5303 Applying Ed Tech: Portfolio & 5305 Disruptive Innovations in Technology
When classes first started for Applied Digital Learning I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I wanted to be challenged. I most certainly got what I asked for. I was challenged to figure a lot out on my own. Navigating Blackboard was the first challenge, but after a couple weeks I figured it out. The second challenge was building the website. I chose WordPress and BlueHost for helping me build the site. I found out yesterday that BlueHost is new and has been trying to make a program that is easier to build on WordPress. Needless to say, the bugs haven’t all been worked out with BlueHost and I might need to find a new site builder, but for now I’m keeping it how it is.
I enjoyed working with my group and collaborating through GroupMe. I paired up with Ashely Brandes by phone. We worked together on our literature review and our pitch video. Even though she is proposing ePortfolios, and I am proposing station rotations, we were still able to support and contribute to each other’s learning. We would text each other at any hour and while we were on vacation to bounce ideas and ask questions. I was also collaborating with Desiree Masters, Sabine Mixon and Claudia Rios. We shared articles for our research and helped each other edit our work before submitting. We provided feedback to one another for both classes. It was helpful that Desiree had already taken 5305 and could answer a lot of questions that we had. I have revised my proposal letter per the notes. I was confused about the APA format with Arial 11 vs. Times New Roman 12. The book says you can choose, so I chose Ariel because I was posting all of the work on my ePort and it looks nicer. I must have missed something in the instructions.
I enjoyed all the course readings, videos and additional resources and rabbit holes I went down learning so much about Blended Learning and the station rotation model. I truly felt like each module’s material was speaking to me. I felt a sense of connection to everything in the modules. The discussion posts helped me see other’s viewpoints and learn from them as well. I enjoyed the discussion board and felt comfortable sharing my ideas. I am a quiet person because I am not very confident, but these courses have given me a voice. Technology is my voice. Blogging is a lot of fun for me because I like to deliver things with a little humor. Which leads me to the Power of Words video and how eye opening that was for me. I will forever remember to appeal to people’s hearts when I want them to buy into something. Taking 5303 and 5305 at the same time was a lot at first,but realized quickly they were the perfect pair because I found my voice through blogging which helped me open up in discussions where I feel like I learned the most was the weekly modules in each course. The courses went so well together I often forgot what course I was working on.
I learned a lot about myself building my ePortfolio and feel very proud of how far I have come with it. It was so hard at first,but I got it figured out. If I do have to start over because of BlueHost that’s ok because I can do hard things. It all works out. I am excited to have a place to showcase my work and my passion for change and being more efficient. I enjoyed making my pitch video the most. After reading the Digital Storytelling Cookbook by Joe Lambert and watching The Power of Words and The Behavioral Science Guy video I had a clear idea of how I wanted my video to go. I wanted it to be short but mighty, and I wanted to appeal to the heart. I do need to work on appealing to the heart more in the video, but I feel like my post that connects my plan together is where I connected and appealed to their hearts. I love how everything is all tied together within both courses. Without 5303 we would not have anywhere to share our passion for change, and I might still be looking for my voice. These two classes have shown me that I can be a driver of change because I am more confident with technology and I have a lot of research to back up why the station rotation model will be successful at Armstrong Elementary.