And just what does she mean by cite external sources? And other final paper concerns.....

I am seeing a lot of action around final paper work.  This is a great sign that most of the papers are now in progress and I am pleased about this.

Several students have asked about citing outside sources and what is acceptable.  Since this is a paper for teachers, I am not looking for extensive literature reviews.  I am looking to see that you have knowledge of what others are doing in your topic area.  Thus, if you are writing on implementing Moodle in your school, you would want to check out what other K-12 schools are doing with Moodle.  Your sources will probably be from the web and will be based on practical experience and they will broaden the effect of your paper.  Web citations are fine for this assignment.  My interest is that you show an awareness of the work of others around your topic---a typical 505 final paper might have 2-6 references.  Use APA format for the references---Evrim's paper illustrates this format.

Evrim's paper seems to have created some anxiety-----her paper was beyond expectations for 505 and she has continued to work on it for publication.  A typical 505 paper is 8-12 double spaced pages and can't be much longer for publication in most practitioners' journals.

I remain available to read your drafts, if you wish.  You can email your draft to me and I will try to comment asap.

I will work to keep up with the outlines as they are turned in this week and to make sure your idea is on the right track.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

So What's Next?

With the midterm over, most of the course readings and major assignments completed, we are now in the home stretch for CI 505.  For the next three weeks, students will be writing final papers for the course (see previous post).  On Dec. 6, our face to face meeting, each student will briefly describe his/her final paper and turn it in, if it is completed.  I can, however, accept final papers until Dec. 17, so student who need more time can have it.

Our course work and discussions over the next couple weeks will be at a slower pace than usual, so students will have the time to develop their papers.  I am hoping that students will also use the discussion board as a place to talk about their developing paper ideas.

As usual, the semester has passed by quickly.  I will hate to see this group move on as I have sincerely enjoyed our work together.

The Midterm Exam Approaches.....

Next week is the time for the midterm exam in our class.  You will access the exam from the main page for the course and once accessed, you will have 2.5 hours to complete the exam.  The exam will include 3 questions and should take about 1.5 hours (30 minutes per question), but I do not want you to feel rushed in the process, and thus I have allowed 2.5 hours.

The purpose of the midterm is to provide the opportunity for you to synthesize and apply material from the readings, discussions, and assignments in the class.  I encourage you to specifically cite the readings as you make your case in answering the questions.

You  may take the exam any time from Monday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, November 16 at midnight.  Thus, 2:30 am on Monday, Nov. 17 is the latest time you can submit your completed exam. You may only access the exam one time.

We suggest that you do your exam in a word file and continually save this file.  When you are finished, you can return to WebCT and cut and paste each answer from your word file.  This way you have a backup midterm exam in your word file.  If you have any problems, please contact Clyciane or me immediately.

Review for the exam should include reviewing the three books, discussions, notes, and assignments.  We also have a review discussion in progress online.

Given the active engagement of this group and the quality of the assignments I have graded, I fully expect a successful exam experience.