CEP812: Professional Learning Plan

CEP812: Group Leadership Project: Part A - Brainstorm

Whiteboard Screenshot
WizIq Web Conference
04/01/2011

In preparation for our Group Leadership Project, my teammate, Sharlene, and I were both present during the following two recorded web conferences scheduled on:

• Friday, April 1, 6:45 pm – 7:45 pm EST
• Wednesday, April 6, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm EST

We have chosen to teach WizIq, a web conferencing tool, for professional development.  The group believes that this technology is a great tool that can be incorporated in an online course for adult learning.  WizIq is just one example of a web conferencing tool, and therefore, we will also be showing and comparing other examples of web conferencing tools to give adults more options to use.  The group’s major goal is to provide a tutorial to get adults to be comfortable and knowledgeable of the great benefits of web conferencing.  “Research has shown that adult learners, when properly trained on how to use the technology are highly motivated learners that are capable of absorbing both the content and technological skills necessary to succeed.”[Johnson]

To facilitate the learning, we came up with and will eventually choose one from these two options to demonstrate the tutorial:

• Option 1: Camtasia, a screen recording and video editing software, or
• Option 2: Create short movie clips using Jing (2-3 minutes) per clip, then combine the short clips using a PowerDirector, a video editor software

Since there are only the two of us in the group, we really have to commit ourselves to divide almost every task in the project. During our last conference, we finalized what technology we should be teaching, what technology we should be using for the storyboard, and what are the major topics we should be covering in our storyboard.  Starting today, April 7, Sharlene will be using Jing to record short clips on how to create an account and how to log into WizIq and  I will start laying out the storyboard in Prezi.  We agreed to be always in-touch with each other through phone calls, emails, and discussion posts.  On Friday, April 8, we will be collaborating more on our storyboard by using Prezi.

We have chosen WizIq as our conference tool to record our sessions and it is worth teaching and sharing the features.  The 30-day free account allows us to have a maximum of three 60-min recorded sessions for up to 10 users.  We both can share our screens.  The presenter can give rights to the attendee to have writing, audio, and video sharing. The only disadvantage I could think of is I have not tried it with more than two people but I have seen positive online reviews from educators who conducted big classes using WizIq.

CEP811: Online Learning: Meeting Today's Learning Demands

Photo attribution:
by jscreationzs [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons
from Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Online.jpg
Released under a Free Art License

It is true that the Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Experience Guideline Companion is focused on middle school through high school students, but it is still a foundational reference for me to use as an educator who teaches adults.   Every student, regardless of age, should have a meaningful education by experiencing the same quality approach in conducting online learning through the use of technology and innovative tools.

I have been teaching classes where I can incorporate online modules to enhance hands-on learning for my students.  These online training and assessment tools assist the educators in helping students acquire skills they will need in a 21st century workplace.  Some examples are SimNet Online and Certiprep which are both for Microsoft Office and computer concepts; KeyTrain as a career planning tool; and GeoLearning for business skills modules.  Moodle, a learning management system, is also incorporated into our courses to build up their online learning experience.  It has been an effective teaching strategy for me to use the hybrid instruction.  The students have the best of both worlds by being able to work outside the classroom walls and to interact personally with the teacher and classmates in the computer lab.

Our current programs are more geared toward self-paced and hands-on method of delivery.  It has been challenging in our school for our students to have full online learning without face-to-face contact with teachers because our students were required to have their in-seat hours in the lab monitored.    Although, there have been changes and openness to new learning approaches in our school. I believe that this recognition and acceptance to changes contribute to the same goal of preparing our students as they encounter the media-rich and technological demands of not just today’s workplace but also in their personal daily lives. 

CEP811: Evaluation of Learning Material in MERLOT

Hibernation is over!  I’m back to school and currently enrolled in CEP 811.  This is my initial blog post for this course  and  I need to find and evaluate a learning material from the MERLOT site that I can use at work.  While I was doing this activity, I was able to link two essential puzzle pieces together.

My task is to evaluate a resource from MERLOT and I would like to share with you Thinkfinity, the first puzzle piece.  Dr. Sandra Plair recommended this resource in my CEP 810 class while I was working on my computer science group project.   Finding it in MERLOT gives me more opportunity to really delve into it.

In terms of its quality of content, Thinkfinity offers free lesson plans, interactivity, games, teaching and learning strategies that are standard-aligned and geared toward 21st century skills.  I definitely agree that Thinkfinity has strong potential as a teaching-learning tool.   It is a great homework reference for pre-K to adult learners.  The site is meant for parents, student, and educators.  It provides engaging educational resources for different subjects, disciplines, and skill levels.  Users can access resources like worksheets and interactive materials for practice and application, listen to audio, and watch video materials for demonstration and explanation. The learning objectives are clearly explained and presented. It also focuses on professional development for specific states. 

Because of the site’s ease of use, I found the second puzzle piece. I clicked on the Professional Development link, and chose Michigan.  I was directed to Michigan eLibrary.  Eureka! This site was recommended by my CEP 811 instructor, Melissa White, for me to explore because she believes this will help in my professional effectiveness class in career development.  She offered her support if I’m interested in exploring LearnATest from http://mel.org because this would be a great resource for my adult learners with all the sample tests.   She even stressed not to forget this site because it contains great material based on the design plan that I have submitted.