3.3 Reflection: Using Web 2.0 Tools

• Briefly describes an activity you would create.

The activity I would create is called "Explanation Video."

At the end of the lesson, after the students have had time to learn and practice the vocabulary words and grammar structures,  I could assign translation or Q&A questions to each student or student group, and have the student or student group create an "explanation video" on how s/he or the group come up with the answers.

• State how you might minimize possible challenges students and the teacher might have to address.

 Here are some of the challenges that the teacher and students might face:

1. The use of technology to make the video. The teacher must make sure that the students have sufficient equipment and knowledge/skills to create the video. I taught my students how to use Screencastify to make screencasts. I also allow them to use their cell phones to make the video recording. While the qualities are different, I focus more on the result than the cosmetics of the videos.
2.  Hosting the video: Some of the videos are going to be too large for email communication, so the videos might need to be hosted somewhere before they can be shared. I've taught students to upload their videos to Google Drive if the videos are too large. Some other options are YouTube and Vimeo.
   
   It's a good practice to ask ALL students to upload their videos to Google Drive, especially if the video is made on their phones and/or is small enough for direct email. After the students have uploaded the videos to their drive, then they can safely delete the videos from their phones. This way, if the teacher does not receive or can not open the video for any reason, there is always a backup copy.
3. Organization/Collection: Teacher also needs to think about how s/he would like to collect the videos, and stay organized on checking off the students. Emailing the link or the video directly to the teacher is an option. I use Edmodo, so I can create an assignment, and see which student/student group has submitted the assignment. If you use Google Classroom, you can collect and stay organized the same way.
4. Patience & Flexibility: Whenever you use technology, there will always be problems that you can and can not anticipate. It's best to be prepared and be patient, and be flexible.
5. Example: It's best to share the rubrics upfront, and go over an example with the students so they know what the teacher is looking for in terms of quality and length.

• Align your activity to a learning objective that uses verbs from the top three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
  
  A learning objective for this activity could be: Students will be able to explain how they break down the question and develop the answers by applying the vocabulary and grammar structures they have acquired in this lesson.

2.3 Reflection - Methodologies of the Online Instructor

• Reflecting on the information covered in this module so far, how might your instructional methodologies need to change in an online or blended learning environment?

 Since I flipped part of my instruction, I have been contemplating whether I should flip 100%. The concern has been, and still is, that the students are very passive and don't take charge of their own learning. They don't always watch the videos. I have tried to work with the situation by (1) doing in-class flip, and (2) doing a short-version of the lecture. Because I deliver the instructions on Vocab and Grammar instructions via videos, and I go over the text in person with the whole class. I use that opportunity to do an over all review of the lesson's content, and as a way to hopefully cover some holes for the students who did not watch or did not pay attention to the video instructions.

Because students' reaction to all the in-class practice activities we do are very positive, I really want to make sure we have enough time to do these activities.

I am trying to decide if I should do in-class flip or just train the students to take responsibilities of their own learning so they can best benefit the blended learning environment.

• What skills and strategies might you improve or expand upon in order to best support student learning in a blended or online environment?

I feel that I need to work on training the students to take responsibility and take charge of their own learning in order to really benefit from the blended model. I don't think this concept or the study skill is new, but students who have been in the traditional face-to-face classroom are used to being very passive, so asking them to do the opposite is going to take some time. My concern with this is that training students to function differently is not easily accomplished in a short amount of time.

1.2 Reflection: Personal Learning Goal

·        What is your highest priority learning goal for this course?

My highest learning goal is to find the balance between new and old tech tools, and the use of online- and in-class time to interact with the students, give feedback, and deliver content. I want to help the students learn how to effectively use the class time and class activities to not only learn the content, practice the content, but also build skills that they can use outside of the classroom, whether it’s study skills or life skills.

This is the result from Unit 1's self-assessment, which I found a bit surprising. Based on the various online courses I have taken, along with the end results, I am actually pretty good at keeping deadline, managing my time, and learn from various sources. I wonder if this is because I believe that I can always do better.

·        What are some specific skills, strategies or tools you are hoping to learn more about?

I would like to know how we can best self-assess whether we are doing a good job as a blended teacher. I use student feedback and student performance as measurements now. However, they are not something I can use whenever I question my effectiveness. I feel like there must be other ways that I can use more frequently.

I am also wondering how I can better deliver and access student preparation before coming to the classroom. I want my students to take responsibilities of their own learning, but they are students and they often need external motivation.

The tools that I want to learn more about is assessment tools. I am using Bingo, Quizlet, Quia, GoFormative, and Socrative, and audio-recording tools for the most part, and sometimes using games like Kahoot!, Quizizz, and other flash-based tools I have. I am sure there are other new tools that might be able to do a better job in helping me assess student performance and to encouraging student interactions. While there is no guarantee that the new tools will be better than the ones I am using, but I would like to find out more about what is out there and decide.