Ashford MATLT Student Blog

For EDU651 I had to create a new Twitter account.  That can be found  Twitter The wikipage I created is at  Wiki

I have been a Blogger for a very long time.  I think I joined Blogger back in 2006 and have continued to grow my blog over the years.  This particular blog I created for the MATLT program at Ashford and have used it for subsequent classes. Creating a blog isn't tough at all, and I think just figuring out a name for it was the hardest part!  Blogger is good about walking you through creating an account (I used my gmail account to make it easier) and then it's pretty self-explanatory on how to post and edit.  It was a little tricky linking my Twitter account to it, but once I figured out the Twitter button was already there it was fine.  It took me longer to link my Blog to my Twitter account because of how Twitter has updated their settings. I had a harder time creating my wikipage than anything else.  I'm not familiar with wiki and really don't use them for sources ever, so I don't tend to visit wiki pages.  I've never tried to edit a wiki either, ...

Augmented reality is still virtually a new idea in classrooms.  Most of it is limited to apps by using a smartphone which makes it hard to integrate into a classroom.  Google Glass is a new technology that allows users to see additional information layered over what they see through the lens of the device (Poh, 2017).  Augmented reality is really interesting to me and I'm curious to see how it continues to evolve for classroom use. This video shows an advertisement that works with a smartphone application to demonstrate AR. Source: Poh, M., (2017).  8 Technologies That Will Shape Future Classrooms.  Retrieved from: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/future-classroom-technologies/

Iterative design is a continuous cycle of creating, testing and making refinements and adjustments.  It's an ongoing, incremental process (Enginess, 2018). Iterative design is a way to start a project when the outcome isn't clear and helps move the project towards being seen and tested so that reviewers can offer feedback.  Iterative design offers a starting point that can then be refined as the designer continues to improve the product. When using iterative design with regards to course design it's useful for the designer because he or she might have several ideas and is unsure of which one to start with.  A prototype of a course is a relatively inexpensive way to gather rapid feedback to make sure that the best ideas are taken forward and those which do not provide as much benefit are abandoned with no investment in their development (IDF, 2018).  Once the designer has identified the user needs he or she can revise the course accordingly and then have it tested a...

Leslie Bowman (2013) created a Comunity of Practice for her online students and writes that students fulfill a role as coaches, mentors, and reviewers.  Through peer mentoring students are able to share existing knowledge and instruct other students while developing new knowledge of the subject through the analysis of the content.  Bowman (2013) writes, "...the COP provides a more balanced perspective of the learning process for students by addressing strengths and weaknesses simultaneously and with equal emphasis."  Self-directed learning continues throughout the whole course. Another CoP that is useful to the online learning environment is the cohort model.  The cohort model shows that each group of learners are expected and encouraged o to stay together as a group (Conrad, 2005).  The cohort model is supposed to strengthen the online community between classmates and increases the bond.  It builds the relationship that enables students to learn from eac...

In order for students to be successful in the online courses, a variety of tools must be used.  I believe online learning must be mostly student-led, with the instructor taking more of a guidance role than the active educator like classroom-led learning tends to be.  In order for the online learning environment to be student-led, the instructor should integrate technological tools to facilitate student engagement. Pelz (2004) wrote a report on his Principles of Effective Online Pedagogy.  His first principle was to "let the students do most of the work."  (Pelz, 2004)  For example, students would lead discussions while the educator would support and contribute to the discussion with questions to help draw students into deeper discussions while deepening critical thinking.  This would help with social presence in the classroom because students would interact with one another and the instructor, while also strengthening cognitive presence bec...

My personal communication philosophy stems from the basic premise that I want to be available to my students if they need something.  I realize that communication has gone beyond face-to-face interaction, as we live in a digital age, and it's important to keep relationships present even if you're not seeing people in a classroom setting every day.  With distance learning, it's difficult perhaps to find the connection between the instructor and students, with students feeling very isolated and alone at times.  I want to ensure that my students know that I am available and present in their online education should the need arise. Communication should be a combination of ethics, responsibility, respecting the identity of others, and recognizing that communication is a developmental process  (The Shoe Girl, 2012).  It is my responsibility to communicate ethically and responsibly as a student as an instructor.  Words have immense power, so in order to be ...