f2f. However, there are projects that require research and collaboration and using collaborative, free online Web2.0 tools can facilitate that. 3. A VFT doesn't have the "defined steps" that a WebQuest does. A WebQuest has a the parts as discussed by Kathy Shrock. It can definitely include a VFT. 4. Several of you have mentioned new Web2.0 tools that we can use to enhance learning (Twitter, Google Maps, Timelines, Second Life, etc.). We will explore them more during Week 4 (with the exception of Second Life). Here is a link to Second Life resources if you are interested in reading more about it. Resource #1 Resource #2 Resource #3Resource #4 Resource #5 Resource #6 (You'll see that we could do an entire 3 credit course on this Second Life. I teach a course on Social Networking where dig much deeper into this topic!)

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==When you are looking at these models and online learning experiences, in addition to looking at content and the whole "experience", please begin to look at design: colors, navigation, did they use a wiki/webpage, etc., amount of text on a page, etc.==


 * WebQuests(Click on Find Webquests on the left hand side of the page.)
 * Kathy Shrock's WebQuest page
 * Pathfinders(Pathfinders guide students to the information they need.)
 * McKenzie 5 Types of Lessons
 * Learn about another type of online learning experience called an "Online Rearch Module". You'll need to "click through" this webpage/information by clicking on the "Next" or "Next Page" button. However; the links to the __research module examples__ don’t work. After reading the information throughout this site, please look at the examples in the links below.) [| http://www.questioning.org/module/module.html]
 * Baltimore County Public Schools Research Models (this is the "about" page - once you get to this page, on the left hand side, you'll see links for elementary, middle, and high school models.)
 * []

In the table below, please post at least one "high quality" Online Learning Experience that you found while searching this week.
***This was something that we created (way back in the day) when I was the staff developer at CR. We really felt that we had to create our own since Kindergartners don't read everything. It was unrealistic to also thing that the teachers had time to create their own!** || Serany || K-2 || insects || [] || This site actually has many webQuests that are great. I am focusing on "taking the insect's perspective". The webQuest leads you through some research about specific insect and then helps you answer questions abut what it"s like to be that insect. The students write a letter from the point of view of the insect too. ***Higher level thinking! What scaffolding is present in this task? Your students are young and will need a way to keep their focus throughout the work. Are graphic organizers used, etc.?** || **!!!! Phil - I'm going to put you on the spot. What makes the use of the Internet "necessary" in this WebQuest? It seems as though this is just a pencil/paper task with lower level learning skills put on a webpage. Does any one have any thoughts on this? I'm glad you posted it because it's a conversation that needs to happen more frequently than it does. We really need to look critically at WHY and HOW we're using the Internet. Please post your ideas here in a different color text to respond. You can also post your name (or remain anonymous if you'd like). --Dr. Fritz** I found a simulation for elementary school kids on diet and exercise that could be combined with some of the things that are already in this webquest to really put the internet to good use. The site is __[]__ ﻿and it allows students to pick foods to put on a plate, exercises to put in a "log" and then shows with a graph how long it would take to burn those calories. It even allows students to change the age, height and weight of the person. I thought it might be a good way to tie in some of those higher level thinking skills if the teacher had a list of age-appropriate questions to go along with the simulation. Kids could even make some predictions and test their predictions using the simulator. -Karen
 * Your Name || Title/Subject of Online Learning Experience || Grade Level || URL || Description of Online Learning Experience ||
 * Jessica Cratty || Eric Carle- Insects || K || [|http://www.crsd.org/councilrocksd/lib/councilrocksd/_shared/kfishman/9_19_2002_9_42_8/gradelevelassessments/insects%20ericcarle/insect%20student%20guide.ht] || This lesson came from the Council Rock Research Model link above. I taught many small group and individual lessons to preschool special educaiton students using Eric Carle books. This is a lesson that could certainly be helpful for my coworkers who still perform direct instruction. The evaluation portion wouldn't really be necessary, as we just measure progress towards IEP goals, but the steps int he lesson completion process could be grea for students with goals to complete multi-step, non-preffered, adult directed activities. This lesson could be done by the special education teacher, or sent home as a follow through of activities taught during therapy sessions.
 * Karen || Fractals || 7-9 || [] || This online research module asks students to role-play as someone who is looking for a job as a graphic designer and needs to research fractals, give a presentation on their findings, and design an image using fractals. What I especially liked about this lesson is that each step of the module (gathering, sorting, sifting, etc.) is clearly described for the student. There is a lot of guidance within the lesson so students can easily stay on track and focused on the task. *YES!!! Scaffolding is present. Also, how are students held accountable for each step of their work in this task? ||
 * Leslie
 * Phil || Food Pyramids || 3-6 || http://questgarden.com/22/92/7/060418193525/index.htm || This is a webquest that deals with an online log to track what you've eaten and would go hand in hand with our city wide Nutrition Program to fight obesity. Eventhough the webquest seemed already, the more I analyzed it I thought that it could have had some better pictures, and maybe some better tips of good foods to eat, the food groups, etc. But like I said, this would be a good quest for Philadelphia Students because this is something that they learn in the primary levels.

Your right that it is more of a Pencil and Paper assignment. Lesson learned that just because I found it in a webquest search engine, it doesn't mean that it requires the internet to do.

I loved that simulation, I just briefly read it's description and I think that sounds really neat. I wasn't able to download it htough, I'll try it when I get home out of the PhilaSD server. -Phil || *I wonder if the students will be required to make connections in some way (rather than just listing the dates on a timeline). A great tool to use for this task might be the TIMELINER tool!
 * || World Wonders || 7-12 || http://questgarden.com/101/23/6/100414111149/index.htm || This is a really good webquest for those history/social studies nuts like myself. This webquest explores the seven wonders of the world. It begins with a youtube clip and then goes on to explore the rest of the seven wonders in a more research based way.

I've seen a 5th grade class use Timeliner before and it looked awesome! I think this assingment however is more reseach based and not nessicarily a timeline of events. I thin it's a great webquest to reseach and identify the Wonders of the World. And most importantly appreciate their beauty. || [|29184] || I hate that its called a webquest, but it worksell with our coaster building project. Students research roller coasters, and then design their own coaster. My favorite part is that the students then have to build a working model of their coaster and mathematically prove that their coaster will be safe. ||
 * Mary Pandya || Coaster Crazy || 11-12 || [|http://www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=]
 * Megan || Poster Design || 9-12? || [] || It was difficult for me to find HIGH QUALITY webquests in graphic design or yearbook, but this one was the best of the ones I found. Students must work in teams to create a poster to advertise the City of Brandon for tourism. There are two options that the teams of students can choose. One had roles of graphic designer, photographer, copy writer, and editor. In my opinion, this option was the better of the two because it kept most students working the entire time (once they finished their jobs they weren't just sitting around.) The team had to research the city and then act as a team to come up with a theme and direction for the poster and then create the poster. The webquest provides resources for the students to use, but it doesn't really say how to use them. ||
 * Jen || Micro-organisms || 5-7 || __[]__ || This activity explores micro-organisms that exist in the world around us. It requires students to predict locations where microorganisms may be growing. Then it requires students to think critically about the list that they compiled and organize the microorganisms into helpful and harmful categories. Lastly, it quizzes students on their understanding of microorganisms, spending particular attention on common misconceptions. *For some reason, I can't access this one. ||

== 4. Your blog entry topic for this week (Answer these questions in your post) Please note that there are 3 questions to this post! If you'd like to create different blog entries (to keep the length down), you may do that but label them all blog #3 topic: My web-based learning experience (or great websites I've found): == How will you apply the concepts from the the above online learning experiences in your final web-based learning experience project for this course? What content area are you thinking about using? You might have a unit that needs some "sprucing up". What websites have you found so far that you would like to use? (You can start your own list in your Diigo account for this project. You can also tag all of the sites for this project with a special tag. Then, when you go to look up the sites, all you have to do is type that tag to search for them!)