We were assigned four different tasks this week. I made a decision to start off with the least demanding task, which in my opinion was web searching.
I thought I knew everything about it, so how difficult could it be? "Everything" ranged from knowing how to use the google searchbox to understanding the difference in the results I get if my query is safely placed between quotation marks.
The first look at the NoodleToons site, showed how wrong I was. A window to a broad scope of various search engines opened up in front of me. Eager to try something new, my first choice was the Virtual LRC. Unfortunately, the hits this search engine came up with were not satisfactory and I didn't recommend it to my colleagues.
I also learned some tricks of the trade, such as the Boolean operators, the + and - characters and wildcards, which Camelia explained so clearly in her Nicenet posts. To this I would add the domain limit searching which I found in a video tutorial on the Washington University Libraries website. It means that if we use a colon with a three-letter domain (:edu) we can narrow down our search to some extent. We can also use the address of the website to limit the results even further.
My next task was a description of my class, which I did both in a Nicenet post and in a blog post, where I also wrote about the ICT in Croatian schools.
The most challenging task was to write objectives in the ABCD style. I did all the readings, both recommended and required, which helped me immensely in setting my lesson plan objectives. The work done by my colleagues was of great help to me as well, especially Azhar's excellent summary of the learning objectives.
The fourth task was to edit pages of our wiki. I'm familiar with Wikispaces, but had never used Google wikis before. What I found out was that they have similar functions so that I easily added two links and placed a blue pin on the apartment building where I live.
And finally, the last task (number 5, in fact) was writing a reflection on Week 2. All in all, it was a demanding week but I can say that I learned a lot and I'm already looking forward to Week 3.
Dear Arjana,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the summary of this week. It is full of searching, reading, and analyzing. But we've learned a lot.
For the fourth task, is it optional or should we do it as a task in the 2nd week?
Yours,
Azhar
Dear Arjana,
ReplyDeleteI really admire your zeal for learning and how you manage to strike a balance between family and course duties. Bravo, Madame;-)
Well, I read all your posts and I find them very interesting and inspiring. In fact, I have to admit that reading your post helped me a lot in writing my synopsis of this dying week. However, one cannot deny that it's been boiling with life and learning, too. I particularly like your sense of precision and "systematicity" if you allow me the coinage. Episode two of this course is driving towards its end, but sure the learning we had will stay with us for long.
And before I close my post, I have a request to make . Would you be so kind and show me how you copied the picture of your house from Google Maps and pasted on your blog? That's your sixth optional assignment ;-)
Yours
Arbi
Dear Azhar,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure but I think that posting on the wiki is an ongoing task. Whenever we find a useful website which we want to share with our classmates, we can post a link to the wiki. In this way, the wiki will become a rich archive of rexources for teaching with technology.
Dear Arbi,
I'll complete the sixth assignment with great pleasure:-)
I used Gadwin Printscreen freeware (http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/) to print screen the wanted part of the google map image. Then I saved the image and edited it in Adobe Photoshop, which is an image editing program. You can also use Paintnet, which, like Gadwin is freeware (http://www.getpaint.net/) In the end you simply upload the picture by clicking on the photo icon in your new post.
All the best
Arjana
Dear Arjana,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your immediate feedback. It was extremely nice of you to 'return a satisfactory hit for my query';_) Sometimes, we can do without search engines if we ask the right person. You are the right person and I have to tell you that you have successfuly completed your sixth assignment. You got a full mark. Congratulations and thank you.
Regards
Arbi
Hi Arjana,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the tasks for this week were quite demanding. I also had to organize my week schedule to do everything on time. We, as teachers, know that organizing our work well is half way to success. So, in the first part of the week, I mostly concentrated on the tasks and decided not to be too carried away by reading other posts. This is not because I don't like reading them, but because of distributing time correctly. The weekend I decided to dedicate to reading and commenting my peers' posts. I found this type of organization helped me to do my tasks calmly, without being stressed by the approaching deadline.
I also did the fifth and sixth tasks, as you refer to them: I posted a link and put a pin on the map. But I couldn't quite understand what Arbi is speaking about. I can only see pins on the map, not the picture of anyone's house. Can you tell me where to see it?
All the best
Bella
Dera Arjana
ReplyDeleteReading your reflection on week 2 was great but could you please clarify the 'wiki task'...I guess I missed out on something really important and am having this funn feeling in the stomach...yikes!!!
I love your expression:)You must think of writing a book someday as there is a lot of energy in how you say things.
Cheers!
Saulat
Dear Arjana,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your reflection on week 2 very much as well as your whole blog.
Keep on the good work!
Dear colleagues,
ReplyDeletethank you for taking your time and leaving your valuable comments on my blog :-)
Please allow me to answer your questions in this comment:
Arbi, it was my pleasure, really. Have you managed to print screen the map?
Bella, Arbi is speaking about the print screened image of the google map, which I used in my recent post "Where in the world are you?" I simply made an image of the google map where we placed blue pins to locate our homes. As you can see, this photo has only two pins, as it was created almost a week ago.
Saulat, wiki is a web site which everyone can edit, unlike this blog, for example, which only I can edit, and all you can do is leave comments. Deborah created a wiki for our class, where we can share links and files, which I think is really beneficial for us, as we can learn with and from each other. This is the link to it: http://sites.google.com/site/webskillssu2010/home?pli=1. However, in order to log in, you have to post your email address to Deborah.
All the best
Arjana