How can authentic learning tools improve student engagement and deepen learning? What does the

How can authentic learning tools improve student engagement and deepen learning? What does the

apprenticeship model tell us about learning?

Authentic learning tools act to mimic real life experience. Too often much of student learning is seen as being outside of experience. What use is this going to be to me when I am not in school. To be authentic means simply to be real. To apply the scaffolding model to the learning: if it isn;t real, it won't be retained or used in the long-term.

Apprenticeship is the ultimate in job learning-for good reason. All the theory in the world cannot prepare you for your first day in a new experience. Knowing what a pen, pencil or computer is, being able to recognize a keyboard, learning to add up columns of numbers, will only in the most basic and general terms allow you to be able to suceed.

OMET statements revisited

I have read some very nice replies to my "masters application statement revisited" posted in BlackBoard. Thank you Brandy and Jessica!

I am still reading through them but I just read an awesome and insightful post from one of the techies in the program. Rita. In her's she discusses how she has changed and how she looks upon her work and co-workers. I too have discovered that I have had to change and let go a little in order to lead better. I like her statement that "you honor their brilliance" Reminds me of the poet Kao Ch'i who said "An ideal government should cultivate these values, should honor brilliance, should encourage talent." The ideals being characteristics of leadership. It is something I am trying to get people I work with to become-not programmed users of technology, but leaders and innovators of their own self growth through finding ways to make technology meaningful so that it will be embraced rather than feared and despised.

Why do educational organizations choose to employ portfolios? What value does the use of rubrics in

Why do educational organizations choose to employ portfolios? What value does the use of rubrics in evaluating activities and portfolios bring? How can peer review affect learning progress and growth?

Many educational institutions employ portfolios for many of the same reasons that artists always have: assessment of an individuals learning cannot be judged based on some arbitrary set of numbers or awards recieved. It is far more complex and dynamic than that. Speaking from a tech perspective: I have interviewed and hired several technicians whose paper "grades" and certifications appeared to be fantastic. Their understanding and adaptibility however made them less qualified, less 'educated' than others who lacked that distinction.

Rubrics are absolutely a necessity in evaluation. Because a portfolio is a record of experiences it is necessarily involved, and distinct from another you might read. Thus it is important at the 'get-go' to have already established clear criteria you are seeking, and a clear defined scale of measurement. Essentially you are taking something subjective and applying an objective filter to it. In oder for our evaluation to be accurate and not influenced excessively by your own subjective experince you have to have carefully designed criteria.

Peer review can be useful for growth, if it taken seriously. It allows one thing that is irreplaceable: the ability to have a preview of how someone else may view yor ideas and work, and based upon that interpretation: better your presentation, and thus understanding of our riginal work.

What is the role of an electronic portfolio in my ongoing academic and professional career in educational technology?

I think that an electronic portfolio is a "no-brainer" if you are in a program or career that emphasizes the use of technology. It displays not only an interest but several uses of technology. However, its' validity and role is not limited to those areas alone. I find this ongoing assignment for EDC 668 to be interesting, but arriving a little late in the program. Since day one I have worked to make my entire website a reflection of my ongoing work and reflections and to act as a portfolio of my accomplishments, (and failures). All the papers I have written, the programs and publications that I have created as a part of my Masters' "journey" are already a part of it. I think it represents a more complete picture of my work than could be compiled from all the various blogs, wiki's, and Blackboard discussions etc. I intend to have a section (opening soon!) that will include a compilation/distillation/sampling of some of that work as well. It is far more accessible. (though it could benefit from some reorganization)

For me the role of this electronic portfolio has been to not only display my work to others but in review and organization of the work; in making decisions about how it can be accessed and displayed; and by explorring new ways to post and present the content I continue to grow and learn. Because the entire site is a "work in progress" and I maintain an archive of my revisions and steps it at the very least can act as an inside look into the developmental processes that went into the work as well as my own experiential development. To an employer this can not only show my accomplishments and what I have done; it can also say a lot more about me and how I do things. This can give a prospective employer an idea of how I have met challenges and how I potentially can grow to meet challenges in their organization. For others who can view my work, I can only hope that they will find it useful in their own learning and that my process archive can be a guide, (or a warning!), to them.In this role my website portfolio can have broader impact and reach more people than I could have in person or in print form.

I am glad to have an opportunity to have a small portion of this work viewed for assessment.

Hope for Technology in Education.

Below is a note from a teacher I have been working with. She has been doing projects all year with her students in elementary. The laptops she is using are older and "memory-challenged". Additionally, after an entire year of projects they have gotten fragmented and are not performing well. They need to be reimaged. Not wanting to lose the time for re-imaging, I have suggested several simple solutions. What is really cool is that one solution I discarded because I thought it would be too complicated, is the solution the teacher came up with on her own.

• Well, I solved the iMovie problem. I don't really understand what is causing the problem, the drives do have 12.53 gb of space. We are going to record in Garage Band on my computer, export an MP3 file and Import it into iMovie. It works and may even be a better way to go.

Good for you! The biggest problem with technology in education often is not the technology; it is a teacher who just gives up entirely when they encounter a glitch. If it is important to a students education, (and it is...), you work through it. "The best laid schemes, ( or lesson plans) o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley...".

Balancing act

"My candle burns at both ends


It will not last the night."


Edna St. Vincent Millay

Microsoft GiveAway! No Kidding!

• Microsoft announced in February it will GIVE AWAY! copies of XNA game designer software, Visual Studio Pro, Windows Server 2003 standard, and Windows Expressions to students of qualifying institutions. All that is needed is a windows live id, (free to obtain) and verification of student status. Verification takes place online using information from thousands of Universities that are currently participating.


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• Verificationfor Pepperdine students is through JourneyEd a popular educational software company.


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• You do have to navigate a few pages and "checkout" your "shopping cart" but there is no billing info taken and the "cost" of the" item" is $0.00.


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• An email is sent to you when verification is complete containing the download link.


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• The Program is called "DreamSpark"


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• You can read about it here.


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• http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/02/19/microsoft-dreamspark-ignites-interest

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• or check out the download page.


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  https://downloads.channel8.msdn.com/

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  DreamSpark is simple, it's all about giving students Microsoft professional-level developer and design tools at no charge so you can chase your dreams and create the next big breakthrough in technology - or just get a head start on your career.