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Monday, March 28, 2011

Mr. McClung's World - Special Instructions for C4K Due 4/3 and for SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT Due 4/10

Mr. McClung's World logo
Last week you read Mr. McClung's post in which he reflects on his teaching. Now we take a look - in depth - at his class blog.

As you do this assignment think about a) how Mr. McClung uses his blog Mr. McClung's World; b) how he has put his blog together; c) what you know how to do with your blog; d) what you do not know how to do with your blog; e) how Mr. McClung's students interact with his blog; g) how others (parents, teachers, administrators, students like you) can interact with and make use of his blog. Also think about how this 8th grade blog differs from other blogs you have visited including other 8th grade blogs. These questions will form the basis for a SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT described in more detail below and due 4/10.
First:
Look at the links that are at the top. Click on Welcome. Read it.
Click on Mr. McClung. Read what he says about himself. This will expand on what you learned about him last week.
Click on Class Rules - read them and reflect about what they say about Mr. McClung, his teaching, and his connection with his students. Think about your reaction to these rules (and guides) as a student and as a teacher.
Click on Syllabus. Note the first thing under Everyone needs. Why do you suppose that is the first requirement? Note the penalties for being late (under Homework). Compare them with my penalties for being late. Read carefully his paragraph about what he hopes to accomplish with his blog.
Click on Useful Links. Review them all. Click on at least two and explore.
Return to Mr. McClung's Home Page and click on Internet Safety. Read carefully the rules he sets forth for safely using the internet.

As I pointed out in the last sentence of the before the set of instructions starting with First, these questions will be used in a SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT due 4/10 which is described in more detail below.

C4K#7 Assignment
Now we turn to your C4K#7 Assignment. Note that most posts have a "read more..." button. To get the entire post you will often have to click on Read more... We are starting with the post for March 28: Prosser's Gabriel. Note that all posts are Filed Under some category. Prosser's Gabriel is filed under Band of the Week. Other posts are filed under topics such as Lessons Learned, Social Studies, Videos, etc.

In the Google Docs you are assigned to a specific post. In some cases the post has many parts and you are assigned to a specific part of a specific post. For example you might be assigned to Lessons Learned: Three 9:23. You find the Lessons Learned Post that has this subsection. You read the subsection assigned to you. You leave a comment on the post BUT you must also say what part you are responding to. Another example would be Talent Show: T-Man. That happens to be the first video under Talent Show. Watch it. Comment on it in the comment area for that post and indicate you are commenting on T-Man's performance.

To summarize:
Find your assigned post or part of a post.
Read/watch it.
Leave a comment on the post and if there are multiple sections indicate which section you are commenting on. Be sure you identify yourself as being in EDM310.
THEN click on one of the categories under which your post is filed. Look at other posts filed here. You will use your observations in the Special Assignment discussed below.

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT
We are conducting an in depth examination of Mr. McClung's World. After you have completed your C4K#7 assignment, do this Special Assignment.
In a post on your blog due no later than midnight 4/10, answer these questions:

1. What do you know (or have you found out) about Mr. McClung that is reflected in the way he has constructed his class blog?
2. Comment on what you would say about Mr. McClung as an educator.
3. I asked above that you read Mr. McClung's "rules" and think about them. What do they say about Mr. McClung, his teaching, and his connection with his students? What is your reaction to these rules (and guides) as a student and as an aspiring teacher?
4. What was the first thing under Everyone needs? Why do you suppose that is the first requirement?
5. Note the penalties for being late (under Homework). Compare them with my penalties for being late. Comment.
6. Read carefully his paragraph about what he hopes to accomplish with his blog. Comment and apply to your own aspirations as a teacher.
7. I asked you to review at least two Useful Links in depth after reviewing all of them. Which two did you review in depth? Describe each of the two. How might each be used? Why do you think each made Mr. McClung's list.
8. Under Internet Safety I asked you to read carefully the rules Mr. McClung sets forth for safely using the internet. Comment on these rules. Are there any you would add or subtract.
9. In the C4K part of this blog I asked that you look carefully at one of the categories under which you assigned post was filed. What did you find? Select one of the posts in the category and review it for me.
10. Mr. McClung uses Edublog as his blog host. In some ways it may seem more "advanced." But Blogger has many abilities that we have not covered in EDM310. This leads to this question: Is there anything (or things) that Mr. McClung can do with his blog that you would like to do in Blogger?
11. In what ways does Mr. McClung make his blog useful to parents, teachers, administrators, students like you, and others?
12. How does Mr. McClung's 8th grade blog differs from other blogs you have visited including other 8th grade blogs? Why the differences do you think?
13. Add any additional comments you think would be useful in analyzing Mr. McClung's World in depth.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Enter First Gift to USA Video Contest - Win iPad 2

University of South Alabama Logo and the words First Gift
The First Gift USA Video Contest
EDM310, in cooperation with the University of South Alabama Office of Development, is looking for an original video to let your fellow students know how they can and why they should contribute to the University of South Alabama.
For the last ten years or so the University of South Alabama has conducted a Faculty/Staff Campaign in which USA faculty and staff are asked to give back to the University to create scholarship funds for students and to support other activities of the University. Often these gifts have been matched by the University and/or individual members of the faculty or staff. Last year The William Chamberlain Fund was established to provide annual prizes to EDM310 students who exhibit an unusual ability and interest in using technology effectively in teaching.
We would like to expand this annual effort to students as well as faculty and staff. Can you (or a group of you) create a short (no more than 2 minutes) video to encourage USA students to participate in a student fund raising drive through a “First Gift to USA”? These gifts can be designated to support any of the initiatives currently supported by gifts to the Annual Fund, including the William Chamberlain Fund. Or new initiatives can be started.
This effort is modeled after a very successful effort at LSU which ultimately raised over $750 million dollars for LSU. Our goal is not as grand, at least not yet. We want to experiment with a First Gift campaign and, if successful, expand it beyond EDM310 to the rest of the students at USA. Will you help by creating a short video encouraging USA students to make a “First Gift to USA”?

The Contest
You can help by creating video of no more than 2 minutes in length using an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, iPod Nano with video, Flip camera, etc. that lets your fellow students know the ways they can contribute to “First Gift to USA”. All submissions that meet requirements (see “Rules”) will be judged by a panel consisting of students, faculty, and staff members. The submissions will also be featured on the EDM310 Class Blog.


Prizes
Grand Prize – A 32 gig Wi/Fi 3g iPad 2 (or iPod Touches for up to 3 people). NOTE: Efforts are underway to increase the prize to an iPad 2 per team member. We will keep you posted about whether we secure these prizes or not.

Rules
Click Rules and read them. Or, if you are currently enrolled in EDM310, the Rules have been shared with you and you will find them in your Google Docs. Then enter the contest. Entries will be accepted through midnight Sunday April 17, 2011.

If you have an entry which you want to submit, contact Dr. John Strange to how to deliver your video to the judges. DO NOT submit your video to YouTube or any other "cloud storage" that can be accessed by the public until all judging has been completed.

You should take a look at the LSU Contest winner and the top two runner-ups.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mid Term Reflection

Wicked Witch reflecting in a mirror
Most of you reflected on your grade the same way I did. there are now 130 students enrolled in EDM310. 83 of you would give yourself the same grade that I would give you.

19 you are more critical of your performance than I was. I would give 18 of you a grade one grade higher than you gave yourself. One person gave themselves a C and I would give them an A.

16 of you were not as critical of your work as I am. 13 gave yourself a grade one level higher than I would have given you and 3 of you gave yourself a grade two levels higher than I would have given you.

10 students did not return the questionnaire. There were no surprises in this list and there should be no surprise when they get their grades (unless they drop the course).

2 of you gave yourself a D and I agreed.

I will be contacting 10 of you who completed the midterm questionnaire and gave yourself a passing grade (C or better) but I would have given you a D or F. Maybe I do not have the correct information about your work. Maybe you have completed work that I show as not being completed. Maybe there is some other explanation. If so, we need to get it straightened out. And then, there may be some of you who are hoping rather than honestly evaluating your work so far. Sort of like the wicked witch looking in the mirror - she thinks she looks better than I think she does. We will talk about it. I will send you an email tomorrow if you are one of the 10 to whom I need to talk.

Monday, March 14, 2011

iPad 2 - Try It out!

i Pad 2
I have a 32 gig Wi-Fi only iPad which I will have in the Lab this Wednesday between 1 and 3. Yes, it is Spring Break but can you wait another week to see it? And you can use it Wednesday.

Cone join me!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Update: Mid Term Questionnaire Has Been Sent By Gmail

Evaluations

The picture is a screen shot of 1 of 4 pages of our version of your checklist. I thoroughly mixed the names before capturing this photo and I also only reproduced a portion of our records.

You have been keeping your checklist. How does it look? An explanation of the colors. Yellow represents excellent work. Red means an assignment was not done. Pink represents a late assignment or one that was not done satisfactorily. Purple is for sick days or other special reasons. Orange means a special set of instructions was given.

Why am I showing you this? I have sent you a Gmail with a link to the MidTerm Questionnaire/Reflection/Exam. You will be asked to evaluate your work so far in EDM310. Honestly. We know the answers to most of the questions we will ask you about your performance. The picture is a reminder of that.

If you do not get the Gmail with the link to the Questionnaire, send me at email to strange.john@gmail.com

One of the things we will ask about is whether your sidebar on your blog meets the requirements of p. 11 of the Activities Instruction Manual. You might want to take a look at it before you get the questionnaire. If your blog is not in shape you should make the necessary corrections soon. Remember you should have a link that works for your email address.

We will also ask whether you can write the code necessary to put a button in a comment. Mrs. Yollis' class can and they are only 3rd graders. If not, be sure you learn how to do this and make use of your newfound knowledge during the remainder of the class.

I will also ask you about your grade. I hate grades. But I have to give them at the end of the semester. If the semester were over right now, what grade would you give yourself? Honestly.

Summary results will be posted by the time Spring Break is over.

Remember, this Midterm Questionnaire is considered to be equivalent to a midterm exam. It MUST be completed no later than midnight Sunday March 13, 2011.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Sharing - How to Give

On the Web
William Chamberlain Technology Teaching Award
Colleges Against Cancer ($10 minimum on web). Be sure to note that the contribution is for the USA Chapter and that you are in EDM310.

Checks
Put in envelope. Put your name on the envelope. Put the group or groups you are contributing to on the envelope. Put the envelope in box in Lab

Cash
We prefer that you not give with cash. If that is the only way you will contribute
Contact
Colleges Against Cancer: Leave a Comment for Tiffany Fey on this blog post.
or William Chamberlain Technology Teaching Award: Call the USA Development Office and ask for Cris Smith 251-460-7032.

Participation
USA Development Office Video Contest. Instructions will be in a post on this blog titled Video Contest no later than Sunday 3/6.
Colleges Against Cancer: Respond to the email sent to you by Tiffany Fey.

Your Participation in some manner (Make a Gift, Participare in Relay for Life, Help Colleges Against Cancer in other ways, Participate in the development of a video for the Development Office) makes a difference!

Why does it matter?
The more participants we get, the more matching money there will be.
If there are 60 or more participants, I will match the Crusade for Cancer Donations so a $10 gift becomes $20. I will match the William Chamberlain EDM310 Fund so a $10 gift becomes $20. AND the University will match that so a $10 gift becomes $40!

If there are 100 or more participants, I will double match the Crusade for Cancer Donations so a $10 gift becomes $30. I will double match the William Chamberlain EDM310 Fund so a $10 gift becomes $30. AND the University will match that so a $10 gift becomes $60! My total is limited to $2,000.

Let's see what EDM310 can do!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Sharing - What Can EDM310 Students Accomplish?

Giving hands
Two years ago as this version of EDM310 was nearing completion, I was intrigued by the efforts of @wmchamberlain, @jarrodlamshed and @joemcclung to introduce sharing into their class curricula. Mr. Chamberlain devised a way for his class to contribute to Daraja Academy in Kenya. Mr. Lamshed created an event in which he and others sacrificed their hair for the Australian equivalent of the American Cancer Society. Mr. McClung and his class raised money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

I have wanted to add a component to EDM310 for Sharing. We will inaugurate it this semester for the first time. Tiffany Fey is one of the USA leaders of Colleges Against Cancer. I read about her efforts in her first blog post and thought CAC might be a good charity to assist.

In addition, the University of South Alabama has an excellent program of giving for faculty and staff, but none for students. In fact, the William Chamberlain Fund which awards $500 each year to a student or students in EDM310 for outstanding commitment to and ability in using technology in teaching is a beneficiary of the faculty/staff campaign. I want to support that effort and also to create the possibility of extending the faculty/staff effort to students and parents in all parts of the University of South Alabama.

So.... here is what we are going to do.

Each of you will be asked to contribute to either the CAC or the William Chamberlain Fund. This is purely voluntary, but we hope you will join us in supporting one or both of these efforts.

In addition, a number of the EDM310 community (alumni, current students, staff and I) have watched three short videos of LSU students which resulted in a campaign for LSU that raised $750 million dollars. Yes, $750 million dollars.

So a third way you can support our EDM 310 Sharing Effort is to participate with a team of 2 or 3 other EDM 310 students in creating a USA fund raising campaign video. The LSU examples will be posted on the Class Blog soon.

Now here are the incentives:

We want to encourage participation in these efforts. So if 60 EDM310 students participate this year, I will match any cash donations. If at least 120 EDM310 students participate, I will double match any cash gifts to the William Chamberlain Fund up to a total of $2,000.

The videos created as a part of this effort will be judged a team appointed by the USA Office of Development and Alumni Relations. The members of the winning team will receive a special prize which we will announce soon.

What do we mean by "participate"?
Any person that gives at least $5 to either the CAC or the William Chamberlain Fund.
Any person that acts as a team captain, or who participates in the CAC Relay, will count as a participant.
Any person that participates on a team that produces a video for the Office of Development will count as a participant.

Our goal is 100 participants so that cash gifts will be doubled by me (twice if to the William Chamberlain Fund). In addition, the University will double any amount that is given to the William Chamberlain Fund.

If we get 60 participants (as defined above) and you contribute $10 to the CAC, that $10 will be matched by me and $20 will go to the CAC. A contribution to the William Chamberlain will result in even more matching. If we have 100 participants I will double match and the University will match that. So $10 would be double matched (up to a total of $2,000 total for CAC and the William Chamberlain Fund) and the total would be $30. The University would then match that and $60 would be added to the William Chamberlain Fund.

Tiffany will be sharing a Google Doc with you later this week detailing how you can volunteer to help the CAC. She will also share with you a gift form for the CAC. I will be posting on the Class Blog a gift form for the William Chamberlain Fund. I will also post links to the LSU student videos and will share with you a signup sheet for a video for our Office of Development.

Contributions will be accepted until April 18 at noon. Videos will be due April 18 at noon.

This project is entirely voluntary. We do want you to participate in some way, however. That explains the incentives we have added to this effort.

Let's see what EDM310 can do.

SignUp Sheet for SMART Presentation

Sign Up Now!
The SignUp For Smart Presentation Sheet has been added to your Google Docs.
Assign one member of your group to fill in the SignUp Sheet.
Select a time for your group to present. Hopefully there will be two groups (A and B) per time slot so we can rotate present and audience. REMEMBER Tuesday 3/8 is Mardi Gras and the University will be closed.
List the last names of all group members in the same box (time slot).
If you are unable to find a suitable time for your group, send an email to edm310help@gmail.com and propose an alternate time.

Correction to Checklist

Shoulder Patch that reads Corrections

The Due March 6, 2011 shows C4K#5. That is incorrect. It should be C4K#4.

The Due March 13, 2011 shows no entry for C4K. Add C4K#5.