Ellumination

I got to be a test subject as my teacher learned Ellumination. She did great and showed me all around the sites and tools she uses. The tool itself seems fairly straight forward, but providing many features. With microphones you can have a conversation via computer, you can go through tutorials with a student or use the whiteboard to allow them to write work or examples and for you to interact on the board. Ellumination can be used 1 on 1 or for large groups, like our initial overview and welcome.

Virtual School

I am amazed at the hours my virtual teacher puts in. As I mentioned before, this is her first year and aside from all the regular responsibilities she also has to learn all the systems and procedures. We were talking about the systems she uses and discussing some of the other features classmates have blogged about. She IM'd a fellow teacher with some of the questions and received a response within minutes. The other teacher has given her an overview of using one of the systems and I am looking forward to being her test subject tomorrow.
I don't know what it is like for a more ecperienced teacher, but I have been very impressed with the interaction my teacher has with others and how they help each other out and share resources.

More on eNLVM

I am in the process of creating my first lesson. You can access my classes using this link. If you click on Geometry it will take you into the Pythagorean Theorem lesson. eNLVM provides links and permissions for many online tools beyond NLVM which saves time on our end. I would like to include visual proofs from Manipula Math, but the permissions have not been received. I have them in my lesson, but offline for now.
The eNLVM site is really easy to use and I opted to add directions (Mathlet and text) I like being apply to include citations/ permissions right with the lesson.

NLVM

I started this entry to talk about the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives from Utah State University and while checking on links and some details I discovered eNLVM. I have used the NLVM for elementary through high school courses. The site is divided by grades and math courses, and many activities carry across multiple grades and math courses. Among the activities available, students can use virtual geo boards, work tangram puzzles and twist plantonic solids around to count vertices, edges and faces.
eNLVM lets you setup classes, track student performance and create or use lessons. It only took a few seconds to sign up and so far I have not found any cost involved. I also had to setup the school account, which took less than 1 minute. Once my account was created I setup my first class. So far very easy.
Now for my first lesson. I am currently teaching similar triangles so I figured I would create my first lesson on similar triangles. Once you get to this stage you can use mathlet, mathlet and text or text only. I opted to use a mathlet with text and the next window was a goldmine. Not only can you link directly to NLVM activities/mathlets, but you can add urls and a list of websites to get mathlets or activities from is provided. I think it is time to explorer. I will add more about what the mathlet list leads to tomorrow.

Gaining Insight from Other School

I am always searching for new (at least to me) online resources that can be used to enhance my lessons. Now that I am exploring virtual schools, online resources are gaining more importance and I don't have to take a class of 25 to a computer lab. I found a website for Henrico Schools and I love the setup of their site. I have been looking at Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry. Geometry is setup differently.
For the Algebra course the course is split into modules and then into lessons. They use the same books we do, so that helps even more. The outline of the website reminds me of how the virtual school's courses are setup. I think this organization works for bithe traditional and virtual classes and truly lends itself to a hybrid setting.
The lessons consist of Stating the standards/objectives, warmup activities, lesson presentations, classwork, homework, additional resources, assessments and some have journal options. I am currently working with a couple teachers from my school to setup something similar for our department. We have spent most of the year working on coherent curriculm, common assessments and cnsistent layout of our lesson plans and each teacher has also wanted to keep the ability to taylor a lesson or provide additional resources for their students. Cirtual schools seem to already have this in place. I am looking forward to taking a format more commoon to virtual schools and applying it in traditional and hybrid settings similar to what Henrico has done.

3-D Shapes

This website, Interactive Geometry 3-D Shapes allow user to manipulate 3-D objects. Users can twist the image to see all sides, and see a net version (the kind you can cut out of paper and fold). Users can also use the site to examine surface area, volume, platonic solids and many others. The site has links to other pages that assist in other subject areas
Now that we have a manipulative to use, why did we need it? Some students have trouble visualizing the 3-D object that is represented by a 2-D object. In a traditional class we will sometimes take copies of the image net and have students cut the object our and fold it. This website can be used on a SmartBoard, in a lab or at home for students to explore various platonics and 3-D geometric shapes.

Math Online and Interactive

This link provides a long list of online math manipulatives. The following posts will highlight some of my favorites so far.

Now I am on the Right Track

It looks like the issue I was having with my assignments not reaching the teacher I am working with has been corrected and I am finding it very interesting to read her responses to some of the common problems my students have. It is great to be observing a class that matches one that I teach face-to-face. When completing assignments I can duplicate mistakes that are very common. I am really focusing on mistakes that I am not sure how I would handle virtually. The teacher uses positive reinforcement and suggestions to point me in the right direction. It takes longer virtually to work through the suggestion and discovery process than face-to-face, but that extra time might allow the student more opportunities to work out the process.

Technology Hiccups

What can go wrong usually will, at least the last few days in my world, but I am finding it very interesting to see how the bumps are handled especially knowing how some of the issues can be handled in traditional classrooms.
Big Bump - I have been working through lessons from the student stand point and submitting assignments and assessments and working on really exploring the student side of virtual learning. A few days ago the teacher I am working with called wondering why I had not submitted anything. I panicked. After further exploration it appears that I am listed under the wrong teacher. We are current;y working to get that straightened out and I am wondering if the work I did will move with me or get lost. I know all the issues we can run into in a traditional setting, turning books in and reassigning, teachers being off schedule by a day or two and so forth. Hopefully everything will get straightened out quickly.
I am working with a first year virtual teacher and it is very helpful to see how first year virtual compares to first year traditional. Just like any teacher new to a school or program she is working on getting all the pieces together. It helps to realize what has to be setup and how much time is required. I know she is probably swamped and so grateful that she can find time to work with me.

Second Life - Video Game or Virtual Classroom

Second Life is a virtual world that I have heard about, but just recently entered. I have met some teachers that utilize Second Life and wondered just how could the SL virtual world be utilized in virtual education. While reading through a few articles I found 101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom. The article not only gives suggested lessons that can be taught in Second Life, but list numerous resources for more information.
Private islands are available that can be used as a closed area for your students only, of course this involves $$$$, but helps protect the students and your lesson material. Teachers can use scavenger hunts - set meeting times to actually conduct a class. The list literally goes on. I however am still trying to get through the orientation. I learned to fly, but can't control my flight. Sure signs of a non digital native.

Anytime and Anywhere

Well it is just after 2:30 am and I am over 1000 miles from home just settling into a hotel room with snow outside the window. (I was in shorts earlier today at home. Regardless of the weather, distance from home or time of day I am able to complete part of my assignments simply by having access to the Internet. I remember distance ed about 20 years ago as waiting for video tapes to arrive by mail or watching a special TV channel at a given time. Now I am accessing information from my professors, communicating with classmates and whoever else stumbles into my virtual world. I can't help but wonder how much more will change over the next 20 years.
I decided to seek out the insight of others on the anytime anyplace concept and found an article by Bruce Bertram, Education Online: Learning Anywhere, Any Time. Bertram compares the view of institutions/schools as the center of education to Ptolemy making Earth the center of the universe. He also compares schools and other parts of our typical education system to paintings in frames and discusses what might happen as we alter those frames. One advantage is the accessibility of courses to more learners and an ability to tie the education portion into the workplace. The later could transform the type of material being taught and perhaps lead to education that is more directly tied to skills needed in the workforce.
The article is short, but I have seen the struggle distance learning has had gaining an acceptance. I also think that distance education offers rays of light to change the life of our education system and learners. I certainly appreciate the anywhere, any time flexibility of my courses.

Embedding Online Information Research Findings

I found Embedding online information resources in Virtual Learning Environments: some implications for lecturers and librarians of the move towards delivering teaching in the online environment by Margaret Markland. She researched how lecturers choose online material, deliver the links to their students and what issues the lecturers and students have had. She also focused on the use of librarians in the selection and dissemination process.
I found it interesting that some of the lecturers only thought of the librarian as a training source, helping with log ins, and so forth rather than a resource for finding the material. Probably because I would do the same.
On of the problems that I have dealt with is broken links, which was a problem mentioned by students and lecturers.

What it is like to be a Virtual Student

I have now had the opportunity to participate as a student in the virtual class I am observing. THe material is clearly laid out and objectives are understanable. The session I worked on provided a pretest of the material. I am looking forward to seeing how the teacher interprets some common mistakes that my current students make.

Slow Start, but Ready to GO

For assorted understandable reasons, I just had the opportunity to communicate with the teacher I am working with. So now I am playing catch-up, but wow. I have been looking around the virtual school I am observing to see how everything seems to work and what tools are available. While I was waiting to actually talk with my teacher I started looking around for articles on virtual schools and wanted to find information on the good and bad. I found an news article http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/08/loc_virtualschool08.html that discusses the initial problems a different virutal school has had and what changes they have made in order to build a successful program. The school discussed uses virtual school similar to the program being used in my traditional high school. A program that has the students in a classroom/computer lab with a teacher present, but where the students work in virtual classrooms.

What is a typical day like

The website I linked describes a day in the life of a virtual school teacher. The sample teacher used also teaches face-to-face classes and acts as a mentor to new vhs teachers. It is hard to imagine just how many hours go into teaching online and how would that compare to face-to-face teaching.

Welcome

I am working on my Ed.S. degree in Education Technology through the University of Florida. I will be using this blog to discuss my Spring 2 2008 courses. This term I am primarily focusing on designing and delivering online courses.

Go Gators !!!!!!!!!!!