Web-Conferencing

Vyew.com & Google docs both offered a lot of the same tools needed to do web conferencing.  We we could work concurrently on the wordpad, IM, or use the microphone to speak.  We got a lot accomplished in our first meeting using the wordpad, and had many great ideals.  Once we decided on an ideal we decided google was more user friendly and decided to stick with that the rest of our meetings. The biggest disadvantage to using vyew was loosing connection.  We all managed to get through the first meeting but it was difficult because connections kept getting dropped or greyed out screen, so some members had to restart, but it still didn't work and we had to do the best we could using the microphone to communitcate, or chat through IM when the word pad greyed out on some members screens.  Which lead us to google docs, we are all comfortable with that and know that it will get the job done with no problems!

PART A - Brainstorm Session

What web conferencing tool did your group use?

For our first meeting we tried Vyew.com & for our second meeting we used Google docs

What were the advantages to using the web conferencing tool to discuss this project?

Vyew.com & Google docs both offered a lot of the same tools needed to do web conferencing.  We we could work concurrently on the wordpad, IM, or use the microphone to speak.  We got a lot accomplished in our first meeting using the wordpad, and had many great ideals.  Once we decided on an ideal we decided google was more user friendly and decided to stick with that the rest of our meetings. Below are our teams group session, all were in attendance.  We covered the technology (Windows Movie Maker), the technology chosen to faciliate will be Prezi, technical aspects were divided up to provide a teaching tool on how to use Windows Movie Maker from start (importing the pictures and audio) to end (finishing the movie to web, dvd, etc).  For our timeline we decided to give everyone an equal amount of time to present 2.5 minutes to make up the 10 minute presentation!

Meeting 1 using Vyew.com
 https://angel.msu.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SS11-CEP-812-731-896036-EL-14-204/_mail/F014AE38FFBC48B6A4D50B7CB4DD3828/Room_Chat3.pdf

Meeting 2 using Google docs
https://angel.msu.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SS11-CEP-812-731-896036-EL-14-204/_mail/D5502F4BE3DC4CB3833740DD65E5945A/brainstorming_part2.docx

What were the disadvantages to using the web conferencing tool to discuss this project?
The biggest disadvantage to using vyew was loosing connection.  We all managed to get through the first meeting but it was difficult because connections kept getting dropped or greyed out screen, so some members had to restart, but it still didn't work and we had to do the best we could using the microphone to communicate, or chat through IM.  This lead us to google docs, we are all comfortable with that and know that it will get the job done with no problems!

PART A - DESCRIPTION OF NEED OR OPPORTUNITY (REVISED)

In this Wicked Project an important educational goal that needs to be addressed is acquiring mentors for high school students transitioning into college.  This is an important fundamental need because many students are graduating from high school not knowing what they plan to do once they are out on there own.  This is the time when students become lost because they think that they know it all, but still have so much to learn about the real world. Many students are entering college and choosing a major based on their parent’s interest, or what career they believe will make them the most money, status, etc.  All of these are good reasons, but more than often these are not the same factors that keep students in there majors which lead them to changing there major later in college.  This prolongs there graduation and sometimes causes students to miss out on vital career opportunities had they decided earlier. 

Considering that  I do not have a classroom to start a student/mentor group, I plan on addressing this issue by taking a high school senior I know and pairing him up with a mentor to help guide him/her in their college choice and career. I want to group students with mentors in there field of study. I believe that the likelihood of students dropping out of college will be decreased if students have a mentor to guide them from freshmen to senior year. Mentors will also assist students with narrowing their focus to avoid being undecided, changing their major, and exhausting federal aide and/or parental support. This will also give them a good direction on if they need to change before it is too late and they end up stuck in a career they do not enjoy. Through this mentoring I would like to help jump start resumes and allow students to be one step ahead of other students that did not have an opportunity to intern, etc. The cost of this program is *Free*, all that’s needed is volunteers and committed educators, mentors, and students that are serious about making a change.

My scope to start this Project is to take a high school senior interested in electronics, audio, and computers and match him up with a current MSU employee that is in the Instructional Media Center to see if this is something he/she would like to possibly do.

Some relevant Online Mentoring Organizations
http://www.eduguide.org/ EduGuide: people who are passionate about pursuing their potential and finds joy in helping others reach theirs too. EduGuides live to share what they’re learning and to help others discover new ways to succeed

Icouldbe.org's online mentoring programs reach young people who do not have access to quality educational resources, using a learning environment to connect them to mentors who offer practical and individualized advice, information and expertise.

iMentor is a New York City-based youth mentoring organization that uses guided email communication to enhance in-person youth mentoring, and continues to leverage lessons learned to help other groups start up their own mentoring programs. The organization effectively uses technology to add flexibility and structure in its mentoring program, engaging professionals as mentors and mentees from some of the most economically and geographically isolated communities.

The Electronic Emissary is a web-based service and resource center that helps teachers and students with Internet connections locate mentors who are experts in various disciplines, and then plan and engage in curriculum-based learning. In this way, the interaction that occurs among teachers and students face-to-face in the classroom is supplemented and extended by email, online forums, chats, and audio and video conferencing among participating teachers, students, and volunteer mentors.

MentorNet is dedicated to diversifying the engineering and scientific workforce by providing e-mentoring to women and underrepresented minorities in colleges and universities. Arguing that engineering and science are the engines of progress and economic development it grew out of a pilot online mentoring program at the Dartmouth School of Engineering and now partners with more than 100 universities.

GEM-SET is one branch of pre-college mentoring provided by the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program at the University of Illinois at Chicago that links volunteer women mentors in the fields of science, engineering, and technology to student members from across the U.S. More than 1,300 young girls ages 13 to 18 years old and 200 mentors in graduate school and beyond have participated via online mentoring and face-to-face programming where available.

Horsesmouth, a relatively new online mentoring organization, was formed as a place where personal contributions create public value. It is purposeful social networking, a so-called "wisdomocracy" for adults which consists of an online social network for informal online mentoring on a wide range of topics within the three broad categories of life, work and learning. The general philosophy of Horsesmouth is stated as that if "you've lived, you've learned."

Although they are embedded within traditional university programs and blend teaching, tutoring and mentoring, the following three universities are interesting to note because of their online mentoring components.

UCLA Extension Writers' Program is a good example of how online mentoring and tutoring cross over. As America's largest continuing education provider of online creative writing and screenwriting courses and services, it offers individualized feedback and mentoring to thousands of aspiring and practicing writers worldwide.

These are all online mentoring programs that focus on careful recruitment, training, and evaluation of mentors.  All these programs are at the forefront of virtual learning environments and online learning to connecting classroom programs, bringing students together with mentors to explore real life advice, experiences, and training.

A plan I will implement during this course is putting together a survey of students interested in having a mentor, and for students to give there expectations of what they will do to contribute to their own success of being connected with a mentor. Students will have the opportunity to indicate  what role they think a mentor should play in there success, and to follow the student throughout this course to see if having this MSU professional as his mentor gives him a better focus on what he would like his major to be upon entering college.

A plan I will implement after the completion of this course will be to take all surveys and connect students with mentors through one of the above online programs. I would also like to monitor these students for as long as they feel they need their mentor, or upon college graduation.

The success of the program will be from the students that are successfully entering there field with confidence.  Through the mentoring program I would like to see a significant increase in students decision making skills and there ability to handle school and real life situations.

All Things "Casting" Lab

CEP 811 Share: Final Reflections

In this final Sharing Activity we would like you to look over your assignments for this course. Indicate areas of growth and what supported that growth. Also indicate areas where you would have liked to learn and grow more than you did along with anything that limited your learning and growth. Specifically, for this activity you are going to reflect on your work and growth during this course as well as make plans for your future goals for integrating technology. When writing your final reflection blog posting you will want to address the following 1. What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology? I really enjoyed using Merlot, StAIR, and Webquest, I feel these 3 were the most effective teaching tools that I will be integrating. When using Merlot, I can become the author or view other author's work that is needed for a lesson. It is also a great research tool, in addition to going to the library. Doing the StAIR project was good in helping to get material organized for students or other educators to be taught lessons. Once you have your material organized you can create a wonderful presentation that students or other educators can follow. Lastly using the Webquest was a very creative way to express likes and interest. This will be a very helpful tool as an ice breaker for students to get to know one another. 2. How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology? Merlot did a great job in showing how a web-based technology program can help display lessons and knowledge of something. You can post your creations and categorize them, and find other material of interest to read on. By using Merlot it helped me evaluate lesson plans for engineering students at college level. 3. How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration? With every class is a goal closer to becoming an informative educator, I feel I have met my personal goals by continuing to learn all there is about technology and learning how to create innovative lesson plans that stay on track and have them more structured for other educators to be able to view and use for teaching. 4. Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over? I plan on learning more about UDL, I do not feel I reached my goals in knowing all there is to know. That area is still a bit confusing to me, but I know that I will get it over time.

Teaching and Learning in Internet-based environments (online)

The online experience that I believe would be most beneficial with my students is the Educational Gaming. The educational gaming tool will allow students to obtain mastery of the skills needed to complete the task, while allowing students to have fun and compete with one another. Our culture is consumed with the different gaming systems such as the Wii, Playstation and XBOX. These systems are utilized by children and adults of all ages and it would benefit my students to implement these gaming strategies into the classroom setting. For example, as an engineering teacher I would create a game using Unigraphics where students are expected to match sketches with various designs within a set time frame. Students can gain points based on consistency, thoroughness and the amount of time that it took to find the match. In terms of content, utilizing the Educational Gaming experience would assist students with understanding how systems are connected, manipulation of variables, 3D, ProE, and CAD models. The Educational Gaming would provide students the opportunity to explore various engineering fields and theories while having fun competing with friends and family. Numerous pedagogical strategies could be utilized to teach students through Educational Gaming. I would place students in cohorts and allow them to compete with one another to obtain extra credit on assignments. I would also play with students online and help them to see how engineering can be learned in the comfort of your own home while competing with others around the globe. At the end of the semester, the cohorts will have a tournament to determine who is the best and prizes will be awarded to the group who wins. The prizes awarded will have an educational technology component to them (ie Itunes Cards, USB Plugs, Recordable CDs/DVDs). I feel that it would be very difficult to use the online field trips with my class because the students would not have the opportunity to work towards a collaborative effort. The online field trips seem to be more of a fact driven tool than an exploratory tool. After careful review of the links provided with this topic, it did not appeal to me as something that would be beneficial towards my work with students.

Wikispaces

• Blog post that includes a screenshot of your Wikipedia contribution, an explanation of what you added, and a link to the Wiki you created at Wikispaces or another site.

Flintsouthwestern Academy is the jr high and highschool I went to, being a former cheerlearder, I couldn't help but notice the school mascot and school colors were missing so I added them at the end! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_Southwestern_Academy#References