Friday, May 2, 2014

And this week, I DEBRIEFED...

Aloha all -  

The last two weeks of class are dedicated to debriefs with fellow classmates their reflections on  one emerging trend topic or application.  This week, the first group presented, and I enjoyed it!  I was able to learn how other student's incorporate technologies into their classes with Sean and Google.  It was amazing to see how he has used the Google Suite of apps in his classes - helping them to increase their tech skills while lessening their carbon footprint!  We were also introduced to useful apps to create quizzes such as Socrative and easytestmaker.  I also like Kainoa's gamification debrief.  Gamification is not just playing games, but taking ideas from gaming and applying into a non-gaming setting.  Great point!  I was able to experience gamification with the Credly badges in TCC and so can relate to how it can increase engagement and motivation.   Kekai's intro of Aurasma also sounds like a very interesting tool to increase interactivity and use AR in education.   

The debrief session was a good way to wrap up the class.  The only challenge was the technical difficulties at times as presenters set up, but I appreciated hearing my classmate's perspectives and sharing of resources.   

As the class ends, reflecting on my own learning, I realize how much we have done this semester.  The trend that I will be presenting on will be the growing ubiquity of social media.   



Here's a link to my debrief presentation: 



As I was preparing my debrief, I reviewed the technologies and trends we covered and was amazed at what we had learned!  There was Twitter, MOOC's, Blogs, The Daily Create, Bitstrips, Pinterest, AR, Ted Ed Flips,  and TCC just to name a few.  Great learning, great experience!  Mahalo to Dr. Bert, Dal and my fellow classmates for a great ride! 

A hui hou,  
Terri  

Thursday, April 24, 2014

And this week I learned A LOT at the TCC online conference...


 Aloha all -

So the 2014 TCC conference is coming to a close.  It's been a great ride with great presentations and lots of learning!!  I was able to watch some of my 2012 OTEC cohort present their Master's projects - that was exciting!  I remember the seeds of these projects being planted as we persevered through our first year with the ETEC program. I even earned some badges - 2 to be exact, the one everyone gets - the Futurist Badge and the Merlin Badge - for being a social media whiz (actually I tweeted 5+ times)!  There definitely is something to be said for gamification - prizes or in this case, badges are a great motivator.

This is actually my 2nd TCC conference, but I was much more engaged this year.  I'm not sure why - was it that I knew some of the presenters?  Was it that I was more familiar with the format?  Was it the lure of the badges?  Whatever it was, it was a worthwhile experience.  I was able to choose those sessions that I was interested in and also appreciated that I was able to watch recordings of those that I could not attend live.  I was able to learn about tsunamis, cyberbullying, needs assessments and tech tools to name a few.  Great presentations, great learning!  Mahalo to the planners, volunteers and presenters!  I look forward to next year!

Here's an overview of my experience using STORIFY:
https://storify.com/bigislemom/2014-tcc 

Enjoy!

And how was your conference?

A hui hou,
Terri

PS Sorry, I can't help it - got another one;)



Friday, April 18, 2014

And this week, I learned to augment reality...

https://www.google.com/#q=augmented+reality+definition
 Aloha all -


 This week's topic was Augmented Reality.  "Have you experienced augmented reality?" That was the first question asked of us in class this week.  "Hmmm…. I don't think so, " was my first response.  But after more discussion, we are exposed to it more often than we realize.  A weatherman in front of a green screen? The first down line on a televised football game?  The names on the swimming lanes at the Olympics?  


I've seen that!  Wow!  AR is all over the place.  Of course, those are simple examples that have been in use for years, but after doing a review of the readings and various YouTube videos,  the potential is amazing. 

When I created my playlist on YouTube, the examples I found on how it is used in the college arena were varied.  One college used it in a banner to display different video information about the campus at orientation.  Another used AR to enhance interactivity in their prospectus and college tour.  I also was able to see the uses in teaching and learning in the medical field.  I can see how it may be useful to use AR to "practice" virtual medical procedures without endangering any "live" patients. 
  
Here is my YouTube playlist of AR videos.  Whether it was used to animate a college banner, create an interactive college prospectus, enhance a college tour experience or teach in the medical field ,  augmented reality helps to bring education to life!  



I am excited to see how its uses will continue to develop in the future. 
And how was your week? 


Mahalo,
Terri

 


Friday, April 11, 2014

And this week, I learned about the internet of THINGS...

Aloha all -
This week, we explored the internet of things - wearables, 3D printing and internet connected devices. To gain a broad perspective, I watched a video of a Ted Talk - "The Internet of Things."  It helped me to better understand how the internet has and will continue to change our lives. 



The internet of things refers to connecting the physical world to the internet.  Everything can become THINGS in the internet of things.  Anything and everything can become THINGS – machines, appliances, vehicles, buildings and even people. 
 What can we do with the internet of things?   
  • Monitor things - A person could wear a web-linked heart monitor which could provide real-time monitoring and even predict problems. 
  • Search for things - Reality search engines that search for really useful things -like your keys, your expected packages, your child
  • Manage things- Control traffic by monitoring when and where cars go.  Monitor energy usage and mange resources wisely.
  • Control things - Meters can communicate with appliances and manage the electricity grid to balance load and efficiency.
  • Play with things - Transform the face of gaming where everything around you becomes part of the game.

Reading about Google Glass along with other wearables and internet connected devices and the progression of the internet of things, was eye-opening and even a little intimidating. I love that wearables allow true hands-free usage and can provide supplementary just-in-time information, but does it create too much of a distraction?  I think the challenge will be to take advantage of the bells and whistles of technology to the extent of increased productivity, ease of use and convenience while not distracting us from the physical world or sacrificing engagement in "real life."

In closing, one comment from Dr. Barrett that I found interesting - This development of the internet of things cannot be left to technologists alone. Input from people from human and social sciences and everyday people must be given to make it positive for individuals and society. We must all work together if it will be for the common good. Great food for thought!

And how was your week?

A hui hou,
Terri

Friday, April 4, 2014

And this week, I completed a MOOC!



 

 
Aloha all -

I observed a MOOC titled "Child Nutrition and Cooking 2.0."   It was run by Dr. Maya Adam from Stanford University and highlighted nutrition and healthy cooking for our children.  The course ran for 5 weeks and included basic nutrition information and simple recipes to prepare healthy food for your family. 

MOOCs by definition are massive open online courses and this one fit the bill perfectly. It was MASSIVE - There were about 40,000 registered students from around the world (Philippines, Hungary,  Greece, Sweden) with about half participating regularly.  It was OPEN and ONLINE- it was offered with open access at no cost to unlimited participants on the Coursera website.  And it was a COURSE for student learning on nutrition and healthy eating. 

 Each weekly module included a series of short videos that covered information on healthy nutrition and several recipes to try at home.  Optional cooking assignments were encouraged to be posted to social media on the class Facebook page and twitter hash tag.  Each week there was a short multiple choice quiz with automated grading and immediate feedback. You were able to retake the quiz as many times as you wanted. During selected weeks, surveys were sent out to garner feedback from the students.

Students who complete the weekly quizzes and surveys  received a statement of Accomplishment from the instructor.  There was also a giveaway of a one-year magazine subscription to ChopChop Magazine for 10 students who complete the course!

Most of the interaction was in the discussion forum with various topics - general discussion, building community, questions for Instructor/TA, post your recipes, etc.  It was interesting to review the comments on the discussion boards as some students have strong opinions on nutrition and healthy eating. 

The class was fun, informative and low stress.  I enjoyed this MOOC and was able to learn about nutritional basics.  I have made a few of the recipes - smoothies and pasta sauce - and they were, as promised, - simple, healthy and tasted good. 

 My MOOC experience was positive in that it allowed learning at my convenience without any excessive stress.  The short videos were informative and easy to understand. I feel that the format encouraged students to stay active until the end.  I wonder if MOOC's are as successful when the topic is very in-depth and complicated.  If it involves quite a bit of work, I would think that some kind of recognized credit would motivate more participants to complete the MOOC.  The fact that it is OPEN and "FREE"  may not cause students to feel fully vested in completing the course if other things in life come up. It will be interesting to see how the future of the MOOC unfolds. 
 

 

 

And how was your MOOC?


A hui  hou,
Terri

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

And this week was PINTERESTING....


For our next student-created assignment, we were tasked with learning and using Pinterest.  I was part of the group that worked on the assignment, but as it was designed as an individual activity, initially, we were unsure how to start the assignment.  After Dr. Bert  said we had some creative license on interpretation, we embarked on our adventure as TEAM CYCLONE - Mike, Kailana and me!  Why Team Cyclone? - you may ask?  And the simple answer is, "I have no idea!"  I think Mike suggested it and Team Cylone, we became.

I already had some experience with Pinterest, so after some fumbling and trial and error, I was able to create a board that we all could pin on.  We each pinned 5 items from the suggested pin list.  We posted our board in our Google community and were also able to review the other Team Bioboards.  It was very enlightening and gave great insight into our classmates!

 Here is a link to our board:   TEAM CYCLONE'S BIOBOARD    Check it out!

Based on the experience, I can see how Pinterest is a top curation site.  I find it useful for saving useful resources and the "boards" are a great way to categorize it by topic.  For instance, I have boards titled " Recipes", "Bucket List", and "Things I will make…one day:)"  I recently opened a board named "Ed Tech" to curate resources, information and other useful tools that I may be able to use.  I was also able to find some users with similar interests and have started following them.  It's kind of like twitter but with visuals. 


One way it could be used in my locus of control as a counselor would be to share a link to a board with pins of useful resources for college students such as links to their school's website (career center, student services, tutoring,), scholarships, FAFSA, etc.  It even may be a way to easily share college success strategy articles or tips.  I may look into trying to incorporate it into my work soon. 

I really enjoyed working with my team and learning more about them through the pins.  It does give insight into one's personality since you have billions of items that you can choose from.  I'm glad I had the chance to take the time to explore the site and become familiar with its features.  If you haven't checked it out recently, you may want to try the Explore interests feature that allows you to click on topics based on your pins…easy way to find things that you like! (also possibly an example of big data in action - ha!ha!)

Hope you had a pinteresting week!

A hui hou,
Terri

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

And this week...blog, blog, blog...


Aloha all -

This week, I reviewed blogs of my classmates.  Because we were able to create our blogs on our preferred site, we were able to choose from a plethora of designs and formats.  What a great variety!  I especially liked the format of Ashley's tumblr blog.  It's organized and easy to follow.  The layout of the design allows readers to easily access the posts.  It's something different from the formats I have used in the past on Wordpress and blogger. 

I enjoyed reading the posts about common topics coming from different perspectives. It was also interesting to me how although we are given the same topic, we all tend to explore and expound on what speaks to us within that area.  I especially like when the author applies the topic to their own locus of control and gives examples from their daily lives. It somehow personalizes the posts and lends to more interesting reading.  One blog I enjoyed was Vera's. I like her casual humorous style of writing, incorporating personal experiences into the content -  it's engaging, easy to read as well as being informative.  





I am also able to see how I may apply the learning to my world and also see other's point of view.  Some of our classmates are teachers in the DOE system and I appreciated their insight into the challenges and success of teaching our keiki.

I also love how pictures, links and other resources are shared, expanding my own knowledge base and increasing my learning.  I love the catchy titles and puns some have used for their postings as well. One example was Kainoa's blog with fun titles such as "a Mook-tacular experience and "an unnecessary dread." It helps to gain attention and interest and encourages one to read the blog.  Reviewing the many blogs also gave me insight to how I may be able to improve my own in future postings. 

Great reading this week…Mahalo for sharing fellow ETEC 647e'rs! 

A hui hou,
Terri

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

And this week, I explored BIG DATA...


Cartoon: Big Data / CC BY 2.0


Aloha all -

This week, we explored the concept of Big Data and Learning Analytics.  I must say I had heard about the concept but hadn't delved into it much.  After reading more about it, I now have a better idea why I get certain coupons or emails with suggested items for me to purchase. With the use of web-tracking tools, company seek to identify trends and behaviors that will help to insert their products or stores into our shopping habits to increase sales.   I'm not sure I'm all that comfortable with it but I was able to gain a broad understanding on how many companies collect these massive amounts of data to individualize the customer experience as they compete for the almighty consumer dollar.  When I read the article on how Target has used Big Data extensively to target pregnant women to increase purchases at their location, it was interesting to see how it played out.  Ultimately, by interspersing the baby ad items amongst other random items such as lawnmowers and wine, they were able to market individually in a subtle way that resulted in a positive outcome (more sales).  I also found the background on habit forming with cue, routine and reward interesting and see how sometimes piggybacking onto already formed habits can induce more customer sales as well. 

Learning analytics describes applying the use of Big Data in the educational realm.  In the 2014 Horizon Report, it was identified as having a time to adoption horizon of one year or less. Using the business model of using large amounts of data collected to analyze, predict and identify consumer behavior, educators are now looking into applying the same process to personalize the experience for learners and increase student engagement.  One of the examples presented was how some colleges are using Big Data collected to potentially predict student challenges and provide an opportunity for the schools to offer academic support resources and the like to help students transition to college successfully.  These analytics help colleges to identify ways to use resources in a way to reap the greatest benefits and contribute to student success.  As budgets constraints increase, institutions are able to focus limited resources in areas that align with student needs.  Although benefits can be gained, there are also the considerations in the areas of ethics, legality and student privacy.  Organizations must be cautious on interpretation of Big Data as analytics can show correlations, but doesn't necessarily provide causal information and even the best systems can lead to misclassification or profiling.   And, of course, there is the challenge of figuring out which interventions can be most effective to help the students.   I think that the mining of Big Data can be effectively applied to education, but a lot will depend on how this empirical evidence is interpreted and applied. It will be interesting how it plays out in the near future as Big Data analysis leads to implementation of targeted strategies to benefit learners. 

A hui hou,
Terri

 
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., Freeman, A. (2014). NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. pp. 38-39. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2014-nmc-horizon-report-he-EN.pdf

Duhigg, C. (2012, February 18). How Companies Learn Your Secrets. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. (2010). 7 Things you should know about analytics. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7059.pdf

Thursday, March 6, 2014

And this week, I went mobile...



Aloha All - 
 
This week, we were tasked with the exploration of mobile learning and how we personally use mobile technologies. Identified in the 2012 Horizon Report with a near-term horizon of one year or less, mobile apps and their use have become pervasive and almost commonplace in society.   Most of my family and friends use their devices for communication - phone, text, email and to access social media - Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  In my own personal experience, I have used my own mobile devices (iPhone and iPad) as an alternate way of collaborating with team members through the use of various apps including Google Hangouts, Skype and Collaborate.  In fact, just last week, I was returning from Oahu to the Big Island and landed just as class was starting.  I logged into Collaborate as I exited the plane and was able to attend class, meet with my group members, while viewing our shared Google Doc on Google Drive all while walking to the curb while waiting for my ride.  That alone showcases the advances in technology and mobile learning that have occurred within the last decade. 

Mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets enable mobility and allow teaching and learning to extend beyond traditional classroom walls. It helps to provide anywhere, anytime learning, allowing accessibility of resources at a student's convenience.  No longer are students tethered to a desktop and a landline as the use of mobile technologies allow increased flexibility, the lessening of geographic limitations and the facilitation of collaboration among students in various locations. 

Although, I think the potential of mobile learning is great, I also feel that currently, most people use their devices as an anytime, anywhere means of communication rather than a true tool to enhance learning.  I do feel, however, that we are moving towards truly incorporating mobile devices and apps as significant factors in enhancing learning whether through the use of apps that help you to network and collaborate with others in your field and share information or apps that help students with content creation or curation.  

I think the example using mobile inquiry-based learning that we read about in the SMILE project is a good one of how mobile technology can be integrated into learning.  Having students create and share questions amongst their peers helps them to contribute to knowledge creation, stimulate their own recall and understanding of the particular topics.  This can serve as a mobile means of assessment as well, with teachers having the ability to add to the question back as well as monitor progress and success of students.  As we move toward more effective integration into education, mobile devices has the potential to become true tools of connected learning.

As far as my three favorite apps, I have to say that it would have to be the following:

Pinterest: A social media content curation site that allows users to organize and share images and information to different boards.  I love curating various information and resources whether it be recipes, quotes, ed tech tools or bucket list vacations.  My problem is that sometimes, I spend way too long on the site.

Find My Friends:  Allows you to easily locate friends and family using your iPhone.  Okay, I admit, I do call it the stalker app, but it's an agreed stalking, right? It saves time as we can use it to see if someone is on their way home or how long it will be till someone will be there to pick you up.  It gives me some piece of mind as a parent, but I try to use it only as needed, not to be the stalker Mom. 

Pandora:  Listen to free internet radio based on your preferences.  I use this app when I want to listen to music on the go.  I'd rather listen this way because I get to hear a wide variety of music rather than the same ones in my music library.  Good to use at the beach, while exercising or on the go.  

What's your favorite apps?

A hui hou, 
Terri 

Buckner, E. & Kim, P. (2012, February) A Pedagogical Paradigm Shift:
The Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Learning Environment Project (SMILE). Retrieved from http://elizabethbuckner.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/smile-concept-paper.pdf

Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M. (2012). The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. pp. 10-13. Retrieved from http://nmc.org/pdf/2012-horizon-report-HE.pdf

 

Saturday, March 1, 2014

And this week, I BitStripped!!

Aloha All - 

As part of Team Maile, we explored the pros and cons of the ubiquitous trend of Social Media.  Here is a compilation of our BitStrips.  Enjoy!

A hui hou,
Terri