"Participate 3.1.2 Digital Resources and Netiquette" Quest

"Participate 3.1.1 Access to the Digital Community" Quest

Participate 3.1 Access to the Digital Community

"Participate 2.1.1 Collecting Reputable Digital Resources" Quest

Collecting sources is something I do on a daily basis as an on-line French teacher. I have various locations where I gather them. I use Chrome Drive to keep a list of links by grammatical topics. It is currently 22 pages long. I love that there is a table of contents at the top of the first page where I can click on the topic, for example “Verb Tenses/Moods”, and then I am taken to that list of links which I can copy and paste into the feedback for students on their written and oral assignments.. I have other documents in my Chrome Drive as well, such as course specific links organized by chapter and the HTML for stickers and compliments all ready to go in order by assignment.

I use Symbaloo to organize professional sources, such as my links to French professional organizations and professional development pages. I also have a LiveBinder account that I started when I first came to teach with GAVS. I organized it for the French 2 class when I was teaching it but haven’t visited that account in several years, as I no longer teacher French 2.

The Symbaloo above was made specifically for this quest. The white tiles are the web eval resources collected, while the green (tech tools), orange (reference tools), teal (online courses), and yellow (exercises and games) tiles are for students. 

As I read the information on evaluating websites, I was pleased to realize that I do many of the steps for validating authenticity already. I felt really smart and in tune! J I did find it humorous that a webpage containing a broken link should raise eyebrows, considering that the Media Awareness Network and its media literacy link in the TOOL course Participate 2.1.1 quest results in a “page not found”. One thing that I have not ever done is use a site like Alexa to research statistics about a website. I am excited to know how to do this and to share this information with my students. I also noticed that Media Literacy week is coming up Nov. 2-6 and I have already created a News item for my course homepage to offer an activity related to the goal of increasing awareness.  I will use this opportunity to teach/review for students how to safely collect tools and resources to help them maximize their learning. One way to ensure that students use some of these techniques during the course is to have them document their procedures with screenshots in a running blog journal for the semester to which they can submit the link at each due date. I also think another effective way to teach students to be diligent in selecting their resources is to create a sort of internet scavenger hunt during which they can earn badges (which could interpret to extra points or a homework pass) as they progress through various stages of the hunt.

"Participate 1.1.3 Ideal Digital Learning Community" Quest

Please listen to my reflection on the Ideal Digital Learning Community.

Record music with Vocaroo >>

"Participate 1.1.2 Joining a Digital Learning Community" Quest

Participate 1.1.2

Symbaloo:
I chose to highlight Symbaloo as my socialmedia book marking tool because I already have accounts on that site. I have several accounts and use them for resources for my students and for resources to teach my pre-K daughter.

DLC:

At this moment in my life, my every minute is accounted for and, despite my never ending lists of things I’d like to do for myself, there just isn’t time to add one more thing. Inevitably, I add something and then feel guilty about not being able to give it my full attention. The same is going to happen with the new DLC that I selected to join. I am absolutely **dying** to participate in the courses that MIT offers in its Open Courseware. Take Chinese for free?? YES! Learn about contemporary French film and social issues?? OF COURSE! Astrodynamics??  No thanks, but sounds cool. This DLC was most intriguing personally because I love to learn. I love being the student. In addition, this DLC had the most in-depth offerings. Any person in the world, as long as they can access the internet, can take these courses. There are even testimonials from “self-learners” from seemingly remote locations, who make up 43% of the users, showing how the materials can be used in various ways in increase understanding. With videos of lectures by professors and supplementary resources in many of the subjects, there is much in the way of content available to all.

The elements that initially attracted me to the majority of DLCs were: there are images related to the text, there are a variety of offerings, and there are resources available right on the homepage of the website. I usually find this type of layout more welcoming and user friendly upon first investigation. The images somehow make such communities seem less intimidating. I think that these elements would also make these DLC most appealing to younger users. The one element that DLCs should implement is a homepage that does not require log in before viewing the resources. That format is somewhat off-putting. It would also be nice if you did not have to supply personal information in order to subscribe. Many students’ parents do not let them provide personal information over the internet, which I believe is a smart practice in general.

I’d like to find a personal interest DLC related to sewing. I love to sew dresses for my daughter, although I rarely get the chance.