We had a very informative and fun class last night. I was very nervous at the beginning, missing Dr. Thompson in the class, I wasn't sure how the night was going to move but I think it turned out to be an interesting night. Now when I listened the recording from the class, because it was a full night with the guests and different presentations, I noticed that I didn't give enough time for answers after I asked questions to the class. This is something I need to learn and practice as a teacher.
At the beginning, we clarified the assignment due dates. We gave one more week for wiki and paper outline assignments. You can also resubmit the assignments you already submitted by sending an e-mail to Dr. Thompson and I. We also talked about couple examples for the final paper outlines and wiki assignment. I understand, finding a topic and coming up with an outline for the final papers have always been the most challenging tasks. However I think this phase is the most rewarding one, as you are searching for different directions and covering variety of resources. Working on an outline is a good practice as it helps you to progress in a more organized way.
After clarifying housekeeping issues, our two guest speakers of the night, Aliye and Quinn, talked about their experiences on using web 2.0 and social networking technologies in their own teaching settings. I enjoyed Aliye's presentation because I believe that Ning has a lot to offer to educators who are interested in using a social networking platform in their classes. Her points on the pros and cons of the system were also very helpful and eye opening. Quinn's presentation was a perfect follow up after the Ning discussion. I personally enjoyed and learned a lot of things from his presentation: "Against the LMS, Why (and How) You Should Abandon Your Learning Management System". His points were provocative. He helped us to think about the limitations of the current systems and search for other alternatives that might open new ways for interaction and collaboration in our educational settings. I think in this class we do not prefer the comfort of "walled gardens" but searching more possibilities out in "wild prairies" and trying to use technology in a critical way. Using facebook, blogger and webct was a decision we made at the beginning for the purpose of experiencing the challenges, limitations and affordances of these technologies for our educational purposes. Therefore Quinn's question "How can we develop systems that are pedagogically sound, technologically innovative, and sustainable?" is something we always need to ask to ourselves. I think this aligns well with the TPACK idea. Quinn later shared some examples from his classes and I was intrigued by the idea of using delicious as a social networking and collaboration tool in the classes.
After Quinn's presentation,Kaye did her resource review on Skyp, one of my favorite technologies. Her examples on the use of skyp in their classes were interesting. Ni's presentation on quizmakers were also interesting. I particularly liked the handout she prepared which included the online quizmaker sites and their features. We ended the night with my presentation on social networking. I wanted to point out some critical issues related to social networking use in the classes especially privacy, security and copywriting issues. Yesterday night was full of presentations, but I think all of them were very educating and inspiring.
Once I start writing this blog post, I can't stop myself. It is a nice way of reflecting on class experiences as a teacher.
Hope to see you all online this week.
