April 25th class

Well, I have made it through another Wimba and BlackBoard training session and I have to say, I feel pretty good about it!  I am getting the hang of Wimba and find it a little annoying for me to use from home unfortunately because I have such a weak internet signal....bummer.  Anyway, I have conquered the complete worksheet with the help of some great classmates and love how helpful we all are to each other!  Collaboration is the key for our success, for sure!
I also spent some time during tonights class to create my definition of instructional technology.  Hmmmm....there are so many facets to tech and ed.  that it was not as simple to answer as I initally thought!  First you have the hardware and software programs needed, then the understanding to use the tools and the desire to learn how to use the tools with the students, then we have the design process, without which we wouldn't be able to get anything accomplished successfully with students'.  I am attaching an article that I found on Instructional design for your pleasure! 
See you next time!

Second class 4/18/11

I can't believe that Easter is almost here and break is coming to a close. Que sera sera.  Moving right along...
I am very proud to say that I found out how to use blackboard and wimba to much success after this class! I have finished the worksheet for learning how to use both of these tools and am ready for some more.  Now I really need to think about this contract and what I want to do to earn my 50 pts. while learning some more useful tools for my classes.  There are soooooo many choices of cool tools and options, my head is spinning with ideas......I'll get there! 
One tool I really like is xtranormal (thanks Colleen for showing it to me!!!!) If you haven't checked out my movie and you are bored over break, please take a look and give me some feedback :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1RizJii2hM

Hope everyone has a fantastic Easter!!!!!

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

April 12th

So, I was a little anxious about starting the next MAIT class with our cohort.  We really have a great group of people to work with, I was just curious about the new teacher and the course itself.  What are we going to be learning?  What will we have to do?  Will it be a lot of work?  Will I understand what's going on?
Well...the anxiety has come and gone and here we are, on our way towards conquering our second course on our way to our masters degree!!! I think I am more excited than nervous.  Now that I know what we are up against, I feel pretty good.  I am interested in learning about educational design.  It just makes sense to understand why we are using the tools that we share with our students.  My supervisor always talks about backward design, starting with the end of a unit/topic and then working backwards in the unit planning and creation to make sure you reach your goals at every point. That has always made sense to me, I like having everything planned out step by step, so I help myself when planning and my students when I present.  Who knows... maybe someday I will even learn how to make my own Web 2.0 tool...OK so maybe I am getting way ahead of myself but wouldn't that be cool???