ITEC 501 vs. Heather

I was a bit disappointed in this TappedIn session.  The leader didn’t seem nearly as personable as in my first TappedIn session, “Tips & Tricks”.  He didn’t care to ask me anything initially, where I was, subject to teach, what grade, experience and what not.  There was little interaction throughout the entire session, granted it was only the leader and I, but I basically followed his directions and that was it, go here, click this…

I was impressed with the degree of security that was put in place by TappedIn.  The teachers basically know everything.  They can restrict the access that their students have within TappedIn.  Members have to be invited; no one can enter, without permission.  Through creating a TappedIn classroom, students can collaborate with other classes elsewhere in the world.  Teachers receive transcripts of all conversations that their students participate in.  Even though I do not have a class full of students yet, I was shown how to create a classroom on TappedIn in which I can utilize these tools.

I had some minor difficulty trying to get my microphone and the computer to work with me.  In the end, I was successful in creating and posting my podcast.  Like with the Screencast creation, I found myself constantly restarting the recorder because I wanted the audio clip to be perfect or as close to perfection.

I can see audio clips coming in handy throughout my future teaching.  They can be used to introduce a lesson or as a reference.  Students can have heads up on what will be explored next and the audio clip may spark their interest.  They may even do research prior to class.  Students who are absent can refer back to the clips for general information on what they missed and need to catch up on. 

I can see critical thinking used often in my future classes.  As a math and/or science teacher, I may have my students analyze statistical data and formulate interpretation about this information.  Through lab experiments, my students will have to consider the relevance of and make connections between the lab and the lectured material and then provide their conclusions for their results.  Also, I am a big advocate for reflection and portfolios as a tool for learning.  Students have to critically judge their learning and then explain their beliefs.

Technology, especially the internet, can provide a wealth of knowledge.  Students can confirm the conclusion they derived by researching and finding information that supports their stand.  Student may even discover new questions to consider and even apply to their assignment.  Through technology students can learn about various perspectives on any topic and compare them to their own opinions.

Camtasia Studio was a great program to use and was fairly straight forward.  I’ve always found tutorial videos to be helpful.  I am excited to apply this new tool in the classroom.  I may just be too much of a perfectionist though J.  I must have started recording at least 50 times and would continually stop it early if something went awry.  I wanted my tutorial video to be just so.  I was pretty happy with the final product.  I’m glad I was able to help my classmates as well.  I believe peer tutoring is a key aspect in learning, especially since I had a slight advantage in how to use the program. I can see how screencasting can be useful in the future.  I can see making more screencasts like the one I made with Microsoft Excel.  Teachers can have short videos that review information and procedures that students learned previously but may need a quick refresher.  Instead of utilizing precious instruction time, instructors can have these videos available for their students to reference either in class or outside of school.

Exploring TappedIn was an adventure, but nothing is an adventure without obstacles. 

Having a guided tour was a great way to learn how to navigate the community and the benefits within TappedIn.  I learn best through doing.  Being allowed and needing to follow someone around on the site provided me with the perfect setting to discover the basics of the site.

Although the session leader was a little late, she received big praise from another leader who’d started the meeting.  It was amazing that the tour guide was 14 hours ahead in Australia (understandable that she was late since it was 6 am there).  That alone was a big introduction as to how expansive the community is.

I really enjoyed having a small group of members (3+leader).  This made the chat easy to follow and we were able present questions without them getting lost amongst the chatter.  The leader didn’t have to pause the tour to find lost sheep either.  Throughout the tour. she gave suggestions for various groups and events that would be beneficial to participate in.

Unfortunately Zeus decided that it needed to rain during the short period of time that I was to participate in the “TappedIn Tips & Tricks.”  As a result of the Angels bowling in the sky (aka thunder & lightening), I lost power multiple times.  By the time my internet reconnected and I rushed back to the chat room the session was over L Although I missed out on the last 15 minutes or so, I enjoyed to tour of TappedIn.

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