July 7th: Day 4!

Today we talked about video conferencing and Jean taught us how to use various aspects of Elluminate.  I have previously taken a few online courses and so had a rudimentary understanding of how to use Elluminate from a student's perspective.  It was interesting to see what a monitor's page looks like.  The most amazing aspect of Elluminate that we explored was the use of the Google translator; it was amazing how fast it could translate a website into another language!       

I found that, for myself, learning about Elluminate was not as practical as some of the other applications we have explored; I don't foresee ever being an Elluminate monitor in my future.  However, I can see that distance education is becoming the way of the future and that becoming knowledgable in online apllications could be very useful!  It could be a way to introduce keynote speakers into your classroom who could not make there in person. 

June 6th, Day Three

The TED talk we watched on Sugata Mitra was amazing!  His work in the field of technology contributes to shaping the world as a "global village." The notion that we can build internet ports in parts of the world that lack proper teachers as a means to educate children is truly inspirational. 

After the video we explored a variety of software that could be useful in a classroom.  Jean demonstrated how to use Jing as a way to upload photo's and/or instructional videos into a Learning Management System.  He also showed how Titanpad can be used in conjunction with Wordle as a way to visually represent a brainstorm in a way that weighs words according to importance.  He then described a variety of Learning Management Systems: D2L (used by the CBE), Moodle (used by Alberta's Francophone schools), Blackboard (used by the U of C) and Wikispace (which we used today to create our own LMS).  The wikispace website is user-friendly: even I, a self-proclaimed techno-phobe felt relatively stress-free while building my first wikispace!      http://sarahliljefors.wikispaces.com/

June 5th, Day Two!

Today class was loads of fun!  I enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere (thanks to our professor, Jean, who told us he believes that learning occurs best when it is shared rather than by reading or writing essays!).  I enjoyed using Titanpad and I can see that it could be used in different ways in the classroom.  I particularly like how Titanpad colour-codes text according to the participation of the collaborators.  This would be a useful feature in the classroom, giving accountability to each student in a group project.  After playing around with Titanpad, Jean gave us a demonstration of Skype. We then transitioned into using Google Docs, writing a document and an accompanying powerpoint.  All the software we used today were easy to use, useful, and fun! 

EDER669.73: June 4th, the first day of class!

I found the first class of EDER 669.73 both informative and slightly frustrating, due to my lack of confidence when it comes to technology.  While outlining the long list of projects we will encounter in the next two weeks, our instructor, Jean Larouche assured us that we will tackle the majority of the work during class time.  This reassured me in several ways: 1) I am taking a morning class in conjunction with EDER 669.73 so have little free time to spare. 2) I am currently living in a house that is empty of not only furniture but also an internet connection, making technology homework a difficult task. 3) I predict that I will find the work much easier to accomplish with classmates and my teacher around for help!

A quick bio of myself: I am a grade 4/5 teacher from Vancouver, BC.  I have been a teacher for the last nine years and enjoy the job a great deal!  My school has very limited access to technology (we have an outdated compter lab and no Smartboards).  I live with my fiance and my Boston Terrier, Yogi.  I enjoy hiking, running, knitting and rock climbing.