Graduate Coursework Reflections
ENG 337- This class served as a prerequisite for the Educational Technology program at California State University, Long Beach.
Shakespeare Website Critique
As an educational technologist, I have found that there are a lot of pages on the web that do not belong there. Many of them have misguiding information and some are created to twist facts into biased statements. One example of these sites was the one where people would learn about an endangered animal that is completely made-up, the tree octopus (http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/). This site had me thinking of how many people believe that because something is published on the web, then it must be true. If I blog about the sky being green will you begin to look up at the sky and not think it to be blue anymore? This assignment helped me evaluate a site I would use as an educator and it also triggered in me that children should be taught about website validity and the right way to search for the information they need. I learned a lot from evaluating this Shakespeare site and feel that I have acquired a skill I would definitely like to teach.
Figurative Language Lesson Presentation
This presentation was the initiation of my interest in Educational Technology. I had never considered the possibilities of this field as I had after I had completed this assignment. I created an entire lesson for a made-up sixth grade class about figurative language. This assignment helped me see the power that media tools have and how visuals can help students understand concepts that are more complex. If a child were to have a picture of a metaphor place in from of him or her, then it would strengthen retention of that term by allowing the student to recollect that image and apply word association.
ETEC 523
History Lesson through Google Docs
This was a collaborative assignment amongst a group of three other classmates and me. We coordinated a skill lesson aimed at teachers who need some professional development. We chose Google Docs and Google Earth to create such a lesson. My portion of the lesson included teaching our audience the basic skills of Google Earth. This presentation got me thinking about the importance of step-by-step instruction and the comfort there is in knowing that one can go back a step.
Back to School Presentation
The more and more papers parents get from schools the more and more the trash can is filled. Along with the papers is important information that parents and students may not realize they need at the moment, and when they do come to that realization it has become too late to retrieve it. This presentation allowed me to think of it as a way for students to and parents to reference important material as needed though a download. It’s not like a presentation takes up space outside of a computer, and there is always the option of printing the needed information if paper is a preferred medium. This presentation also reinforces a lot of the same ideas that visuals are useful in retention and that it makes a presentation more entertaining like the Figurative Language Presentation I had posted for ENG 337.
ETEC 525
Social Networking Effects on Teenagers
With the growth of MySpace and Facebook in the last couple of years, social networking is a topic that everyone knows something about. The main demographics for the use of these sites is teenagers. This essay explored both the negative and positive (which are hardly ever explored) effect of these types of sites. This paper was a final project for this class and it had me reflect on why I use the social networks that I use and what I get out of the whole experience. I did like the fact that during the process of writing this essay we had to have at least one other person read it. Sometimes what we say makes sense to us, but not to others, and that experience helped me see that I needed to edit some of the things I was saying it order to make it understandable to a wider audience. The same can be said for papers written by K-12 students, for this is the type of experience they could benefit from.
Internet Addiction
Many people look at the Internet as a research tool, but it can actually create vices people would normally not place themselves under. One of the effects that technology has had lately is that people are becoming addicted to the Internet. I still remember presenting this and people reacting because they felt they fell under the possible or actual Internet addiction categories. I must say that as the host of this presentation I found out a lot about myself and my own habits and how I should cut back. Because the Internet comes from a machine that is so highly praised, the computer, it is hard to see it as an actual problem like being an alcoholic who has one too many visits to bars. I must admit that the word addiction is a strong word that holds all kinds of connotation as there are more positives in being a work-addict as there are in being a drug addict. It is either really good or really bad, and this presentation added to the power of this word.
ETEC 570
Orientation Video Project
I had to really hone in on a lot of the skills I had learned along the way in order to make this video happen. This included being able to merge images, edited video clips, music, and credits into a video that I am ultimately proud of. The project, as a whole, also had to include and interactive component, which came in the form of a survey on the hosting site. It was fun to put on the entire production of gathering schoolmates, finding and environment, and learning about my own computer video editing skills. The entire process really brought together everything my classmates and I had learned in this class.
ETEC 510
Moodle Training Module
To me this assignment reflected everything that the Education Technology program at California State University, Long Beach represents. The assignment was a collaboration with three very talented classmates and me who came together and designed a training module that would really be put into play in an actual class of professional who would learn about Moodle. This required a lengthy process of discussing design, mediums used, evaluations tools, and overall applied theories we had learned in this class. From step by step explanations to sophisticated screen captures, I feel our group did a satisfactory job at using the best educational practices in this training module. Our group was extremely flattered when Dr. Theresa Chen said that she wanted to use this model as an example for future classes. This made me feel that we not only did a good job, but that we were really exposed to a skill and experience lived in the educational technology workforce.
Technology in Education Reform
Many times we know why we got into our fields, but we are not always sure about all of its effects. When our class had to discuss educational technology reform in mainstream classes, we were able to think of our program outside of ourselves. This assignment applied politics, effects, and practices that educational technology represents to others. The fact that the presentation was done in a slide-video format, also helped me practice my online media skills once again, which never hurts to do.
ELIB 530A- This class served as an elective in the Educational Technology program.
Growth and Development Website
Although I do not work in the library field, I know that educational technology is something that can thrive there too. One way this was proven to me was through this assignment where a library resource website was to be evaluated. By evaluating the Colorin Colorado site, I was able to look at it as validity research, which is parallel to what I did in ENG 337. Librarians are people who can benefit from working closely with educational technologist as sites can be looked into as valid tools that librarians can share with their students as well as fellow faculty. It was this assignment that allowed me to see much of the career flexibility that this program has to offer.
Research Review Presentation
This Power Point presentation was created with two fellow classmates, including my tenth grade English teacher Ms. Claudia Pilon. Through this class I had learned that Pilon was also pursuing a master’s degree at CSULB, and the fact that I had a class with the person who inspired me to become a teacher was surreal (and still is). Because she has had experience in the library field, another member had experience in the classroom, and I had experience with educational technology, it was a great learning experience because we were able to feed off one another a lot. This collaboration took us out of our environments and made us look into how we could create a hybrid presentation that would include library pertinent information, educational demeanor, and technological media. Education is so broad that one could get lost in all of its subcategories, but it was nice to see these different fields work together successfully for one common goal.
ETEC 551
Electronic Story Book
I never thought my online media skills would allow me to create something like this. I was very surprised with the final product that was this story book because I had never gotten into Flash so much, and to be honest that was intimidating to me. But with much practice and trial-and-error, this project became possible. The story created was clearly made for primary levels, but I could see how it could be used for secondary levels for students who cannot attend lectures, or students who need to review something. During audio editing was also quite the skill to master because it differs greatly from video editing. I didn’t have the visual support I was used to and I had to be meticulous with the sound clips I wanted to incorporate. In conclusion, the skills used for this media project were completely different from those I had experienced in previous ones.
Evaluation of BCC Language Learning Site
This assignment took what I had learned about website validity a step further by having to apply the website in real life learning. The website my group and I chose was the BCC learning site for the German language. We presented how the site could be used in language instruction and how it is a good model for other learning modules. The site gave me a glimpse into other skills I would like to further develop like better interaction, audio on demand, and Flash menus. This assignment really generated a want in me for what I would like to learn more about in this field.
ETEC 530
[I]NSPECTopoly Presentation
One of the major themes in this class was the effects that technology will have in each of our organization in the future. To put these theories to practice I created a board game that explored these futuristic environments in my field. I called my game [I]NSPECTopoly because it was a blend of INSPECT, an environment framework we had learned in class, and Monopoly, a popular board game that is the standard for many board games. This was a great concluding project because I also got to explore the scenarios that would take place in my field because of these changes. I asked myself how I would adapt to these changes, and how my professional leadership would be affected because of them. The entire process was a lot of fun and the fact that I ended up with a visual organizer of the possible future of my organization was an added bonus.
ETEC 535
Class Assignments Website
This site was a great stepping stone and foundation for the beginning of my work in understanding web accessibility. By creating a site from scratch that contains basic accessibility elements, it helped me see what accessibility was all about and the details I would need to look out for during my development of future sites and creations. This lead me to make this current site that you are looking at, my portfolio, accessible by running it through a battery of tests including CynthiaSays and WAVE. These sites help pinpoint site elements that need to be addressed by specific details that allow one to look up solutions. One of the most meaningful items on the assignments site was creating an accessible video. With the use of CaptionTube I was able to make an already published assignment accessible, which opened my eyes to how wide the realm of accessible tools is.
Wiki on Accessible Instruction Materials
This group project was great in that it allowed fellow members of the Ed Tech program and I to take a look at accessible software by looking at one of the most commercial and widely known office suits, Microsoft Office. Alongside Microsoft Office, our group also evaluated Adobe PDF files and online learning management systems. In our evaluation we published useful sites in order to create a Wiki page that served as a resource page from people who want to create accessible documents to know where to start. I again learned a lot and found many easy to follow guides in creating accessible files.
EDP 520
Communication Technologies with Children who have Autism Paper
This paper served as a tool for me to be able to link educational technology alongside educational psychology. It brought to light the potential of educational technology and how they not only serve children on a computer, but with other tools such as PECS. Autism is a disability that is near and dear to me on a personal level, and I have seen firsthand the growth children can have outside of what their expected potential is with the use of appropriate tools. Seeing that tools like PECS can help children with autism work past their challenges, drives me to want to raise awareness in the lack of studies involving children with autism and the room for growth in that field.
ETEC 695
Literature Review on Electronic Literature
I had a lot of fun reading articles for this assignment because e-book, e-readers, and other forms of electronic literature have grown greatly in front of my eyes and I wanted to see what researchers were saying. My interest in the topic also comes from me being an avid reader, being an educational technologist, and a consumer and how this form of technology is a hybrid of all those things. The fact that my information was coming from valid sources informed me in all these factors. The purpose of this assignment was to find information on an educational technology issue within the past few years. By doing this project I learned that e-readers have a ways to go in terms of accessibility, connectivity, and compatibility with various formats. Also, like other technologies, like iPods, e-readers with hone in on their problems through the years in order to show improvements and widen their market.
Shakespeare Website Critique
As an educational technologist, I have found that there are a lot of pages on the web that do not belong there. Many of them have misguiding information and some are created to twist facts into biased statements. One example of these sites was the one where people would learn about an endangered animal that is completely made-up, the tree octopus (http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/). This site had me thinking of how many people believe that because something is published on the web, then it must be true. If I blog about the sky being green will you begin to look up at the sky and not think it to be blue anymore? This assignment helped me evaluate a site I would use as an educator and it also triggered in me that children should be taught about website validity and the right way to search for the information they need. I learned a lot from evaluating this Shakespeare site and feel that I have acquired a skill I would definitely like to teach.
Figurative Language Lesson Presentation
This presentation was the initiation of my interest in Educational Technology. I had never considered the possibilities of this field as I had after I had completed this assignment. I created an entire lesson for a made-up sixth grade class about figurative language. This assignment helped me see the power that media tools have and how visuals can help students understand concepts that are more complex. If a child were to have a picture of a metaphor place in from of him or her, then it would strengthen retention of that term by allowing the student to recollect that image and apply word association.
ETEC 523
History Lesson through Google Docs
This was a collaborative assignment amongst a group of three other classmates and me. We coordinated a skill lesson aimed at teachers who need some professional development. We chose Google Docs and Google Earth to create such a lesson. My portion of the lesson included teaching our audience the basic skills of Google Earth. This presentation got me thinking about the importance of step-by-step instruction and the comfort there is in knowing that one can go back a step.
Back to School Presentation
The more and more papers parents get from schools the more and more the trash can is filled. Along with the papers is important information that parents and students may not realize they need at the moment, and when they do come to that realization it has become too late to retrieve it. This presentation allowed me to think of it as a way for students to and parents to reference important material as needed though a download. It’s not like a presentation takes up space outside of a computer, and there is always the option of printing the needed information if paper is a preferred medium. This presentation also reinforces a lot of the same ideas that visuals are useful in retention and that it makes a presentation more entertaining like the Figurative Language Presentation I had posted for ENG 337.
ETEC 525
Social Networking Effects on Teenagers
With the growth of MySpace and Facebook in the last couple of years, social networking is a topic that everyone knows something about. The main demographics for the use of these sites is teenagers. This essay explored both the negative and positive (which are hardly ever explored) effect of these types of sites. This paper was a final project for this class and it had me reflect on why I use the social networks that I use and what I get out of the whole experience. I did like the fact that during the process of writing this essay we had to have at least one other person read it. Sometimes what we say makes sense to us, but not to others, and that experience helped me see that I needed to edit some of the things I was saying it order to make it understandable to a wider audience. The same can be said for papers written by K-12 students, for this is the type of experience they could benefit from.
Internet Addiction
Many people look at the Internet as a research tool, but it can actually create vices people would normally not place themselves under. One of the effects that technology has had lately is that people are becoming addicted to the Internet. I still remember presenting this and people reacting because they felt they fell under the possible or actual Internet addiction categories. I must say that as the host of this presentation I found out a lot about myself and my own habits and how I should cut back. Because the Internet comes from a machine that is so highly praised, the computer, it is hard to see it as an actual problem like being an alcoholic who has one too many visits to bars. I must admit that the word addiction is a strong word that holds all kinds of connotation as there are more positives in being a work-addict as there are in being a drug addict. It is either really good or really bad, and this presentation added to the power of this word.
ETEC 570
Orientation Video Project
I had to really hone in on a lot of the skills I had learned along the way in order to make this video happen. This included being able to merge images, edited video clips, music, and credits into a video that I am ultimately proud of. The project, as a whole, also had to include and interactive component, which came in the form of a survey on the hosting site. It was fun to put on the entire production of gathering schoolmates, finding and environment, and learning about my own computer video editing skills. The entire process really brought together everything my classmates and I had learned in this class.
ETEC 510
Moodle Training Module
To me this assignment reflected everything that the Education Technology program at California State University, Long Beach represents. The assignment was a collaboration with three very talented classmates and me who came together and designed a training module that would really be put into play in an actual class of professional who would learn about Moodle. This required a lengthy process of discussing design, mediums used, evaluations tools, and overall applied theories we had learned in this class. From step by step explanations to sophisticated screen captures, I feel our group did a satisfactory job at using the best educational practices in this training module. Our group was extremely flattered when Dr. Theresa Chen said that she wanted to use this model as an example for future classes. This made me feel that we not only did a good job, but that we were really exposed to a skill and experience lived in the educational technology workforce.
Technology in Education Reform
Many times we know why we got into our fields, but we are not always sure about all of its effects. When our class had to discuss educational technology reform in mainstream classes, we were able to think of our program outside of ourselves. This assignment applied politics, effects, and practices that educational technology represents to others. The fact that the presentation was done in a slide-video format, also helped me practice my online media skills once again, which never hurts to do.
ELIB 530A- This class served as an elective in the Educational Technology program.
Growth and Development Website
Although I do not work in the library field, I know that educational technology is something that can thrive there too. One way this was proven to me was through this assignment where a library resource website was to be evaluated. By evaluating the Colorin Colorado site, I was able to look at it as validity research, which is parallel to what I did in ENG 337. Librarians are people who can benefit from working closely with educational technologist as sites can be looked into as valid tools that librarians can share with their students as well as fellow faculty. It was this assignment that allowed me to see much of the career flexibility that this program has to offer.
Research Review Presentation
This Power Point presentation was created with two fellow classmates, including my tenth grade English teacher Ms. Claudia Pilon. Through this class I had learned that Pilon was also pursuing a master’s degree at CSULB, and the fact that I had a class with the person who inspired me to become a teacher was surreal (and still is). Because she has had experience in the library field, another member had experience in the classroom, and I had experience with educational technology, it was a great learning experience because we were able to feed off one another a lot. This collaboration took us out of our environments and made us look into how we could create a hybrid presentation that would include library pertinent information, educational demeanor, and technological media. Education is so broad that one could get lost in all of its subcategories, but it was nice to see these different fields work together successfully for one common goal.
ETEC 551
Electronic Story Book
I never thought my online media skills would allow me to create something like this. I was very surprised with the final product that was this story book because I had never gotten into Flash so much, and to be honest that was intimidating to me. But with much practice and trial-and-error, this project became possible. The story created was clearly made for primary levels, but I could see how it could be used for secondary levels for students who cannot attend lectures, or students who need to review something. During audio editing was also quite the skill to master because it differs greatly from video editing. I didn’t have the visual support I was used to and I had to be meticulous with the sound clips I wanted to incorporate. In conclusion, the skills used for this media project were completely different from those I had experienced in previous ones.
Evaluation of BCC Language Learning Site
This assignment took what I had learned about website validity a step further by having to apply the website in real life learning. The website my group and I chose was the BCC learning site for the German language. We presented how the site could be used in language instruction and how it is a good model for other learning modules. The site gave me a glimpse into other skills I would like to further develop like better interaction, audio on demand, and Flash menus. This assignment really generated a want in me for what I would like to learn more about in this field.
ETEC 530
[I]NSPECTopoly Presentation
One of the major themes in this class was the effects that technology will have in each of our organization in the future. To put these theories to practice I created a board game that explored these futuristic environments in my field. I called my game [I]NSPECTopoly because it was a blend of INSPECT, an environment framework we had learned in class, and Monopoly, a popular board game that is the standard for many board games. This was a great concluding project because I also got to explore the scenarios that would take place in my field because of these changes. I asked myself how I would adapt to these changes, and how my professional leadership would be affected because of them. The entire process was a lot of fun and the fact that I ended up with a visual organizer of the possible future of my organization was an added bonus.
ETEC 535
Class Assignments Website
This site was a great stepping stone and foundation for the beginning of my work in understanding web accessibility. By creating a site from scratch that contains basic accessibility elements, it helped me see what accessibility was all about and the details I would need to look out for during my development of future sites and creations. This lead me to make this current site that you are looking at, my portfolio, accessible by running it through a battery of tests including CynthiaSays and WAVE. These sites help pinpoint site elements that need to be addressed by specific details that allow one to look up solutions. One of the most meaningful items on the assignments site was creating an accessible video. With the use of CaptionTube I was able to make an already published assignment accessible, which opened my eyes to how wide the realm of accessible tools is.
Wiki on Accessible Instruction Materials
This group project was great in that it allowed fellow members of the Ed Tech program and I to take a look at accessible software by looking at one of the most commercial and widely known office suits, Microsoft Office. Alongside Microsoft Office, our group also evaluated Adobe PDF files and online learning management systems. In our evaluation we published useful sites in order to create a Wiki page that served as a resource page from people who want to create accessible documents to know where to start. I again learned a lot and found many easy to follow guides in creating accessible files.
EDP 520
Communication Technologies with Children who have Autism Paper
This paper served as a tool for me to be able to link educational technology alongside educational psychology. It brought to light the potential of educational technology and how they not only serve children on a computer, but with other tools such as PECS. Autism is a disability that is near and dear to me on a personal level, and I have seen firsthand the growth children can have outside of what their expected potential is with the use of appropriate tools. Seeing that tools like PECS can help children with autism work past their challenges, drives me to want to raise awareness in the lack of studies involving children with autism and the room for growth in that field.
ETEC 695
Literature Review on Electronic Literature
I had a lot of fun reading articles for this assignment because e-book, e-readers, and other forms of electronic literature have grown greatly in front of my eyes and I wanted to see what researchers were saying. My interest in the topic also comes from me being an avid reader, being an educational technologist, and a consumer and how this form of technology is a hybrid of all those things. The fact that my information was coming from valid sources informed me in all these factors. The purpose of this assignment was to find information on an educational technology issue within the past few years. By doing this project I learned that e-readers have a ways to go in terms of accessibility, connectivity, and compatibility with various formats. Also, like other technologies, like iPods, e-readers with hone in on their problems through the years in order to show improvements and widen their market.