Task 3 Deliverable Reflection

Throughout task 3 (including previous tasks) all of the Greenfoot members contributed to the task's milestones in their own way. All of these contributions helped in successfully completing each task and the course.

By keeping an open line of communication I assumed the role as the team scheduler and informer, in which I gathered most of the group's cellphone # and used the emails of those I was unable to retrieve #'s from to communicate the details of that week's milestone via email and text, asking the group for their meeting preferences (face to face, IM/chatroom,etc), coordinating times and places for all of us to meet based on everyone's availability, and relying the group meet discussion and assigned roles via email/text to those who were unable to attend the meetings.Aside from constantly communicating with my group, I contributed by asking who wanted to be facilitator for the week before volunteering myself (for example: task 3 milestones 2 and 3, or Current events, or like the screenr presenter) as this allowed others the opportunity to assume the role themselves if they found the task at hand to their liking.

I also contributed information and ideas to our assigned tasks and milestones, for instance in  task 3 milestone 1, along with Aaron, I sought information on how PBL addressed students concerns or like in  task 3 milestone 2 I suggested the theme for the PBL lesson (space science) as well as a couple of subtopics for students to include in their PBL project. I also contributed to the group by editing our group work prior to turning it (just as some of my group members did) and creating power point presentations for easy access and professionalism for the Authentic Assessment Screenr and the Final PBL-Summary Screenr. I also offered support and encouragement to my group members, often answering questions via text/email and acknowledging the positive aspects of my group members ideas and when needed offering suggestions in improving. Here is the url to our Screenr presentation, conducted by our very own Vanessa Goze on behalf of the Greenfoots: http://www.screenr.com/5G97 

Overall, like that of my Greenfoot group members, I contributed various ideas that in turn played a huge part in the success of our group tasks. I believe we all did an extraordinary job in working together to build and present our ideas, our group had no conflict which left plenty of room for positive encouragement, support, and our success in this course.

Awesome Job Greenfoots! I really enjoyed working with each of you (: good luck on your journey to becoming fine educators and congrats to finishing the semester strong!And to all the AAT graduates in the house...Congratulations! WE DID IT!!!

Task 3 Milestone 6 Reflection

 I believe working in teams during a problem based learning assignment allows students to hear the different ideas of their peers and allows them to broaden their horizons, giving them a variety of ideas to create the best possible solution to the objective at hand. In student teams I'll often see students take control of the group's direction, not allowing any room for more ideas to flow through. Other times I'll see students not participate or make excuses as to why they can't take part, causing the group to piggy back that individual. And sometimes I'll see that a couple students within the group put more effort than the entire group itself often jumping in at the last minute. By having an assignment that is engaging, motivating, and clearly stated could hype students up and naturally allow them to work as a group. Though that's ideal and may be in some cases rare, putting a constant emphasis that the there is no "I" in team injunction with group participation points that count for big chunk of the grade, as well as individual group reflections, will help the manage team conflicts. I also think that by having face to face meets within the group to discuss the task and roles along with group meets with the teacher for updates, will help the students be more engaged and allow more participation to come about. This week questions were really minimal, there was a question whether we should meet face to face to discuss this week's milestone but with the ending of the semester drawing near the Greenfoots decided to communicate via email/forums.

Task 3 Milestone 5 Reflection

1.    What ideas have you contributed to your team this week?

I contributed that we all have another face to face meeting in order to discuss the content of this week's milestone and assign roles equally. Not much was needed as most of the ideas used were gathered in previous work, they were simply gathered and expanded.

2.    What role did you play on your team this week?

This week I helped the facilitator to decide a time and day the group could get together and I also was responsible for the Action Plan section of the milestone.

3.    How did you encourage and support your team members this week?

I encouraged and supported my group by offering to help them in anyway possible and by helping them find the ideas we used in previous work so that they may use it in this week's milestone.

4.    Did the group have any questions or problems this week?

I actually had a question about the Action Plan - whether it was to consist solely of the final task or if it was to include the tasks/activities that lead up to the final task.

Task 3 Milestone 4 Reflection

1.   What ideas have you contributed to your team this week? I suggested we all meet up and i gave an idea as to how we split the roles .

2.    What role did you play on your team this week? this week i was video presentator and meeting coordinator

3.    How did you encourage and support your team members this week? I supported my team by helping the task leader (vanessa) get everyone together and help her figure out the roles we should all take.

4.    Did the group have any questions or problems this week? We met face to face again and were able to clarify the assignments goals, this assignment seemed easier than the rest minus the difficulty with screen (my computer was freezing and running slow for some reason).

Task 3 Milestone 3 Reflection

The ideas I contributed to my group for this week's activity was suggesting that the focus on the fictional problem be on tackling overpopulation as a meteor hitting earth was too morbid (as Natalie pointed out). Along with other members in the group I also suggested a couple of questions that would help develop our student tasks in our scenario.

This week i was task leader, in which i set up a face to face meeting with other members and communicated with other members who were unable to attend via email and phone. I also assisted Aaron in building the welcome memo for this week's milestone and helped blend the orientation memo that Natalie and Shyann put together.

I encouraged and supported my group members by first having an open line of communication giving them my contact information in which i let them know i was available at all times if they needed help or had a question. This allowed me to work with them immediately when any questions arose. I supported my group's ideas by providing positive feed back, letting my them know i thought there ideas were good. For instance, Shyann asked if her portion of the orientation was good and i let her know that it was perfect and she did an amazing job. 

Initially the group had many questions, but when we got together for collaboration we were able to dispute any issues we were having. I feel we each brought knowledge to the table that allowed us to fill in the gaps of the assignment we didnt quite understand.

 Overall, this assignment was difficult but as always the Greenfoots were able to come out on top. Pat yourselves on the back we did an awesome job! Greenfoots, ftw!

Task 3 Milestone 2 Reflection

This week I was task leader. After receiving everyone's input, Vanessa and Aaron answered question 1, while Natalie and Shyann answered question 2. I contributed to the group by keeping an open line of communication with my group members (i.e. emailing resources, seeking votes & opinions, clarifying this week's task), editing this week's doc, and by contributing a bit to both questions. Keeping an open line of communication with my group members (via email or text message) worked well. I was able to get feedback and make sure everyone agreed with what was going on. I think to make communication even better our group should exchange numbers just so there's always another way of communicating that way when someone's opinion or whatever it is, is missing they could be contacted. Overall, interesting week.

Task 3 Milestone 1 Reflection

The task leader for our group was Natalie. She created our Google Docs and shared it with us so we can input our findings, where she would later edit and compile the information into the Greenfoot Newsletter. I believe she also worked on the benefits of Problem Based Learning along side Vanessa. The student concerns was tackled by Aaron and myself.

Prior to starting the task I emailed my group in an attempt to initiate the group work, from there my fellow group members selected the tasks they wanted to complete. My role in the task was to find how PBL tackled the concerns of the Ala Ike students. I contributed to my group by researching what PBL was, how it was used, its benefits, and the student concerns it addressed. The source I used to compile my portion of the newsletter was www.personal.psu.edu , with this information I was able to explain how PBL addresses the student concerns of feeling unengaged, unmotivated, unchallenged, bored with stale textbook information, and educators not communicating with students on all levels of learning. 

Emailing the group to discuss the roles of each person for the task and having a Google Doc that was already open for input and later for editing to produce the final product, worked well. Mostly everyone was able to contribute their findings and the task leader was able to look over the information to create a our one page newsletter.

Everything worked out really well, almost everyone was able to communicate and respond to their roles in a timely fashion. Though communication was well, it can be improved. I know everyone has a busy schedule and working on our own time is beneficial and convenient. However, to make group work possible, especially over an online course, regular email checks should be done. This might be difficult because of conflicting situations but email checks are necessary to maintain group participation and keep updated with the information that each person is inputting.

Overall, good job fellow Greenfoots!!!

Week 10 Group 2 Current Event

Today advancing technologies make information so much more accessible; upcoming generations are going to be immersed into the Information age and  as educators we should facilitate their development for this lifestyle. This week's current event focuses on which three computer/internet skills we think children should develop in order to prepare for life in the Information Age. The Greenfoots believe the following three skills are the most important:

1. Netiquette and Internet Safety Skills

The internet is a very resourceful tool that can be used for leisure or work; what we do and how we communicate with others on the internet can effect us. We think children should be taught how to safely navigate through the internet world as children are utilizing the inter web in school, after school at home, with their friends, and practically everywhere with cell phones. We should be educating them about precautions to take while on the web, how they should interact with strangers, how to identify scams, etc. Safety is the most important skill to know because any harmful thing could happen with misuse of the internet. 

2. Research/Browsing Skills

With so much information at our fingertips its can be challenging to know what sources are reliable. We believe that conducting a basic search through an effective search engine is one of the basic tools to being technologically literate. By developing these skills children will be able to select sources that are credible for their work,gain knowledge, and develop one of the Global Learner Outcomes, which is to become a "self-directed learner".

3. Emailing Skills

Emailing is a popular tool and is often used for communicating with colleagues, professors, friends, and family, near and far. We believe students should have a firm grasp on how to compose, send, add attachments, and organize emails as this is something they will be doing for the rest of their lives. On top of the general use of emailing there is much more to than what meets the eye. Through emails you can create documents, search and organize information, blog, personalize your calendar, etc. There are so many tools that go unnoticed via email, by developing these skills children will be able to make use of the tools email has to offer and communicate effectively with others.

Task 2 Deliverable-Web 2.0 Tool, Thinglink.com

Hey everyone!

So the web 2.0 tool that I selected was Thinglink, which is a site that allows users to create interactive images through the use of tagging various medias like videos, podcasts, websites, articles, other images, songs, recordings, and etc. I really enjoyed this tool because its free, easy to use, and adds a unique perspective on presentations.

When I first saw this site I was instantly attracted to it, that I created an account and made a few interactive images myself. After using this tool, I've decided I could see myself using this with my future students. As in writing you need to include your sources as well your own thoughts to blend the information; with Thinglink you can do just that. With the description box and the tagging aspect of Thinglink students will be able to include their sources as well as their own take on the information and share it as marker on an image that symbolizes the topic. But as you already know tagging isnt limited to websites or articles, but allows room for a wide spectrum of medias.

Prior to this activity, Google was my go to search engine...basically for everything. I would usually google phrases like "a list of web 2.0 tools" or "web 2.0 tools for the classroom", most of the time they would lead me to articles or websites that had a list of 2.0 tools to select from. My search actually lead me to a website that centered on web 2.0 tools according to skills, at the time I wasnt searching for a specific tool but I did bookmark the site to come back too. Bookmarking the site was a good idea as I actually went back to browse the entire website thus stumbling onto Thinglink.

If you're using Google in your selection process of  any web 2.0 tool, I'd use phrases  like "web 2.0 tool reviews for __(insert specific skill; i.e. creativity)__", "best of 2012 web 2.0 tools", or "web 2.0 tools for ___(insert specific skill; i.e. interactive presentations)", I think these would help narrow down your search. However, there are so many sources at our finger tips it will still take time to sort through the options, especially if you're like me and like to test the site out for yourself.

Overall this assignment was really fun and I'm glad I found a tool that puts a unique twist on creativity and presentations.

Task 1 Debrief

Before beginning this course I had no experience using personal learning networks whatsoever. As we signed up for various personal learning networks, such Google Reader, Twitter, iGoogle, and Diigo, I learned to engage with and manage my resources. Between all of the networks we signed up for I used Diigo and Google Reader the most. Both personal learning networks were really simply to use, easily accessible (I'm always bookmarking or checking my gmail account), and helped me to arrange my resources in away that has changed my view on online organization.

I really enjoy Google Reader and Diigo, these are filters that I plan to keep on using in order to maintain my current and manage my new resources. I'll admit I probably won't use iGoogle after the course is complete (I also read that iGoogle will no longer be available later on this year); as for Twitter I'll keep it around just to get a better feel for it, I definitely see the potential it has in finding reliable resources.

After experiencing personal learning networks, I definitely see these as tools that are really valuable to prospective, new, and veteran teachers. There is just so much information at our fingertips that is begging to be used, so why not use them to spruce up your career as an educator. Technology is seriously changing the way we live and learn, with all this information at hand teachers should take advantage of these sources to better assist them in reaching and touching the lives of their students.

Here is my screencast made from screenr on the personal learning network, Diigo: http://screenr.com/nmq7

Week 4 Group 2 Current Event

 Heyyy Everyone!

The Greenfoots have chosen larryferlazzo.edublogs.org as this week's resource. This page offers an in-depth explanation of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and acts as a great source by assisting teachers in planning lessons that are both effective and challenging for students. Larry Ferlazzo, author of the page, provides various links to the best resources that help teachers creatively integrate the taxonomy into their classrooms. For instance, The Differentiator is an amazing online application designed to help teachers create various outcomes depending on which Bloom word is selected from each column (thinking skills, content, resources, products, and groups), so that students to may engage in higher-level assignments.

There are many Bloom tools this site offers, so take a look around. I hope you enjoy the site!

Self Introduction

Hey Everyone!!! Welcome to my blog, it's great to finally meet all of you! My name is Jasmin Floyd and I look forward to working with you this semester. 

My favorite technology gadget is definitely my phone, the Samsung Galaxy S3. With all the gaming apps, access to music, hot spot, alarm clock, camera, planner, S beam, phone features, and social networks, jam packed into a device the size of my palm- not only do I have mostly everything I need right at my fingertips, I have wayyy more space in purse! Aside from all its awesome features to be occupied with, this gadget is my lifeline. I use my Galaxy to stay organized and connected. 

I really enjoy face-to-face classes more than online classes because of its opportunity for interaction, yet with the scenario based learning and the opportunity to work in online groups (which is a first for me) I'm really curious and excited about learning in this class. Two skills i offer as a group member are that I'm a very hard worker, I strive to complete the tasks at hand promptly and efficiently, and I'm also very supportive and willing to lend a helping hand.

Here's a link to a video clip that was collaborated by the MacArthur foundation, expressing their reasons for incorporating digital media into the learning environment of the twenty-first century learner.