Monday, August 25, 2008

We are off and running.......





We finished our first face to face meeting on Saturday, and I was pleased with the opportunity to reconnect with cohort group students and meet our three new students: Mahima, Steve and Sheila.  This was our first try at having our out-of-state students participate through video conferencing and although we had a few hitches, it seemed to work quite well.  The way we had the room arranged, it felt as though Becky and Lynn were right with us-----and although we could not see Kristin, I think she had a better sound connection on Skype.
We will take it a bit easy this week-----we will share "gears of our childhood" in our discussion and prepare for a discussion of all three readings next week. 

Monday, August 18, 2008

Time to Get Ready!

I am back at work after 2 weeks in Colorado and it is time to get serious about setting up the CI 505 online class.  Fortunately, this is not the first time I have taught CI 505 online.  I do, however, need to make some major changes in the course based on Web 2.0 approaches and our new book by Will Richardson on Wikis, Blogs and Podcasts.  Given all our "getting started" meetings this week, I need to make these changes quickly so that I am ready for Saturday's face to face meeting.
Having led the seminar this summer, I feel as though I "know" most of the students.  I know the students by their posts, not their appearance, however and I will need to review pictures before Saturday.
I look forward to our adventures in 505.  I know that the students are a group of experienced technology educators and I hope that 505 will provide an environment that connects new potentials in technology with contemporary learning theory to help students create and evaluate effective technology applications for learners.
In lieu  of a mid-semester meeting, we will be doing software reviews online this semester.  We did a few online reviews the last time I taught 505 online and they seemed to go well and in some cases, were more effective than face to face presentations.  I am hoping that students will come up with creative ways to present their material online.
I will be blogging regularly about my reflections on CI 505 and I hope that students will comment and add their reflections on their progress in the course.