Kimberly Hefty

EdTech 521-4201
Reflective Journal


Quotes from Readings and Class Tasks and
Activities*
Thoughts/Learning/Questions**
Week 1:
Self Portrait







Define Online Learning
















Interview Tool











Creating the self portrait was more
challenging than I expected. I decided to try
out a new phone app that allowed me to
collage several photographs together and
add captions. My ultimate goal was to portray
several aspects of my life: family, work and
fun.



This activity gave me the opportunity to apply
the readings and do some research. I
particularly enjoyed the book by Kerry Rice.
I was struck by statements about the level of
learner-autonomy necessary for successful
online learning. According to Rice, Online
environments can encourage learners to take
initiative in their own learning by seeking out
information and building connections (p.30).
The feedback I received by the other students
in the class was also profound and thoughtful.






This task was particularly meaningful because
I will be able to immediately implement this
in my work this summer. I am currently
mailing out confirmation letters for the fall
and have included this with my information
packets.
Week 2: What a fun activity. It really taught me a lot

Build a Beast




Community Building













Reading quotes from Rice:
Ensuring course goals and objectives are
being met through the implementation of
appropriate instructional strategies and
assessments is your responsibility as an
educator (p.76).

Netiquette is the term used to refer to
etiquette or rules of acceptable behavior, on
the Internet (p. 79).

Allowing students to participate in
developing these [netiquette] rules will
increase the likelihood they will be followed
(p.95).

Table 5.2 p. 107!





Interview Tool extended Reflection
Were the things you learned
about the student and family
important information for you
to consider while working with
them this year?
Do you feel this was a valuable
about good communication. It also gave me
the opportunity to use a new voice-recording
App that my son recommended. It worked
great!

Online communities such as blogs, wikis,
discussions or social networks benefit both
students and teachers. Teachers get the
opportunity to collaborate and share ideas and
resources with each other. Students in a
learning community get the opportunity to
interact with each other which provides them
the opportunity to develop personal and
educational relationships with their peers and
collaborate. Online communities are an
important part of learning experiences for
both teachers and students.


I have started to collect some of my favorite
quotes from Dr. Rice that I may want to use
again in the future.

This literally is the best quote of what a
teachers responsibilities are.

A good definition is always helpful. I think it
is very important to always engage the
students, especially when developing rules.

Lists the advantages and disadvantages of
multiple tools. Note that Google groups and
social networks can really meet multiple
needs.






Last week I developed a pre-admission
interview tool to use before I meet my
students. I asked my two summer school
students, who start next week, to complete the
interview form (with no other instructions
except to complete the entire thing). I
discovered that I need to modify a few of the

exercise to complete before
starting the school year? Why
or why not?


questions. I need to be more specific. For
example, when I asked what was their
personal strengths and weaknesses, the
student didnt really understand what I was
getting at. I am modifying it to ask What
specific areas of math are you strong/weak at?
Such as solving equations, working with
geometric formulas, graphing etc.
I think this is a very, very valuable tool,
especially for me and what I do. The question
how do you learn best actually generated
several ideas on how I can improve my
structure immediately.
The most entertaining answers came from the
Family section. It was clear both senior high
school boys did NOT want me to
communicate with their parents. I think I
should have the parents also fill out that
section!
Week 3:
Netiquette Group Project

























Netiquette Rules
I had a great group for this project! We
actually started working immediately. We
began by creating a group Google doc. We
began by addressing issues of availability for
our synchronized meeting. Then each person
address the key questions:
Are emoticons and acronyms
appropriate for students to use with
their teacher in an academic setting?
Will you allow invented spellings, or
will you expect students to always use
correct grammar and punctuation
whenever they are communicating in
an academic environment?
Should the expectations be different
for discussion boards, email or chat?
In what ways can they differ and to
what extent?
Then we had to build a consensus. Overall I
think the group worked very well together!









The final netiquette rules were developed
collaboratively with my group. I was heavily
influenced by the readings of Kerry Rice,
Netiquette is the term used to refer to
etiquette, or rules of acceptable behavior on
the Internet. The practice should extend to
email, chat, and discussion boards and even
into the synchronous environment (Rice, p.
79).

Our group had to come to a consensus in
order to develop the rules. I was very glad
this was done as a group; alone I feel I would
not have been able to create the amount of
detail that the group was able to. Our group
held a synchronous meeting via a chat room.
We literally went through every line of the
document.
This lesson taught me that great things happen
with collaboration.
Week 4
Class Expectations PowerPoint














Scavenger Hunt



This was, by far, my most frustrating week. I
had issue after issue with publishing my
PowerPoint presentation of my class
expectations. I literally spent hours trying to
get several different types of products to
work.
It was extremely helpful that I had such a
complete product to use (Netiquette Rules
from Week 3). Finally I saved it as a movie
and published it with YouTube.
I hit all the key aspects of the assignment but I
really wish I had been able to use one of the
Adobe products.


The scavenger hunt was fun to do. I
abbreviated my district. I viewed this as an
opportunity to incorporate a lot more of my
policies and the districts policies into an
activity that I could really use. I love some of
the sites I found, like We Must Stop Smiley
Face Emoticon Abuse! I also think my hunt

did an excellent job addressing the critical
issue of cyber bullying.

Week 5:
Reading: Conrad and Donaldson: Chapter 6











Reading: Palloff and Pratt: Chapter 1










CRAP Principles







Brainstorm a list of online technologies and
strategies that you feel would be best for your
learning style and for a learning style that is
different from yours. Your list should have at
least 4 technologies and/or strategies for each
learning style



This chapter focusses on peer partnerships and
team activities. Collaboratively working is a
critical skill that should be developed and
reinforced in the online learning environment.
This skill needs to be practiced more in an
online environment than in a class-room based
environment because visual and aural cues are
missing (p.67).
This makes sense! You cannot hear or see
your peers but feedback is important in
everything. Encourage teamwork and
feedback and everyone will benefit.

This chapter supports the assertions by
Conrad and Donaldson about the importance
of collaboration and teamwork. The authors
view the importance of these skills as the
hallmark of constructivism (p.6). It can
remove isolation foster a strong sense of
community which allows students to move
through the phases of development more
effectively.

The CRAP principles address issues of
repetition, contrast, proximity and alignment
when designing a lesson and webpage. I
particularly liked the statement, Any good
design must have a strong focal point. You
can create focal points using contrast and
visual hierarchy. This is a principle I tried to
really remember as I created my
Asynchronous Lesson.

Assistive technology (AT) tools for math are
designed to help people who struggle with
computing, organizing, aligning, and copying
math problems down on paper.


My personal style is definitely more visual.
Visual learners tend to learn best through
seeing. Pictures, diagrams, concept maps,

symbolism, videos and other visual
presentations are very helpful. Some online
technologies and strategies are:
Prezi or Glogster, for organizing
information visually.
Everything in Khan Academy!
Although it is not exclusively visual,
the visual step by step instructions,
demonstrated, really are helpful!
Visual Math Learning, a collection of
visual lessons about mathematics
concepts.
Mathpad allows teachers to create
documents with mathematical
expressions using a special keyboard.
It will automatically draw, re-size, and
align the mathematical expressions,
according to their content.


I know some students are more auditory
learners. Auditory learners tend to learn most
effectively through listening. Lectures, oral
presentations, music and background sounds
are examples of how to help auditory learners
comprehend and retain more info. Some
online technologies and strategies for them
are:
Podbean, a directory of educational
podcasts
Profcast, a tool that students can use to
record presentations, and also to
transform PowerPoint slides into
podcasts
YouTube Math and Khan Academy,
allow learners to hear and see all
information. One of the benefits of
these presentations is the ability to
pause and repeat as necessary.
Audacity, easy-to-use audio editing
software lets teachers or students
record and edit audio

I know some students are more physical
learners. Kinesthetic learners learn better by
doing. Projects, labs, note-taking and other

activities that allow participation and a hands-
on approach help the kinesthetic learners.
Some online technologies and strategies for
them are:
Google Sketchup, This allows
kinesthetic users to create, modify and
share 3D models
Interactives, provides activities,
strategies and other concepts that
enhance learning skills.
Education Place, is designed for young
(K-12) kinesthetic learners who want
to explore various subjects through
games and activities.

Cram, a flashcard exchange, is the
world's largest flashcard library.
Kinesthetic learners can improve their
retention ability by making flashcards
for this website.





Week 6
Self Evaluation




















Overall I think I have done an excellent job on
this project. I completely redid the work from
the previous week and created an entire
website. I broke the PowerPoint into pieces
and embedded them into the overall product.
Content: My title and staff information is
clearly identifiable. My objectives are well
stated and aligned to both state and national
standards. In particular I like my checklist
page that clearly outlines all aspects of this
lesson in one easy to find location.
Learning Styles: My presentation is good;
however, I am having problems with my
audio. When I view the separate PowerPoint,
the audio is there but when I save it as a video
and embed it on Weebly it is gone!
I did a good job of repeating and showing
multiple examples which would help anyone












































Readings: Rice Chapters 5, 7, 8

with learning disabilities.
Engagement: My site was easy to navigate
and is well linked (although I think I have to
fix a few of the links). My assignments and
discussions are well presented and clearly
meet my originally stated objectives. My
collaborative jigsaw activity is very
appropriate for this age group and would
certainly develop higher level thinking.
Adaptive/Assistive Technologies: My
multiple PowerPoint presentations are good
but I have to fix the audio!!! Once fixed, this
will work well for anyone with visual or
auditory difficulties. My repeated use of
examples will help anyone with learning
disabilities.
Assessment: I have both formative and
summative assessments. I also varied the
types of assessments. I included matching,
multiple choice and short answer. My
assessments align well with my objectives. I
have also included rubrics for the jigsaw
activity and the collaborative work.
Overall: I utilized the CRAP principles
throughout the overall project and the multiple
PowerPoint presentations. I have a lot of
repetition throughout. I contrasted the videos
and was always mindful of the transitions.
Both my proximity on the overall site and the
presentations were carefully developed. The
alignment was designed to be consistent
throughout every page.

The primary issue is I must fix the audio and I
need to add a page or add to the teachers
only
page the specific areas where disabilities are
addressed.


Chapter 8 addresses supporting learners with

special needs. I was particularly drawn to this
lesson since I am currently struggling with
vision problems and my daughter struggles
with multiple physical impairments which
affect her cognitive processing.
The section on differentiating instruction for
struggling students (p. 217) caught my
attention. It really is one of the most
challenging issues teachers face, but it is also
one of the most important. Rice outlines
several ways for the teacher to be proactive in
both finding and helping these students. One
critical component I believe she missed was
helping students learn to advocate for
themselves. As a student with a disability and
a mom of a child with one, it is the most
important skill we can develop.

Chapter 5 focuses on collaboration and
community building. Dr. Rice states, It may
seem obvious, but community does not
happen on its own (p.103). This is so true,
both online and in the classroom. Icebreakers
and other activities are important for
developing a true community. Collaboration
tools are critical for an online community and
this chapter does an excellent job of outlining
the advantages and disadvantages of multiple
tools, Table 5.2 (p.107).
Chapter 7 develops how to design a quality
online lesson. My favorite line is Good
Teaching Is Good Teaching (p. 170). This
made me chuckle of course it is! But Dr.
Rice nailed it when she said that in a live
classroom you can just wing it, I believe we
have all done that! Yet, in an online
classroom that is virtually impossible. For
online lessons the design is important. You
must consider needs and tools for every phase
and stage.
Week 7:
Reflect on you own teaching style. Is it
primarily teacher-centered and lecture-
driven? In online environments, the lecture
component of any lesson can often be
My teaching style has always been student-
centered. Before starting my own private
tutoring business I was the math department
chair at a local high school. Our school was
exclusively an IB school (no AP courses). IB

delivered asynchronously as preparation for
live meetings that are reserved for those times
when interactions are critical for learning.
Think about this shift and what it means in
terms of your own teaching.






















Create a list of lesson ideas or strategies that
might be especially suitable for live meetings
using synchronous delivery tools. Post this in
your reflection journal.
is very student-centered at its core. it
encourages both teachers and students to be
more actively engaged in their roles. Both
teachers and students assume greater
responsibilities in the educational process.
As a tutor my job is literally to be all about
the student at all times. I have to meet each
student and get to know their strengths and
weaknesses and adapt my instruction to fit
their individual needs.
Although the asynchronous lesson was
extremely frustrating I believe my final
product is outstanding. The core of what it
means to convert from an exponent to a log
(and vice versa) is well developed. This could
definitely be used in an online course. Yet, if
a student was confused some type of
interaction would be necessary. It is very
difficult to type a log with a base, in an email
or even on webpost (such as Edmodo). A
question and answer session, delivered
synchronously through something like Google
Hangouts, would really enhance a students
mastery of the topic.





Strategies for live meetings:
Google Hangouts ~ this is an excellent site to
hold synchronous meetings. It is free and
easy to sign up for. It has multiple tools such
as video recording options that can easily be
saved as a YouTube video. The audio and
visual quality are quite high. This site also
allows you to share screencasts and create
collaborative documents.
Edmodo: technically this site is not live
however, it is a great message board location.
However, I have tried it where you tell
students to go to the site at a specific time and
you can interact with them in real time.
Classflow: connects devices in the classroom
and it frees teachers to focus on engaging their
students. Im trying to use this during my

synchronous lesson. Some of the key features
of this tool are:
Unify your classroom technology,
from your interactive whiteboard to
tablets or student devices.
Make edits, save changes, assess
students, deliver and even share your
lessons.
Information goes two ways with
ClassFlow. Send and receive feedback
from your students

My primary strategy for the synchronous
lesson is to be organized!!! I discovered when
doing my practice sessions that organization is
critical. I should have made sure that all the
documents and PowerPoint presentations were
in one easy to access location.
Another critical strategy is having a backup
plan. During my practice sessions my
interactive features did not work. I have
created a basic backup for all aspects of the
synchronous lesson.
Finally, for synchronous sessions I think it is
very important to record them. This is
important for both the teacher and the student.
I found that I had so many ideas after viewing
some of my practice synchronous sessions. I
was able to see what I could do better, what I
could eliminate and where I needed to be
more concise. For the student, it can provide
the opportunity to review, at their
convenience.


Week 8:
No Reflection Required


* Include relevant/interesting quotes with page numbers, postings from discussions, links to
resources that you want to try, or specific tasks or activities that you have engaged in.
**As you go through the readings and activities, make notes in each column when you find
relevant issues, topics, develop new understandings, identify solutions to problems, etc.