Blog Response Inventory

1.Elizabeth Martin Blog 1-Monday, September 28, 2009
http://emartintstm544.blogspot.com/

2.Calvin Glisson- Blog 2- Monday, September 21, 2009
http://calvinglissontstm544.blogspot.com/

3.Jose Lugo's - Blog 3 - Monday, September 28, 2009
http://jlugo35.blogspot.com/

4. Timothy Jones's - Blog 5 - Monday, November 16, 2009
http://timststm544.blogspot.com/

5. Walter McLaurin's - Blog 5 - Monday, October 26, 2009
http://ysoserius.blogspot.com/

6. Brandon McWaters Blog 6 - Thursday, November 26, 2009
http://brandonmcwaters544blog.blogspot.com/

7. Christopher Simpson Blog 3 - Friday, October 2, 2009
http://simpsontstm544.blogspot.com/

Metacognitive Blog

Overall, I believe this has been a very fun and productive semester. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the different ways we have learned in the course this semester, from group projects, blogging, and discussion boards to in class games. This made for a more fun and appealing learning environment, in the end making learning a lot more effective.

Throughout this semester I spent a considerable amount of time focusing on designing training systems, virtual high schools, e-learning, and multi-media instructional design. I personally spent the most time focusing on virtual high schools and also web-based training systems. I did my annotative bibliography on virtual high schools and my training project on teaching South Carolina teachers Google applications through the web. When I began learning about virtual high schools I was in the dark but throughout the semester I gained knowledge about the positive and negative effects they can have on students and the school system. I now believe they can be a great stride towards fixing some of the major problems that exist in our school systems today. I also believe that virtual high schools would be most effective if used in a blended way where you have face to face sessions mixed with session online. This covers the needs of students while also eliminating overcrowding in classrooms and also opens a window to evenly distribute learning materials. Some rural areas don't have access to all the resources and qualified teachers like big cities so if the resources are made available online, you can reach more kids. I think overtime as virtual high schools become more common, they will begin to play a much bigger role and I'm excited to see where they end up in the years to come.

For the Google applications training project, I had to create an instructional video and then come up with assignments/discussion questions to go along with it. After completing that portion, I had to post these items on a host site where the teachers could use this to learn. I learned a great deal about how important it is to always be educated on training and always thinking of new ideas for making it most effective. This involves knowing your audience and how they learn and then finding the best median that when implemented will produce the most productive outcome. Although I ran into some complications during my first experience as a trainer, I gained considerable knowledge and will be better prepared the next time around.

Training Reflection 2

For module 2 I created a training video based on Google Documents, along with questions and assignments for teachers to complete. I thought creating the video using Cam Studio was pretty easy, but uploading to mega video for hosting is where I ran into a little trouble. Teachers were having problems accessing the videos due to network restrictions so I had to move the video to a host site that would work. Dr. Keane found a site called Teacher Tube, where videos are pre-screened to make sure they don't contain adult material. But since we had to do this after the class was already open, I think it added to the gradual decline in participation. During the first three modules we had a good many participants responding and completing the assigned work but after having to change things around, participation declined considerably. It was our first experience with web based learning though, so we somewhat knew there was a chance of running into complications. We just didn't know what they would be.
Now looking back over the project, I believe it was a success overall and very rewarding to say the least. We can now use this project by gathering what worked and what didn't work to make similar projects in the future more effective. It's all apart of the process and I must say, I learned a tremendous amount throughout completing this project.

CamStudio

I thought that CamStudio was a great free OSS program for creating videos. It was very easy to use and most of the time gave me little trouble. I used it to create my Google Docs video for the training project and it worked great. I would suggest doing a little research or watching a tutorial on the best ways to set it up before you get started to ensure you don't run into any problems. But other than that it's easy to use and a powerful tool for creating instructional videos.

Google Docs

Before starting the Google Apps training project I wasn't that familiar with Google Docs, but after using the application I am truly impressed. I found it very user friendly because it's set up like the programs I'm already familiar with and I think it's great how everything is stored online. You don't have to worry about storage and can have other users collaborate on the document with you at their own convenience. Since the project, I have been using Google Docs regularly and would recommend it to anyone that creates/works on documents on a regular basis.

Virtual High Schools

I think that Virtual High Schools could greatly impact and help the ongoing struggle of trying to improve our public schools. But with that being said, I also strongly believe that it must be used in the right way. There are many concerns about kids not having adequate social interaction in a virtual setting, which I agree with but that can be solved with blended learning. By implementing Virtual High Schools with blended learning, you can cover student needs while also cutting back on some of the core issues restraining public education today. Some examples are; overcrowding in the classroom and not enough learning materials in remote areas due to lack of teachers or teachers skills/materials for teaching certain classes like foreign languages. But with VHS’s we can begin to even the learning curve and give more students the opportunity to obtain the same education as students anywhere else. I’m looking forward to watching the growth of virtual high schools and the benefits they bring about.

RAM

Up until doing the Rapid analysis assignment, I never realized how effective it could actually be. I figured it was just used internally within companies to gain a little insight but wasn't considered a tool for actually bringing about rapid positive change. Its structure fits perfectly in the business world today though with everything being so fast paced. Time is the equivalent to gold to companies so using the rapid analysis method can be very beneficial by significantly reduce the amount of time required to conduct analysis while still obtaining valuable information. I think it's a great tool and i plan on using it in my career if I ever have the opportunity.

Needs Assessment

After learning about needs assessment, I've realized just how important it is to take the time to uncover the core issues a company needs to act upon before taking action. Without setting goals and identfying where the comapany actually stands in relation to it's maximum potential, it would be very easy to work in the wrong direction, wasting alot of time and money. If carried out corretly though, I would consider it to be a power tool in furthering the success of a company.