Monday, September 30, 2013

Lindsay's Project- Student Perspective




Hi Everyone-- I made another movie that shows you how I am being transparent with my students and doing some reverse teaching. As I say in my video, Educate is all ready to go on my end, but it isn't launching for students and parents until Friday. I have been conferencing with all my learners and showing them the pathway and the resources as much as possible. They also have all these artifacts in paper form and are tracking their learning "old school". 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

I'm having trouble uploading videos to my blog. I use the "insert a video" icon, then choose the file I want to upload (I make sure it's under 30 seconds). My computer thinks about uploading and attempts for a while, but then I'll get an error message. Any reason this would be happening, or any other tips for uploading a video? Thanks!

Friday, September 6, 2013

So what did you think of this book? Do you think we should use it again?

Digital Connections in the Classroom(Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

Was this worth it?  Do you have another recommendation?


*Don't forget to make sure you have commented on each chapter unless you were the initial poster...  and post your plan proposal & Setup.

Now you can focus on your Project.   Don't need a post until end of this month on what students are doing, how its going.


Monday, September 2, 2013

Chapter 9: Basics of Web Design and HTML (Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

Critical Information Literacy
Digital Connections in the Classroom(Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

At the beginning of this chapter, Marcovitz lists four reasons for people to have a basic understanding of HTML code even if we do not plan on using or teaching it. Reason #4 resonated with me the most. If I have even a basic understanding of how HTML code works (the behind the scene work of my everyday tools), I will be able to use the more simple tools more effectively. Who doesn't want to increase the effectiveness of their blog, wiki, or Moodle?

I thought this chapter had some good practical hints that I could take away and try out without much difficulty. For example, I really like the idea of adding “target=new” to the HTML so that the page opens in a new window or tab. Also the ability to make and edit a “webpage” from a word processing document. All the different ways to make the website appear the way you want it too (font, bolding, indentations, images, tables, etc.) are helpful tips but definitely make me want to use a “WYSIWYG” program that doesn't require me to remember/use all of these protocols and focus on the actual information I'm trying to present on my webpage.


In college, I was the communications director for a club that I was part of. I was responsible for re-doing our website. It sounded fun and exciting at first, but quickly became cumbersome and difficult to keep updated. I forget what program I used, but I definitely spent way to long with the formatting of the site that I barely had any helpful information, pictures, or links. After the week at the STI and the readings, I definitely felt that this chapter was informative but further proved the need for the “WYSIWYG” services. If my only job was to be a website designer/producer then I would definitely be more interested with HMTL, but as I said before I want to understand HTML coding enough to help me use the easier programs in a less frustrated, quicker, and effective way.